VOA慢速英語：比特幣期貨價格大漲

Bitcoin Futures Rise on Financial Exchange Trading

比特幣期貨價格大漲

The future prices of bitcoin increased 18 percent to more than $18,000 on Monday morning on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

周一上午，比特幣在芝加哥期權(quán)交易所的期貨價格上漲了18%至超過18000美元。

Futures are a type of contract in which a buyer and a seller agree on a price for a particular item to be delivered on a date in the future. Future contracts are available for nearly everything that can be sold such as wheat, soy, gold, oil, cocoa and, now, bitcoin.

期貨是一種買賣雙方就將來某一日期交付的特定商品的價格達成一致的合約類型。期貨合約幾乎囊括了所有商品，例如小麥、大豆、黃金、石油、可可以及現(xiàn)在的比特幣。

The demand for bitcoin futures slowed the trading in the Chicago exchange. At times, trading on the site was not available.

對比特幣期貨的熱捧減慢了芝加哥交易所的交易速度。網(wǎng)上交易一度無法進行。

The price of a bitcoin itself has gone up from $1,000 at the beginning of 2017. As of December 11, it was $16,511 on the bitcoin exchange Coindesk.

比特幣本身的價格已經(jīng)從2017年初的1千美元飛速上漲。截至12月11日，它在比特幣交易所Coindesk的交易價格為16511美元。

What is a bitcoin, anyway?

什么是比特幣呢?

Bitcoin is different from other national currencies that are supported by governments and national banks. It is not a coin or printed on paper. It is stored as a line of computer code.

比特幣不同于任何受到政府以及國家銀行背書的國家貨幣。它不是硬幣或紙幣，而是被儲存為一行計算機代碼。

Bitcoin is similar to cash because you can spend it without using your real identity, as you do with a bank transfer or credit card. People who want to buy and sell anonymously like bitcoin.

比特幣跟現(xiàn)金類似，因為你在使用過程中無需像銀行轉(zhuǎn)賬或信用卡一樣驗證你的真實身份。比特幣交易者跟比特幣一樣是匿名的。

How is bitcoin created?

如何產(chǎn)生比特幣?

Mining is the only way to create new bitcoin.

挖礦是創(chuàng)造新比特幣的唯一途徑。

People "mine" bitcoin by lending computing power to verify other users' transactions. They receive bitcoins in exchange. The coins also can be bought and sold on exchanges with U.S. dollars and other currencies.

人們通過借助計算能力來驗證其它用戶的交易實現(xiàn)挖礦。他們接受比特幣交換。這些比特幣也可以在交易所中使用美元和其它貨幣進行買賣。

This activity is called a blockchain. The blockchain, or global record of how bitcoin is exchanged, prevents anyone from spending the same bitcoin more than one time.

這種活動被稱之為區(qū)塊鏈。區(qū)塊鏈或者是比特幣如何交換的全球記錄可以防止任何人重復(fù)消費同一枚比特幣。

How did bitcoin come to be?

比特幣是怎么來的?

There is still some mystery about the creation of bitcoin in 2009. An anonymous person or group that used the name Satoshi Nakamoto described the idea of an electronic cash system in a research paper in October 2008.

關(guān)于2009年比特幣的誕生仍然存在一些謎團。一位自稱中本聰?shù)哪涿耸炕蚪M織在2008年10月的一份研究報告中描述了一種電子現(xiàn)金系統(tǒng)的概念。

The first bitcoin block was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009, with a reward of 50 bitcoin.

第一個比特幣區(qū)塊鏈是由中本聰在2009年一月創(chuàng)建的，回報是50個比特幣。

Who is using bitcoin?

誰在使用比特幣?

Some businesses, such as Overstock.com, have accepted payments in bitcoin. Still, its popularity is low compared with cash and credit cards. Many individuals and businesses will not accept bitcoins for payments.

像Overstock.com一類的企業(yè)已經(jīng)接受比特幣付款。盡管如此，比特幣的普及程度與現(xiàn)金或信用卡相比仍然很低。許多個人或企業(yè)不接受比特幣付款。

Some well-known banking executives have spoken against bitcoin. Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan Chase Bank called it a "fraud." But his bank is starting to use the technology behind bitcoin, known as blockchain, to more accurately track trading and assets.

一些著名的銀行高管曾經(jīng)出言反對比特幣。摩根大通銀行的負責人杰米·戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)稱之為欺詐。但是他的銀行正在使用比特幣背后的技術(shù)，即所謂的區(qū)塊鏈來更準確地跟蹤交易和資產(chǎn)。

I'm Jill Robbins.

吉爾·羅賓斯報道。