I called out the price fluctuations breathlessly to my wife, who gently encouraged me not to be an idiot, before returning to her magazine. Rather than a currency, bitcoin is being treated more like an asset, with the hope of reaping great returns in the future. Bitcoin miners are no longer a profitable investment for new Bitcoin users. The ATMs let you exchange bitcoin for cash, or vice versa by scanning a QR code from the digital wallet application on your phone. Mining, which could once be done on the average home computer is now only done profitably in specialized data centers. Real investments — like stocks, bonds, and apartment buildings — generate real income: bonds pay interest, stocks pay dividends, and apartments pay rental income.