周一上午，比特币在芝加哥期权交易所的期货价格上涨了18%至超过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.
期货是一种买卖双方就将来某一日期交付的特定商品的价格达成一致的合约类型。期货合约几乎囊括了所有商品，例如小麦、大豆、黄金、石油、可可以及现在的比特币。
The demand for bitcoin futures slowed the trading in the Chicago exchange. At times, trading on the site was not available.
对比特币期货的热捧减慢了芝加哥交易所的交易速度。网上交易一度无法进行。
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.
比特币本身的价格已经从2017年初的1千美元飞速上涨。截至12月11日，它在比特币交易所Coindesk的交易价格为16511美元。
What is a bitcoin, anyway?
什么是比特币呢？
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.
比特币不同于任何受到政府以及国家银行背书的国家货币。它不是硬币或纸币，而是被储存为一行计算机代码。
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.
比特币跟现金类似，因为你在使用过程中无需像银行转账或信用卡一样验证你的真实身份。比特币交易者跟比特币一样是匿名的。
How is bitcoin created?
如何产生比特币？
Mining is the only way to create new bitcoin.
挖矿是创造新比特币的唯一途径。
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.
人们通过借助计算能力来验证其它用户的交易实现挖矿。他们接受比特币交换。这些比特币也可以在交易所中使用美元和其它货币进行买卖。
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.
这种活动被称之为区块链。区块链或者是比特币如何交换的全球记录可以防止任何人重复消费同一枚比特币。
How did bitcoin come to be?
比特币是怎么来的？
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.
关于2009年比特币的诞生仍然存在一些谜团。一位自称中本聪的匿名人士或组织在2008年10月的一份研究报告中描述了一种电子现金系统的概念。
The first bitcoin block was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009, with a reward of 50 bitcoin.
第一个比特币区块链是由中本聪在2009年一月创建的，回报是50个比特币。
Who is using bitcoin?
谁在使用比特币？
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一类的企业已经接受比特币付款。尽管如此，比特币的普及程度与现金或信用卡相比仍然很低。许多个人或企业不接受比特币付款。
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.
一些著名的银行高管曾经出言反对比特币。摩根大通银行的负责人杰米·戴蒙（Jamie Dimon）称之为欺诈。但是他的银行正在使用比特币背后的技术，即所谓的区块链来更准确地跟踪交易和资产。
I'm Jill Robbins.
我是吉尔·罗宾斯。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)