Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Economics - Monetary theory and policy, grade: 2,3, University of Paderborn (Economics), course: Master, language: English, abstract: This paper examines whether characteristics and functions of money can be applied to Bitcoin. By publishing the whitepaper of Bitcoin in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto started the story of Bitcoin. It is not just a question whether Bitcoin works as promised to as "a peer-to-peer decentralized virtual currency". It is much more a question of it being accepted by people in general. The fact that various forms and definitions of money have existed throughout history, an approach to apply characteristics and functions of money to Bitcoin is needed, in order to clarify if it can be seen as an alternative form of money. However, due to the fact that sovereign states have already established rules and regulations in regard to currencies and money, the institutions will also assess how to essentially classify Bitcoin, as it is already too big to be ignored.