For the average millennial or at least anyone that pays attention to the business world, the term “cryptocurrency” would not seem like such a strange word. If that is, then the terms Bitcoin, Ethereum or at least Blockchain should ring a bell. One might wonder, why are these terms suddenly so prevalent, especially cryptocurrency news? Computing is getting rather pervasive and the society is leaning towards digital services. The finance world too isn’t spared as the disruption of technology into this sector has fostered the birth and development of Fintech organizations.
These Fintech organizations look to digitize payments and transactions, offering the same services that are currently in existence but in a better, efficient and more effective way.
Blockchain is the network upon which most of these cryptocurrencies operate on. The history of blockchain and bitcoin, in particular, does not have a definite story. In 2009, an individual or group of individuals known to be “Satoshi Nakomoto” developed and published the technology to allow people make digital payments between themselves anonymously without having an external party to verify or authorize the transfer of the currency being exchanged.
Although technologies like this might seem rather complex, understanding how Blockchain works is quite easy, given that one has a basic idea of how networks work. Blockchain is simply a database shared between several users, containing confirmed and secured entries. It is a network, where each entry has a connection to its previous entry.
This technology affords a very secure model whereby every record in the database cannot be tampered with. Apart from the stellar security that this network offers, the transparency and speed at which the network operates give it an edge over the conventional way of conducting transactions.
In simple terms, cryptocurrencies are just monies in digital form, transacted via digital means and over a digital network. The transfer of these currencies is utilized with cryptography and the aforementioned blockchain network. Up until the 2010s, cryptocurrencies were not really known until Bitcoin made its breakout and this gave rise to the birth of new cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies have had their fair share of bullish and bearish trends, going to show how unstable they can be. The latest cryptocurrency news reports lots of people predicting prices for various cryptocurrencies in the years to come but no-one can say for sure.
Blockchain, on the other hand, is making its way into pervasive computing, especially IoT, giving way for the development of new solutions that embrace data security and transparency.
IBM’s cross-border payments solution will facilitate instant clearing and settlement of all transactions using Stellar’s blockchain network.
Just few weeks after launching an XRP wallet, the hybrid payment platform Wirex is officially adding ethereum to the list of supported digital currencies.
Buterin talked about the Ethereum developer community is working on proposals to make gas payments in ETH at the protocol level, which could prevent the ETH price collapse.
There is a probability for the price to retest the support level of $0.024 before making uptrend movement towards the resistance level of $0.031.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, rejects the possibility of cryptocurrency replacing fiat money, but sees its future in cross-border payments.
While some experts are not very optimistic about the future of Bitcoin, some other believe that Bitcoin is likely to strengthen its positions.
According to Antonopoulos, ETFs, if thought of as instruments, allow investors to just speculate around the price of cryptocurrency but not actually hold them.
Owing to Abra’s support for SEPA bank accounts, European users will now be able to make direct transfers from European banks.
The technologies giant Microsoft is connecting its major products to blockchain. A number of Microsoft platforms has already been quietly linked to the technology.
The new features mainly focus on improving Bitcoin Core’s default wallet, its integration with hardware wallets, and improving the way private keys are stored.
The world’s most populous country has filed a prevail number of blockchain patent applications leaving the U.S. a poor second in the race for technology dominance.
The announcement comes just few months after Cloud giant Google introduced Bitcoin blockchain support for its BigQuery data analytics service.
The government of Tsukuba has tested a new online voting system based on the My Number identification system and blockchain technology.
With debate over the crypto regulation dominating the news, Mistertango – first crypto-friendly electronic payment provider, revealed that 88% of crypto exchanges, contrary to popular opinion, want regulation, seeing it essential for industry to mature.
DINNGO, a Singapore-based exchange, looks to solve the problem of deciding between cold and hot wallets with the help of Bluetooth integration.