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.
Bank of Japan conducted its first FinTech Forum focused on the impact of fintech on financial services.
Japanese financial services providers have formed a consortium targeted at creating new types of payment and settlement platforms using Ripple.
Financial Conduct Authority encourages companies to develop the blockchain technology and adapt it to financial services.
The next version 0.13.0 of the bitcoin core is set to be released in the upcoming weeks, while Bitcoin.org warned that it might be targeted by government hackers.
Gnosis, a forecasting service that will allow people to find out what will happen in the future, is planned to be launched in beta.
The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report by Gartner has focused on three key technologies that will dominate in the coming years.
French airplanes manufacturer, Airbus, officially joined the Hyperledger Project, a blokchian intitative launched by the Linux Foundation almost a year ago.
Over a weekend ago, a collective of anonymous hackers released malware they say owned by the Equation Group, a hacking team that is believed to be the National Security Agency’s affiliate.
On Friday, World Economic Forum released a new report on the blockchain technology and how it will change the future of the financial services infrastructure.
The opening of dark pools will allow institutional investors executing large trades outside the exchange.
A group of banks, including HSBC and Bank of America, have created a new blockchain solution that will help to streamline the process of global trade.
The trials resulted in the development of two promising prototypes aimed to prove that shared ledger technology is a digital alternative for trade financing.
The Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange has informed it will restore trading and withdrawing services a week after it faced a cyber attack that resulted in a loss of $75 million in bitcoins.
Users can interact and send money to each other in the new Bitwala messenger.
The Department of Economic Development of the Isle of Man has teamed up with Credits startup to test how the technology behind bitcoin can improve the safety of IoT objects.