What is bitcoin
I
Lead in.
1. What is Bitcoin and how does it differ from traditional currencies?
2.
What are the benefits and risks associated with
using Bitcoin as a form of payment?
II Match the words to their definitions. Use four words in your sentences.
|
1. |
asset |
A. |
to
accept enthusiastically |
|
2. |
to
embrace |
B. |
to
cause difficulty over a period of time |
|
3. |
volatility
|
C. |
a brief
speech that outlines the idea of a product, service, or project |
|
4. |
to
plague |
D. |
an
article that describes a theory behind a new piece of technology |
|
5. |
sure
bet |
E. |
able to
share resources directly without the need for a centralized authority |
|
6. |
to
conceive |
F. |
a valuable resource such as property, stocks, or
cash |
|
7. |
white
paper |
G. |
to
imagine |
|
8. |
elevator
pitch |
H. |
something
that is sure to take place |
|
9. |
peer-to-peer |
I. |
tendency
to change rapidly and unpredictably |
III Watch the
video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are words you
don’t need to use.
virtual
currency; value; gold; financial crisis; peer-to-peer; financial oasis; volatility;
digital wallet; anonymous individual; major companies; mainstream; elevator
pitches; digital bank; anonymous payment; banks
Bitcoin
is the talk of the financial world. From its shadowy beginnings as a 1) ________ powering crime on the
internet, to an asset some are calling a serious competitor to 2) ________, bitcoin’s journey has
been quite the roller coaster.
In 2021, 3)
________such as Tesla and
Mastercard started to embrace cryptocurrencies, pushing them further on the
path towards 4) ________adoption.
But with regulators taking a closer look at crypto, and 5) ________continuing to plague the
market, it’s not a sure bet. So, what’s next for bitcoin?
Bitcoin
was first conceived during the global 6) ________of 2008. It was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto, an 7) ________, or group of individuals,
in a white paper. In the world of crypto, white papers have become
synonymous with 8) ________, where
developers try to convince people to care about their new coin.
Ryan
Token, anyone?
In
bitcoin’s white paper, Nakamoto envisaged the cryptocurrency as a “9)
________version of electronic cash.”
10) ________would be exchanged
from one person to another without the involvement of middlemen like 11)
________.
And
instead of depositing or withdrawing your money at the bank like
you would with physical cash, with bitcoin you could effectively be your
own bank by storing it in a 12) ________.
IV Match the words and numbers in the list to make
facts about bitcoins.
Watch the video and check your answers.
$9,000; $68,000;
blockchain; purchasing power; inflation; 2021;
celebrities;
2020; investors; governments; distributed network
1. Bitcoin and other
cryptocurrencies are underpinned by what's known as the ________.
2. It is a modern-day ledger in
digital form maintained by a ________of
computers around the world.
3. Unlike traditional
currencies, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies don’t have the backing
of ________.
4. Cryptocurrencies are worth
whatever ________are willing to pay
for them.
5. At the start of ___, bitcoin was
trading at a price of over ________.
6. By mid-November ________, the cryptocurrency reached
an all-time high above ____.
7. There’s lots of ________supporting cryptocurrency
now.
8. Big names are getting behind
bitcoin in the hopes of protecting themselves against ________.
9. Governments have deployed
unprecedented stimulus to tackle the coronavirus crisis, and there are
fears the trend is weakening the ________of
sovereign currencies like the US dollar.
V Match
the words to their definitions. Use two words in your sentences.
|
1. |
bull
case |
A. |
to
produce a coin for the government |
|
2. |
scarce |
B. |
public
meeting of supporters |
|
3. |
to mint
|
C. |
not
easy to get |
|
4. |
safe
haven |
D. |
to fall
suddenly |
|
5. |
rally |
E. |
place
of security |
|
6. |
to
plunge |
F. |
an
optimistic outlook for a particular investment, asset, or market |
VI Watch the video and choose the correct option to
complete the sentences.
1. Key to the bitcoin bull case is
the idea that there’s a _____ of the number of bitcoins in circulation.
a) unlimited number b) fixed price c) scarce supply
2. A rule written in the original
bitcoin code means that only _____ of currency will be minted in
total.
a) 1 million
units
b) 21 million units
c) 1 million units
3. Some investors call bitcoins
“____.”
a) digital gold
b) already old c) digital haven
4. Physical gold has a
limited supply and is often viewed as a “safe haven” away from global
______.
a) economic growth b) economic
uncertainty
c) fiscal policy
5. Other cryptocurrencies include
_____, ripple, _____, _____ and dogecoin.
a) ethereum,
cardano, solana
b) Ethernet, cardinal, solo
c) ethyl, cardio, solo
6. What makes the latest
bitcoin boom different from previous crypto market rallies is the
involvement from large ____.
a) large institutional investors
b) national governments
c) digital stock exchanges
7. Established _____ firms like
Jump Trading and Jane Street are also jumping into the market.
a) global marketplaces b)
hight street banks c) Wall Street firms
8. In late 2017 and early 2018,
bitcoin and other digital currencies ____ to huge levels
before _______ sharply.
a) plunged, grow b)
soared, plunging c) fluctuate,
plunging
9. According to experts, that’s because the market then was largely fuelled by _______.
a) amateurs and speculators
b) governments and regulators
c) criminals
10. Today, crypto
investors believe the market has ______.
a)
staled b) matured c) endured
11. Large institutional funds
and even ____ buy up bitcoin.
a) politician b) collaborations c) corporations
12. Elon Musk's electric car
maker purchased ______ of the cryptocurrency in February 2021.
a) $1.5
billion b) $1.5 million
c) $1.5 thousand
13. Coinbase is a
crypto _______.
a) currency b) exchange c) regulator
VII
Match the words to their definitions. Use five words in your
sentences.
|
1.
|
legal
tender |
A. |
the
extent to which a product gains popularity |
|
2. |
traction
|
B. |
money
which is official country’s currency |
|
3. |
fluctuation
|
C. |
possible
to find the origin of something |
|
4. |
darknet
|
D. |
a
large amount of something that is illegal |
|
5. |
traceable
|
E. |
producing
a lot of money |
|
6. |
to
morph |
F. |
a private and anonymous network
that can only be accessed through specific software, configurations, or
authorization |
|
7. |
lucrative |
G. |
to
commit a harmful action |
|
8. |
ransomware
|
H. |
irregular
rising and falling in number |
|
9. |
to
perpetrate |
I. |
a type
of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a
sum of money is paid |
|
10. |
haul
|
J. |
to
undergo gradual transformation |
VIII Watch the video and choose the correct option to complete the
sentences.
An exchange-traded fund is a basket of
financial secured/securities/securely that
tracks certain assets, like an index or a sector. They can be traded on
stock exchanges, just like a share in a company. In 2021, the Securities
and Exchange Commission gave the green light to the first U.S.
bitcoin-linked ETF. And bitcoin bulls hope there will be more ETFs backing/tracks/tracking the cryptocurrency in the future.
There's even a country where bitcoin is
considered legal attention/legal
retention/ legal tender, with El
Salvador enacting a law requiring businesses to accept bitcoin as payment in September 2021. Experts
say such moves will pave the way for further acceptance/accepts/acceptably of cryptocurrencies. The first ever
real-world bitcoin transaction/fraction/transacted
was believed to have happened in 2010 when a Florida-based man
exchanged some for two prizes/completes/pizzas. But despite all the
traction bitcoin has gained, there are still some big hurdles it needs to
overcome. For one, bitcoin remains incredibly volatility/violated/volatile.
It's been known to increase or decrease over 10% in a single day. And
critics argue these enormous price fluctuations have made bitcoin less effective
as a means of paid/payment/payable. Another big use of
bitcoin in its infancy was crime.
Tom told me more. “Most people associated bitcoin
with the Silk Road, which was a darknet marketplace/marketable/marketed where you could buy drugs or
hacking tools or you know, fake IDs. And
so we looked for a solution to that problem. And what we realized was that, you
know, Bitcoin is actually highly traceable/tractable/tracings.
And that you can identify transactions associated with criminal activity.”
Over the years, bitcoin’s refutable/reputation/reputable
has morphed from a protest against the financial establishment to an
investment that’s increasingly being embraced by Wall Street. And the
portion of crypto that's being used for illegally/ illegal/legal activity appears to be on
the decline, with data showing only 0.15% of bitcoin transactions in 2021
were related to crime.
Still, with
bitcoin prices at historic highs, it's become a much more
lucrative asset for criminality/criminally/criminals to exploit. In May 2021,
hackers attacked a U.S. oil pipeline system in a ransomware attack
that took the critically/criticize/critical energy infrastructure offline.
So last year, a new ransomware group called
DarkSide emerged. And they perpetrated one particularly high-profile
attack against a company called Colonial Pipeline, which is responsible for
much of the fuel transport infrastructure/restructure/instructor
on the East Coast of the United States. And so, this attack
basically crippled that company, and meant that people couldn’t fuelled/refuel/prepay their cars.
Colonial paid DarkSide, the hacking
group behind the attack, nearly $5 million in bitcoin to
restore recess/access/accept to its systems. But they weren't completely
successful. A month later, U.S. authorities seized $2.3 million of
the haul, after locating one of DarkSide's virtual currency wallets/warrant/fillets.
IX Watch the video. Complete the
sentences with the words
you hear.
Meanwhile, there are also concerns about
bitcoin's impact on the 1) _____. Mining the cryptocurrency is an 2)
_____intensive process that requires powerful purpose-built
machines. In a single year, the bitcoin network can use as much as
120 terawatt-hours of 3) _____. For context, that's on par with entire 4)
_____such as Norway and Ukraine. It's also close to the gold industry's
energy needs.
So what's next for bitcoin? Well, if one thing
is clear, it doesn't look like the world's biggest 5) _____ ______is going anywhere anytime soon.
X Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?
Watch all the videos again. Correct the false statements.
1. Bitcoin was first conceived in 2018.
2. Bitcoin was proposed by Satoshi
Nakamoto, an American programmer, in a sales pitch at a conference.
3. In bitcoin’s white paper the cryptocurrency was described as
a “peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.”
4. To exchange bitcoins a person
needs the involvement of middlemen like
banks.
5. With bitcoin you could effectively be your own bank by storing it in a digital wallet. 6. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies don’t have the backing of governments.
7. There’s lots of celebrities
supporting bitcoins now.
8. Big names are getting behind
bitcoin in the hopes of protecting themselves against government
regulations in banking sector.
9. Cryptocurrencies are worth
whatever algorithms predict could be paid for them.
10. The number of bitcoins in
circulation is unlimited.
11. A rule written in the international financial regulations means that only 21 million units of currency
will be minted in total.
12. Even corporations like Tesla are
no longer buying up bitcoin.
13. Bitcoin is not considered a
legal tender.
14. Real-world bitcoin
transactions were never possible.
15. In 2010 a Florida-based man
exchanged some bitcoins for two pizzas.
16. Bitcoin remains incredibly
volatile.
17. Bitcoin is actually
highly traceable if regulators are able to locate users’ virtual
currency wallets. .
18. Bitcoin is environmentally
friendly.
19. Mining the cryptocurrency
requires powerful purpose-built machines.
20. In a single week, the bitcoin network
can use as much as 120 terawatt-hours of electricity.
XI Vocabulary focus. Study the words using flashcards, check your understanding, practise spelling new words. Play matching vocabulary game and solve the crossword puzzle. Take a test to check your knowledge.
XII OVER TO YOU. Get ready to discuss the characteristics of bitcoin with other students. Use the questions below to organize your ideas:
1.
What are the
current trends and developments in the world of bitcoins, and how might they
impact the future of this digital currency?
2.
What are the
potential advantages and disadvantages of investing in bitcoins as a business
strategy, both in the short term and the long term?
3.
How might
regulatory changes, such as increased government oversight or crackdowns on
illicit activities, affect the use and value of bitcoins in the business world?
