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Cryptocurrencies stormed into the public consciousness in November 2013 when the price of just one bitcoin broke through the $1,200 level.
2013年11月，1比特币的价格突破了1200美元，加密货币就此闯入公众视野。
The activists promoting the new breed of people-issued money claimed it would replace inflationary central-bank currency, enabling consumers to bypass the high commission charges and regulatory restrictions of traditional banks.
推广这种个人发行新币种的倡议者声称，比特币将取代存在通胀性的央行货币，让消费者可以绕开传统银行业高昂的手续费和监管限制。
“It gives everyone in the world access to finance and the ability to transact with each other,” says Chris Ellis, one of the early supporters who always believed bitcoin’s potential was in democratising finance for millions of unbanked people. “The only barrier to entry is the use of a network-enabled digital device like a smartphone or a computer. “
“比特币为世界上每一个人都提供了一条金融渠道，使他们能够彼此交易，”比特币早期支持者之一克里斯•埃利斯(Chris Ellis)称，“唯一的进入门槛是要使用能联网的数字化设备，比如智能手机或电脑。”他当时一直相信比特币的潜力在于为数百万没有享受银行服务的人进行金融民主化。
But one year on, and despite growing popularity with retailers such as Expedia, Overstock and IBM, an FT look into digital currencies as part of the “Democratising Finance” series shows that things have not turned out as the community intended.
一年过去了，尽管比特币在Expedia、Overstock和IBM等零售商的人气日益高涨，但英国《金融时报》“金融民主化”系列报道中对数字货币的一项调查显示，事情并未按照比特币界人士预期的方向发展。
Bitcoin prices have collapsed in recent months. For most of January they traded below $250, incurring heavy losses for those who bought in at more frothy levels and challenging the profitability of the businesses involved.
最近几个月，比特币价格暴跌。在1月的多数时间内，比特币的交易价格低于250美元，使以更大泡沫价格水平购入的投资者蒙受沉重损失，对相关商家的盈利性构成挑战。
Message boards once filled with enthusiasts now feature critical voices that question the system’s long-term viability and structure.
曾挤满比特币热衷者的交流论坛如今充斥着批评的声音，质疑比特币系统的长期可行性及其架构。
Bitcoin was the brainchild of the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto presumed today to be the nom de plume of a group of secretive cryptologists.
比特币是中本聪(Satoshi Nakamoto)的智慧杰作，如今这个名字被认为是一群神秘密码学专家的笔名。
It was supposed to provide a way to sidestep third parties — banks and other foreign exchange providers — and create an alternative system that could essentially be run by users themselves.
比特币的发明，原本是为了提供一条途径以避开第三方机构——银行及其他外汇供应商——并创造一个本质上可以让用户自己运营的替代性金融系统。
But its anonymity gained it a reputation as the currency of choice for drug dealers and money launderers, while its volatility brought it to the attention of speculators.
但是，比特币系统的匿名性为其带来了毒品交易商或洗钱者首选货币的名声，同时该货币的波动性吸引了投机商的注意。
Gradually companies are starting to accept bitcoin but its use is limited to a few global corporations and some local businesses keen to jump on a trend.
慢慢地企业开始接受比特币，但其使用仍然局限于少数迫不及待地追随潮流的跨国公司和本土企业。
There are still concerns over whether mainstream adoption can ever happen in an environment where message-board commenters claim “consumer protection is non-existent” and where price volatility turns even a coffee purchase into an unpredictable expense.
不过，仍有人担忧，在留言板评论者声称“消费者保护从不存在”、价格波动甚至会让购买一杯咖啡都成为一笔不可预测的花销的环境下，主流市场接纳比特币的情形是否会发生。
The high-profile scandals of the past year have included the $620m collapse of the Tokyo-based currency exchange Mt Gox, the theft of $5m coins from Bitstamp, one of the key exchanges based in the UK, and several small-scale frauds, hacks and embezzlements that drain funds from users.
去年几宗引人注目的丑闻包括，位于东京的比特币交易所Mt Gox损失6.2亿美元破产、英国重要的交易所之一Bitstamp价值500万美元的比特币被盗，以及几起使用户遭受损失的小规模欺诈、黑客攻击和盗用案。
The bitcoin system processes about 100,000 transactions a day compared with Visa’s 150m. But only about 1 per cent of the bitcoin total represents actual buying and selling of goods and services, with the rest linked to spam, money laundering and double counting, according to Jeffrey Robinson, money laundering expert and author.
比特币系统每天处理约10万笔交易，与之相比，Visa每天处理1.5亿笔交易。但是，洗钱专家及作家杰弗里•罗宾逊(Jeffrey Robinson)表示，仅有1%的比特币与实际购买或出售物品或服务相关，而其他比特币则与垃圾邮件、洗钱和重复计算相关。
Most of all, the newly disillusioned bitcoin community is confused about how a system that was supposed to be decentralised and owned by no one has ended up being anything but.
最重要的是，刚刚幻想破灭的比特币界仍困惑于，为何一个本应去中心化且不被任何人拥有的系统，结果却完全没有做到这一点。
Tim Swanson, a consultant to the industry, says bitcoin is too complex to achieve that goal. Rather than eliminating the need for third-party agents, he says it has spawned a whole industry of people needed to process it.
该行业的顾问蒂姆•斯旺森(Tim Swanson)称，比特币太复杂，难以达成这一目标。他称，它没有消除对第三方代理的需求，反倒是催生了一整个行业的人，这些人是处理比特币所必需的。
“If you introduce third parties it defies the point . . . All it does is create an extra cost,” he says. “You just end up replicating the old system, but without the features that provide functionality for customer service.”
“如果你引入第三方，其意义便落空了……它所做的只是产生额外成本，”他称，“你最终也只是复制了旧系统，但却没有为客户服务提供功能性的特点。”
Bitcoin fees for users are low. But they are in effect subsidised by speculative buyers. If prices fall, Mr Swanson warns that fees will rise, making it less competitive versus traditional payment methods. He estimates that the true cost of each bitcoin transaction is $15-$20.
比特币对用户的收费低廉。但是它们实际上是得到了投机性买家的补贴。如果价格下跌，斯旺森警告称，费用将上涨，使比特币与传统支付方式相比竞争性降低。他估计，每笔比特币交易的实际费用在15-20美元之间。
The smart money, according to one developer of a rival system, was never invested in bitcoin directly but in the supporting infrastructure. These businesses could one day be redeployed to new and improved cryptocurrency systems or even to traditional currencies.
据一种竞争性系统的一名开发者称，内行的资金从来没有直接投资比特币，而是用于支持配套设施。这些业务有一天可以用于全新的、改进过的加密货币系统上，甚至是用在传统货币上。
Meanwhile, a growing number of bitcoin intermediaries are moving to work within the established financial market.
与此同时，越来越多的比特币中介正在转向成熟的金融市场。
Coinbase, the San Francisco-based start-up that lets people store, send and accept payment in bitcoins, has launched its own US dollar wallet service and broke records in January when it raised $75m from investors including the New York Stock Exchange and several banks.
位于旧金山的初创公司Coinbase允许用户储存和收付比特币，它推出了自己的美元钱包服务，并于1月从纽约证交所(NYSE)和一些银行等投资者筹得7500万美元，打破了比特币公司的融资纪录。
The presence of traditional financial services companies and figures was interpreted as an indicator of growing investor interest in mainstream applications of the digital currency.
外界将这笔融资中传统金融服务公司和大人物的加入，解读为表明投资者对主流市场采用这种数字化货币的兴趣日益增加。
But some banks worry the technology could become too expensive, especially if speculative flows are removed or the cost of regulation is factored in.
但是，一些银行担心，这种技术会变得太过昂贵，特别是在投机资金退出或把监管成本考虑在内的情况下。
Richard Brown, executive architect for banking industry innovation at IBM, says: “There are lots of claims made for this technology, many of which don’t stand up to scrutiny.”
IBM银行业创新执行设计师理查德•布朗(Richard Brown)称：“这项技术中有许多断言，但其中很多都经不起推敲。”
