Bitcoin has suffered from an image problem since its inception. Mainstream media, along with those who rely on it for information on the world around them, have rarely seen more than a quirky internet phenomenon that enables hackers to trade illicit data, drug dealers to operate complex international organizations, and anarchists to dodge taxes. The truth, however, is that bitcoin is a growing and thriving economy where almost any legitimate consumer good or service can be attained from someone who accepts bitcoin as payment.

There is a practice in the bitcoin mining industry that is affecting prices on public exchanges, impacting commerce across the entire cryptocurrency economy. This is the practice of over the counter liquidity provision. In layman's terms, this is when a broker offers large amounts of USD or other fiat for equally large amounts of bitcoin.

Bitcoin is an amazing tool both for executing new types of commerce that were, various reasons, impossible before or completing the existing types of transactions in a superior fashion. Bitcoin affords flexibility, security, and anonymity and is powerful in the hands of users with the proper understanding of how it works and how to use it.