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Episode 450: Bitcoin Goes To The Moon

Published April 9, 2013 at 4:31 PM MDT

Since the start of the year, the Japanese yen has risen by about 12 percent against the dollar. The euro has fallen by about 1 percent.

Then there's bitcoin, a virtual currency that doesn't even exist in the physical world. In the past few months, the value of bitcoin has risen by more than 1,000 percent — from less than $20 per bitcoin a few months ago to more than $200 today.

On today's show, we ask: Is a skyrocketing value a good thing or a bad thing for bitcoin?

For more, see our bitcoin stories from 2011:

Music: Stars' "." Find us: / // . Download the Planet Money .

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