Last time I was here (two weeks ago; how’ve you been?) I briefly mentioned Bitcoin, an emerging internet currency I didn’t understand at all but via which I had nonetheless made a bit of money (£57). Since then, I’ve been reading up and the whole thing has gone supernova, largely thanks to the extent that the EU is dicking around with real money in Cyprus. God, but I’m just bang on trend, aren’t I? Good old me.
　　上次簡單地提起過比特幣，之前不是很瞭解這種新興互聯網貨幣，但因為它，我確實賺了一點兒小錢（57歐元）。從那時起，我已經讀了很多資料，發現這是一個超新星現象，而這更多歸功於歐盟處理賽普勒斯的真實貨幣時的猥瑣行為。上帝啊，我現在算是追上潮流了吧？噢以前我真落伍哪。

　　So. The first thing you need to know about Bitcoin is that it’s a peer-to-peer, digitised crypto-currency. No, please, don’t stop reading. Just hold that one in your mind while we talk about the second and third things you need to know about Bitcoin, which are far more exciting. For example, you can buy drugs with it! I mean, sure, you can buy plenty of other stuff, too, but I’m really not sure anybody actually does. According to one study, Silk Road, the main ‘buy drugs with Bitcoin’ website, has a monthly turnover of around a million quid. And thirdly — you’ll like this one, you capitalist Spectator types — its value is rocketing. A month ago — out of interest, rather than a desire for heroin, Mum — I bought £100 of Bitcoin. Two weeks ago, like, I said, it was worth £157. Today, it’s worth £213. Interested yet?
　　好啦。你要知道的第一個關於比特幣不得不知道的是，它是點對點（P2P）的電子加密貨幣。噢，來，請繼續讀下去。記住上面那點，然後我們才能討論第二點、第三點,你不得不知道的比特幣常識，會讓你更興奮哦。第三點是——你會喜歡的，像你這種財迷心竅的《旁觀者》讀者——它的價值正在狂飆。一個月前我買了100歐元的比特幣。差不多到兩周以前，大概那麼久後，它價值是157歐元了。今天，它值213歐元了。感興趣了吧？

　　Actually, the second and third things aren’t as important as I made out. Mnyeh, drugs, you can buy them anywhere. And, sure, Bitcoin is bullish at the moment, but the value notoriously bounces all over the place (in 2010 somebody spent 10,000 of them on a pizza, a sum which would today make that pizza worth £465,368). So, no, far more interesting than the drugs and riches is the core idea, which is this peer-to-peer crypto business. For the non-tech-savvy among us, this basically means it’s not quite like any other currency we’ll have ever used. It doesn’t have a central bank. Nobody is in charge. A Bitcoin is a thing that simply exists, like gold.
　　事實上，上述的第二點和第三點與我的發現比較起來並不是很重要。肯定的是，比特幣目前是看漲的，在所有地方，最近它的價值反彈得極為搶眼（2010年有人花了一萬歐元買了個披薩餅，到今天，這個披薩可是總價值達到 465,368歐元了）。所以，毒品和致富微不足道，最重要的是這個核心理念——即點對點的加密物的商機。我們這些人不是技術極客，這意味著對於我們來說，這個是和其他貨幣極不同的東西。它沒有一個中央銀行。沒人監管。簡單而言，一個比特幣就是自然存在的東西，就像黃金一樣。

　　Of course, it’s not entirely like gold because it also, well, doesn’t. You don’t hold a Bitcoin in your hand. It’s a string of code, wibbling around in cyberspace. In theory, though, this does not — should not; probably might not — reduce the whole concept to a tenuous, fragile, corruptible Ponzi scheme. Exactly why is hard to get your head around, but it’s basically maths. A Bitcoin is a number, and you can’t just make up another number, because — bear with me here — there’s a limited number of those numbers. New ones have to be discovered, and only can be discovered at a certain rate. This can be lucrative, but also expensive, because you need a vast computer to do the data crunching. And, being peer-to-peer, the software that makes this all happen is everywhere. You couldn’t switch it off, anymore than you could the internet itself.
　　當然，它和黃金並不是一回事，因為它，呃，總之不是。你沒法把比特幣拿到手。這是一行字串代碼，在網路空間裡遊蕩著。不過，理論上來講，這並不會——也不應該，或不大可能——把這個概念弱化為脆弱的、易碎的、可垮掉的龐氏騙局。要向你解釋得一清二楚並不容易，不過它的本質是從數學出發的。一個比特幣是一串數字，你偽造不了另一串數字，因為——別嫌我嘮叨——這樣的字串在數量上是有限的。要去發現新的，而且發現率是一定範圍內的。這很賺錢，但成本也很高，因為你必須要有一台強悍的電腦去運算資料。另外，因為是點對點的，這個軟體使它可能會在任何地方出現。你關不掉它，連互聯網本身也做不到。

　　At least, that’s the idea. The whole thrust behind Bitcoin is that it removes the need for trust in currency; trust in bankers, trust in governments, trust that the two won’t collude to do you over, like they did with everybody in Cyprus. Whereas actually, because most of us can’t begin to understand the maths that all these very clever programmer types insist is at the heart of the whole project, I suspect the true alternative is just outsourcing your trust to them. Still, there are apparently a lot of programmer types, and everything they do is being scrutinised by other programmer types, because none of them have anything better to do, because they don’t have girlfriends. So I’m not sure that’s necessarily unwise. You might call it the morality of crowds. I think it’s the future.
　　差不多了，就是這個概念。比特幣的推動力在於它移除了對貨幣的信任，對銀行家的信任，對政府的信任，相信後述二者不會設局來陷害你，就像他們對賽普勒斯的民眾的所作所為。再考慮到，因為我們大多數人都無法理解這些非常聰明的程式師不懈地往這個項目心臟裡寫進的演算法是什麼，我懷疑它之所以真正成為替代品僅僅就是因為我們把信任轉寄了到它們身上。不過，因為程式師本身就有多種類型，而且他們的成果會被其他類型的程式師審視，因為這些人是光棍，他們沒什麼更好的事情來做。所以我不確定這並非不明智。你可以將之看作為群體的智慧。我認為這就是未來。

　　Bitcoin is endlessly fascinating, in a conspiratorial sort of way. It was invented by somebody who called himself Satoshi Nakamoto (which was almost certainly a fake name) and then disappeared. Most likely he was a group of people, most of whom have probably profited quite nicely. But at heart, this was always a political project, rather than an economic one. Because the truly fascinating aspect of Bitcoin is not the thing itself (which may well get hacked one day, or otherwise collapse and fall apart) but the concept behind it.
　　雖然帶有陰謀論的光彩，比特幣仍然真是無比的迷人。它由一個自稱名為中本聰的人（這是幾乎可以肯定是假的名字）發明的，然後發明人就消失了。他極有可能是一個小組，可能大部分成員得到了很好的收益。而本質上，它永遠是一個政治項目，而不算是一個經濟項目。因為比特最迷人的部分不是它自身（總有一天它會被黑掉，或者總會垮掉，然後崩解），而是它背後的概念。

　　Soon, whether via Bitcoin or whatever comes next, it will be possible to strip banking away from bankers, and money away from governments. Anecdotally, many suggest that the recent surges in Bitcoin value have had a lot to do with the seizing of bank accounts in Cyprus, with people in other wobbly eurozone banking systems (chiefly Spain) looking for a cheap and easy way to send their money somewhere else. Whether or not this is quite true (it could just be the result of hype, bollocks and credulous fools like me), Bitcoin is certainly a cheap and easy way to move money around the globe. And sure, when you buy them or sell them, traditional banking and taxation structures can get their claws into you. But what if you didn’t have to?
　　以後，不管是比特幣或是其它東西，它都是把銀行業從銀行家身上剝奪，把金錢和政府鬆綁。有趣的是，許多人認為，最近比特幣價值的激增和對賽普勒斯的銀行帳戶的掠奪以及搖搖若墜的歐元系統（主要是西班牙）有很大的關係，他們想要一個廉價、便捷的管道來花掉他們的錢。不管這是不是真的（也可能僅僅是炒作、胡說八道和像我這種輕信的笨蛋的傳播的結果），比特幣絕對是地球上轉移金錢的一個廉價且快捷的方法。可以肯定的是，當你購買或出售比特幣時，傳統的銀行業和稅務系統絕對會把爪子伸向你。但就算你不買賣比特幣就可以避免嗎?

　　There’s a whole emerging political philosophy here, similar to the crypto-anarchism of the likes of Julian Assange. It’s about individuals having the power of governments; having their own secrets (the crypto part) that governments can’t crack. It’s appealing for any hardcore libertarian, but it’s going to have its costs. When democracy stops being about the group and becomes about the individual, and when you are literally empowered to pay and get paid without anybody knowing but you, what happens to the state that needs your taxes to survive?
　　這完全是一個新興的政治理念，有點像地下無政府主義，就是朱利安•阿桑奇那種。這是關於個體如何擁有政府的權力，如何擁有政府無法破解的秘密（即加密部分）。任何一個鐵杆的自由主義者都會受此觸動的，但有代價。當民主不再是關於群體而是關於個體，當你賦予自己權力，在無人所知時去支付和購買，那麼這個需要你的納稅來生存的國家將會如何？

　　Buggered if I know, but it’s probably bad. Still, at least I’m £113 up. Heroin all round.
　　我雖然沒什麼根據去猜測，但它可能會是糟糕的。