Internet money, virtual money, cryptocurrency - the descriptions of Bitcoin quickly give the impression that it is real money, not least because Bitcoin is often illustrated on the Internet using a gold fantasy coin. With Bitcoin, however, you neither have real coins or notes in your hand, nor has the technology fulfilled all money functions so far.
Rather, Bitcoin can be described as the result of a computing process in which, in principle, everyone can participate. In transactions, individual amounts are sent back and forth between user addresses, with a secret key allowing access to one's own address. Although Bitcoin is being used more and more, experts consider the general acceptance to be too low to be able to speak of real money.
The store of value function is also controversial, as the price fluctuates greatly. Most recently, the currency lost almost $1,500 in value in two weeks. Whether Bitcoin is suitable as a unit of account is also a matter of controversy. Although the currency can be divided as desired, prices are rarely given in Bitcoin.