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.
After the termination of its bitcoin wallets, Coinkite is going to focus on hardware-based bitcoin products and services.
Two analysts from the New York Federal Reserve Bank examined bitcoin price issues on major cryptocurrency exchanges.
Masters’s Digital Asset Holding is working together with Australian exchange ASX to develop a new securities settlement platform on the basis of the blockchain.
BitPay’s chief executive expressed his view on how to solve the problem of bitcoin block size limit.
Wirex offered its customers a reliable, easy and low-cost way to but bitcoin with the world’s largest online payment system PayPal.
RSK Labs plans to launch smart contracts platform as a sidechain on the bitcoin blockchain, following $1 million investment round.
According to Elliptic, it will use the investment for combating illegal bitcoin deals.
Coinbase recently announced that stop orders are now available on Coinbase Exchange. Stop orders allow customers to buy or sell bitcoin at a specified price.
Following four-month Coinbase integration pilot program, the largest financial group has launched an option to allow US military personnel check their account balances.
Wirex Limited has introduced the first two-way bitcoin debit card to enable users purchase the virtual currency and send their funds to anywhere around the world.
Both companies strive to benefit in the fintech industry with own initiatives.
If Overstock.com fulfils the public offering it plans, its shareholders will get an opportunity to buy blockchain or traditional stock.
Ping21 looks like the simplest possible example of grid-based computation.
The new wave of partnerships includes financial services platform and decentralized prediction market platform in particular.
The R3 innovation group has announced a partnership with Japan’s largest financial group to explore the blockchain technology.