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.
Gem aims at development of cryptographically secured universal network of medical information.
Rolls Royce gets an opportunity to leverage Microsoft Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Intelligence Suite to further improve its aircraft services.
The major bitcoin exchange has finally received a license from the government of Luxembourg, thus becoming the first regulated digital currency trading platform in Europe.
The distributed ledger technology has to overcome a number of issues to achieve widespread usage by banks, according to a new study from Morgan Stanley.
The news doesn’t mean any possible inconvenience for developers as Valve will employ a third-party Bitcoin processor.
John Hancock Financial has started to use blockchain to find out how distributed ledger technology could reinvent established insurance industry processes.
The paper issued by the companies highlights possible advantages and challenges of adopting distributed ledger technologies to financial services.
The New York-based financial technology startup has expanded its global footprint through the acquisition of European blockchain startup, Elevence Digital Finance.
The bitcoin exchange is planning to get an electronic money license to offer its regulated bitcoin trading services for users across Europe.
Capgemini and Efma publish an annual report on Retail Banking that highlights points of view of banking customers and banking executives from around the world on FinTech.
Coinsecure focuses on establishment of reliable bitcoin trading platform and promotion of the cryptocurrency to Indian users.
The UK banking giant has presented the new smart contracts app designed to record and manage financial agreements among its clients.
Members of the EU Parliament will be given an opportunity to gain wider knowledge of the digital currency and technology behind it at the upcoming blockchain conference in Belgium.
The Singapore-based venture capital company has launched a new fund in an effort to boost investments in the blockchain technology startups.
R3 CEV has unveiled the news on the Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Conference in New York.