Bitcoin: Network Based Currency and Its Self-Organizing Emergency

Bitcoin is a form of virtual or digital money, a peer-to-peer, electronic cash system. Bitcoins are based on an open-source cryptographic protocol that is independent of any central authority like a Central Reserve Bank or another administrative institution. Bitcoins are created and administrated decentralized within a computer based network. They can be transferred through a computer or smartphone without an intermediate financial institution. The currency exists since 2009 and is in the meantime accepted as a legal instrument of payment in various countries but first of all for world wide Internet transactions. In June 2011, Wikileaks and other organizations began to accept bitcoins for donations. That became very important after Master-Card, Visa, PayPal and other tried to block WikiLeaks from money transfers obviously because of political presure by the US-government.

In my contribution I want to analyse this currency-system from a sociocybernetic point of view. After presenting the basic mechanisms of Bitcoin money creation, the value regulation etc. I want to focus the basic processes of self-organization in this high-complexe social system.