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.
The Hong Kong-based bitcoin trading platform has announced it is immediately leaving retail market in the United States because of challenging regulatory environment.
The value of bitcoin continues to break new records amid rising investor demand, while crytocurrency market cap reaches historic mark.
Despite some technological issues during the ICO, the startup has gained increased interest from investors who contributed huge amount of funds into the platform.
BitcoinIRA, the worlds first company which revolutionized retirement industry, attracts more and more investors despite all the associated risks and assets’ volatility.
Microsoft announces its new Coco Framework, compatible with all the ledgers, to tackle throughput, latency, governance and confidentiality issues.
Cryptocurrency wallet and exchange services provider became the first unicorn in the bitcoin industry, after completing its new fundraising round.
The latest update about Monkey Capital’s ICO and Waves Platform.
Goldman Sachs has published answers to FAQs about cryptocurrencies as it’s getting harder for institutional investors to ignore their rise.
Stremio will provide its video entertainment platform for AdEx, an advertising platform that aims to ensure fairness and transparency for advertisers and publishers.
Bitstamp, one of the last major cryptocurrency exchanges to add Ether, confirms its intention to eventually launch it starting from August, 17.
ETHLend, a decentralized p2p lending application, announces pre-ICO to develop a lending market open for people globally using blockchain technology.
Bitcoin exchange BTC-e has just published a new update about its plans on how to refund all the money to its users after it was shuttered by U.S. authorities in late July.
The financial services corporation has announced a trial of the new option that will allow users to manage their cryptocurrency investment portfolios via the platform.
How the decentralised digital exchange is not so much making waves as it is shipwrecking it’s own green-ticked tokens.
A bitcoin network update, defined as Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 141 (BIP141), is expected to be locked in once the signaling period is completed.