Much of the attention around Bitcoin in 2017 understandably focused on its meteoric price rise and overall volatility.  But all that attention overlooks the fact that Bitcoin was initially intended to be used as a currency for buying things.  Thus, the oft-reported story of the developer (Laszlo Hanyecz) who bought two pizzas in May 2010 for 10,000 Bitcoin ($140 million value today) in what is reported as the first bitcoin transaction in which someone bought something from a mainstream merchant.  It was supposedly because of this volatility that Microsoft, which started accepting Bitcoin s a means of payment in 2014, recently stopped letting customer use Bitcoin.  Microsoft reported today that it is again accepting Bitcoin.  Other places where you can use Bitcoin to pay are Subway, Expedia, Etsy, Whole Foods and Overstock.com.

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David Zaslowsky has a degree in computer science and, before going to Yale Law School, was a computer programmer. His practice focuses on international litigation and arbitration. He has been involved in cases in trial and appellate courts across the United States and before arbitral institutions around the world. Many of David’s cases, including some patent cases, have related to technology. David has been included in Chambers for his expertise in international arbitration. He is the editor of the firm's blockchain blog.