With the recent shutdown of Silk Road there has been a lot of questions about the future of Bitcoins. While Bitcoins are used for many legitimate websites, the brand position and value proposition are on the unethical black market side. It fills a position in the online market that allows people to purchase goods without any correlation to government, avoiding taxes and traceable information. Bitcoins not only offers a way to anonymously purchase illegal goods online but is considered cool and rebellious because of its non-affiliation to the government. However a downside of Bitcoins is because it was recently introduced in 2009 the young currency’s worth fluctuates as much “as $13 at the start of the year to $266 in April”.

I believe that Bitcoins will fill a growing position in the black market. The shutdown of Silk Road doesn’t mean the battle against online illicit drug trafficking is won, and the volatility of Bitcoins as a currency is to be expected at this point in its life. With an increasing amount of legal business being done online, illegal business done online will also increase and Bitcoins will be there to fill the needs of such businesses.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-10-04/why-bitcoin-not-likely-be-currency-future