Cryptocurrency, Next-Gen Currency? Money Talks – Let’s Talk About IT

Let’s Talk About IT: Cryptocurrency, Next-Gen Currency?

Cryptocurrency: What is it? Where did it come from? Is it here to stay? Could this be our next generation’s currency? LET’S TALK ABOUT IT.

Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain—-The beginning of the end of an era?

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency created and regulated by the use of advanced methods of encryption known as cryptography. Cryptocurrency made the leap with the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 from being an abstract idea to (virtual) truth. Cryptocurrencies of all kinds make use of blockchain-called distributed ledger technology. Blockchains act as decentralized networks to record and register transactions involving a specific digital currency that take place. Blockchain is essentially a transaction ledger that maintains identical copies inside a network across each member device. The fact that the ledger is spread over each part of the network helps to make the blockchain’s protection simpler.

Although in late 2017 and early 2018, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies became highly popular among the general financial and investment worlds, they have since become more of a niche field for enthusiasts of cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology, however, remains a fast-growing field of development for businesses across a variety of industries. Blockchain technology may finally be seen as the most significant innovation to emerge from the cryptocurrency boom.

The value in the blockchain

Parties may be able to access previous ledger entries and record new entries depending on the blockchain, but most blockchain networks have complicated rules for attaching new record classes, “blocks,” to the chain of previous records. Strong cryptography protects the blocks and the contents within them, ensuring that previous transactions within the network cannot be either forged or lost. In this way, blockchain technology makes a digital currency without relying on a central authority to establish a trustworthy transaction network. It is for this reason that “decentralized” digital currencies are considered.

We’ll take a closer look at the blockchain below to see why this platform might be of use to companies of all kinds.

• Blockchain technology has the ability to offer a much quicker and cheaper alternative to conventional methods of a cross-border payment.
• Smart contracts are also used as a highly efficient blockchain technology application. These contracts are essentially computer systems that, from facilitation to execution, will oversee all aspects of an agreement.
• Identity protection has become one of the most controversial consequences of the internet era. The potential for transforming the way that online identity management takes place has already been demonstrated by Blockchain technology.
• For several organizations across several sectors, a well-functioning, reliable supply chain is a key to success. In several industries, blockchain technology has already been used as a way to keep track of supply chains and ensure their performance. This could remove a difficult and critical mechanism from human work and the potential for error.

• Any of the restrictions that cryptocurrencies currently face, such as the fact that a computer crash can delete one’s digital wealth or that a virtual vault can be ransacked by a hacker, can be solved in time by technical advances. What will be more difficult to solve is the underlying paradox that cripple’s cryptocurrencies-the more successful they become, the more regulatory and government scrutiny they are likely to draw, eroding the basic premise of their life.

• While the number of retailers that embrace cryptocurrencies has risen gradually, they are still very much the minority. They must first gain widespread acceptance among consumers for cryptocurrencies to become more widely used. However, because they’re a novelty compared to traditional currencies, it would likely discourage most people, except for the technologically adept.

• A cryptocurrency that aspires to be part of the mainstream financial system which needs to follow requirements that are widely divergent. It will have to be mathematically complex (to prevent fraud and hacker attacks) but easy to understand for customers; decentralized but with sufficient security and protection for consumers; and to preserve user privacy without being a platform for tax evasion, money laundering and other nefarious activities.