经济学人:加密货币 新兴货币(2)

 　　Even before worries surfaced that the currency could split in two over the disagreement,  甚至在货币可能分裂成两种的担忧显露出来之前，

　　bitcoin holders¹ started to diversify² into some of the many other crypto-currencies, or “alt. coins”, to emerge in recent years. 比特币持有者就已经开始多元化到其他的加密货币，或者近年来出现的“山寨币”。

　　CoinMarketCap, a website, lists more than 800, from ArcticCoin, an obscure Russian currency, to ZCoin, which boasts added privacy. CoinMarketCap这个网站列出了超过800种货币，从ArcticCoin—一个不起眼的俄罗斯货币，到自称拓宽隐私的Zcoin。

　　The latest beneficiary is Ripple³, which saw its market value explode from $2bn early this month to over $13bn. 最新的受益人是Ripple，它见证了其市场价值由本月早期的20亿美元，骤增至超过130亿美元。

　　Ethereum, which issues “ether”, has jumped from $700m in January to $8.6bn. 以太坊，一个发行以太币的平台，已从一月的7亿美元跃升至86亿美元。

　　Ethereum's surge in turn helped inflate⁴ another bubble. 以太坊的激增反过来助长另一个泡沫。

　　Feeling richer, holders of ether started investing in what have come to be called initial coin offerings. 这种感觉更深，以太的持有人初始投资被称为ICO（ICO也是一种'公开发行'，只是把所发行的标的物由证券变成了数字加密货币）。

　　Startups sell “tokens”, sub-currencies of sorts, which exist on top of Ethereum. 初创公司出售“代币”，各种各样的子货币存在于以太坊内。

　　A total of 38 such ICOs have already been launched this year, raising more than $150m, according to Smith+Crown, a research firm. 通过一家研究公司Smith+Crown得知，今年共推出了38个这样的ICO，募集资金超过1.5亿美元。

　　This has lured⁵ even more money into crypto-currencies. 这诱使更多的资金涌入加密货币行列中。

　　Some of the gains have found their way back into bitcoin and alt.coins. 部分获益已经以其自己的方式回到比特币和山寨币。

　　Trading between crypto-currencies has grown tenfold to $2bn on average a day, says Erik Voorhees, the founder⁶ of ShapeShift, a crypto-to-crypto exchange. ShapeShift（一家进行加密密码交换的公司）的创始人Erik Voorhees指出，虚拟货币的交易平均每天增长10倍，达到20亿美元。

　　The question is not if but when the market will turn. 问题不在于市场何时会转向。

　　Even crypto-aficionados may run for the exits should bitcoin bifurcate⁷ or if one of the ICOs, which are completely unregulated, goes badly wrong—if issuers, for example, abscond⁸ with the money. 即便加密者可能因为比特币分叉而退出，又或者如果一个完全不受监管的ICOs系统出现严重错误，比如发行方携款潜逃。

　　Prices will also suffer should regulators start clamping down on such offerings. 如果监管机构开始取缔这些产品，价格也将受到冲击。

　　On the other hand, although it is now easy to buy crypto-currencies for real cash, selling big amounts can be hard—as the woes⁹ of Bitfinex and others show. 另一方面，根据Bitfinex和其他方面显示，尽管现在很容易用真实货币购买加密货币，出售大量加密货币是困难的。

　　This makes sudden outflows unlikely. 这使得突然流出不太可能。

　　And the price surges have shown how the crypto-currency system is no longer just about bitcoin. 而价格飙升已经显示了加密货币系统不再只是关于比特币。

　　Although it is still the biggest kid on the blockchain and functions, in effect, as a crypto-reserve currency, it now makes up under half the combined market capitalisation of all crypto-currencies. 它是一个算法上的最大欺骗。实际上，作为一个加密的储备货币，现在总市值的一半被加密。

　　Come a crash, they may not all fall. 即使崩溃，它们也可能不会完全下降。

1 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

2 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

3 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

4 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

5 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 bifurcate   

adj.二叉的，双峰的

参考例句：

• Drainage was to the north and individual channels bifurcate in that direction.整个水系向北排水,各个河道朝该方向分叉。
• Communicative and semantive translation bifurcate at a later stage of analytical or cognitive translation.交际翻译和语义翻译在认知翻译的后阶段分道扬镳。

8 abscond   

v.潜逃，逃亡

参考例句：

• Kenobi managed to kill Grievous，and abscond with his starfighter.克诺比试图击毙了格里沃斯，并拿他的战斗机逃跑了。
• You can not abscond from your responsibilities.你不能逃避你的职责。

9 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。