For those of you that don’t know, Bitcoins are a form of currency that originated on the Internet way back in early 2009 and were worth only a few cents. Their value skyrocketed to over $1,000 earlier this year. Bitcoins are currently valued at $874*.

If you have never heard of Bitcoins before reading this, and even if you have, you may have a few questions including: “How do I get Bitcoins?” and “Is it a real currency if no country uses it?” Well to answer the first questions, there are quite a few ways to get Bitcoins, and most of them are the same way you get any currency, you can be paid in Bitcoins, given them, trade them, buy them, or even mine them. To answer the second question, it wouldn’t be, but there is a country that does recognize Bitcoins as a Private Currency and that country is Germany.  Germany has become the first country to legally recognize Bitcoins as a legitimate currency. This is both good and bad for Bitcoins and Bitcoin users. First, the good, this may end up adding the the popularity of Bitcoins, and thus their value, as well as adding to their legitimacy. Now the bad–being recognized by a government may open to door to more regulation and taxes, both things that Bitcoins have been free from.

*As of the writing of this article