Fans of bitcoin tout the digital currency as secure, anonymous and efficient. But wildly fluctuating exchange rates and charges recently in an alleged bitcoin Ponzi scheme in North Texas have put a spotlight on bitcoins risks.

Tyler Moore is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Southern Methodist University and he joins KERA's Justin Martin for a conversation on bitcoin.

Interview Highlights: Tyler Moore ...

... On bitcoinand cryptocurrency:

"Bitcoin is a currency just like dollars or euros or pounds, but its completely digital so theres no paper equivalent. To do that, you need to have some rules in place so that people cant willy-nilly copy the bits and steal each others bitcoins so thats where the crypto comes in you have some cryptography to protect against double spending and sort of enforce the rules of the system."

... On how to acquire bitcoin:

"So theres two main ways - the more esoteric way is to mine bitcoins, but if youre new to bitcoin the most common way is to go to a currency exchange, just like you would when you enter a new country, go the airport, go to the exchange, and provide your dollars and get whatever currency youd like. You can get to an online currency exchange and pay your dollars and whatever the current market rate is theyll give you the equivalent in bitcoin."

... On bitcoin's value:

"Its like any other digital commodity in that it finds its value in the people who use it. Which is one reason we see these huge fluctuations in that there can be wildly differing demands for the currency at a given time."

... On the McKinney Ponzi scheme:

Continued here:

Bitcoin: Behind The Cryptocurrency Curtain