Digital Currency: The Future of Bitcoin
“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement, the ability to create something which is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value” – Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google (Millet) Bitcoin is a fascinating subject to analyze as it is a strange and unfamiliar concept. The idea of a solely digital currency has some fairly interesting uses. The basis of how this cryptocurrency operates is beyond what most individuals can understand. Despite its complexity, recently Bitcoin’s has gained a lot of publicly as entities such as the mainstream media, investors, and even criminals have started to see the possibilities of adopting a digital currency. However, the intent of this essay is to evaluate the
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Since then, the currency quickly expanded and exchanges started to emerge. There are currently over 40 exchanges in which individuals can exchange major physical currencies for Bitcoins to include, but not limited to the US Dollar, Euro, Yen, and Pound. This new decentralized online currency is largely based on the role and idea of gold and silver (Nakamoto 3). However, the process of how the exchange of bitcoins for goods and services is far more complicated than giving someone gold. The whole transaction process is based on a system called the blockchain. The blockchain, in very simple terms, is essentially a fully public ledger, which is maintained by the Bitcoin network. In order to explain how the process works, it’s best to give an example. Let’s say that person A wishes to send bitcoins to person B. Person A verifies where the bitcoin are being sent to as well has how many. Using public and private keys associated with both individuals’ accounts, the digital information of both parties is encrypted. This encrypted data is called a transaction (Nakamoto 2). Then, this transaction, as well as roughly 100 other transaction are pushed to the bitcoin network and packaged into what is called a block (Nakamoto 2-3). The network of computers then analyzes the block of data to validate that the mathematics of the encryptions make sense by essentially plugging in random numbers and
Bitcoin, an electronic currency, is currently one of the most valuable forms of money that can be obtained, yet maintaining the entire bitcoin network requires an absurd amount of electricity and resources. This electricity is all used for the sole purpose of creating and exchanging money that doesn’t even exist for various real world items with value. Bitcoin demonstrates what occurs when you take the concept of money and take it to the extreme with large groups of people arguing over something that is not only has an entirely self defined value, but is also a large drain on the Earth’s resources. These arguments demonstrate another flaw with the concept of money bringing people happiness which is that if everyone is fighting over money, is it really bringing any of them
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that serves as a medium of exchange with no central authority and was created to prevent the issue of double spending. This problem is solved with the use of blockchains where miners confirm transactions on a public ledger. As of today, there are over 1,000 different types of cryptocurrencies, and at least 600 of these have listed market caps of over $100,000. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin are top cryptocurrencies trading today with their combined market cap topping $331B. Bitcoin, created in 2009, is the biggest cryptocurrency and has recently reached a net value of over $270 billion, with much of its growth being in the last few months. This has led to much
Considering vastness of the study and limitations of words and understanding, the author has tried to cover most of the parameters to judge the Australian economy in relation to the global economy trends and its implications. However, some of the newer areas of economic development have not been covered, specially in relation to the Australian economy. One of the most economically disruptive phenomenon is that of Bitcoin and its implications on the global economy. There are several other parameters and phenomenon that could not be covered by the Author in relation to limitation of time and words.
Consumers tend to be comfortable with virtual transactions and they also prefer payments using electronic systems to cash. There is an increase of accessing personal information to online platform (DeVries, 2016). However, the awareness of customer is likely to be a limiting factor for cryptocurrency to adapt into monetary market. According to Consumer Cryptocurrency Survey, there is only 6% of participants “very” familiar with cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin (PwC 's Financial Services Institute, 2015).
Some people only knew blockchain as the causal technology behind the always controversial digital currency Bitcoin. Yet, blockchain technology is so much, much more; it's unbelievably innovative and its potential is extensive to say the least. Much like the internet of today, there’s no need for you to know how this technology works to use
Cryptocurrencies are “a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank” (google dictionary). Cryptocurrencies are very efficient, reduce risks, and simplify/accelerate legal relations. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies have more security than a normal bank and have no use of credit or debit cards. If a legal problem were to happen were a hacker where to hack into an account and steal someone's money, then the administrators can trace the money to the person who stole it and give them back their money. Cryptocurrencies as time goes on also become more and more valuable like for example $100 worth of bitcoins in 2010 is now worth 75
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (also called the Law of Entropy) states that, generally, the universe moves from order and structure to a state of disorder. What we witness around is staggering complexity. Complexity has found its way into economics too. Eric Beinhocker, the author of “The Origin of Wealth”, estimates that in New York City alone, there are some 10 billion SKUs, or distinct commodities, being traded in a day. This is why, when an invention as simple as bitcoins was created, it made the economy uneasy. Over the past years, there has been an increase in interst in the cryptocurrency system by financial institutions and governments. However, their position is typically stated by “I like blockchain but not bitcoin.”
The most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has surpassed a $5k USD market value on October 12th. People who boarded the bandwagon early are now rejoicing on their fruitful intuition. After several years of unfulfilled promises, the cryptocurrency market has shown huge growth in the past couple of months.
We take the position that digital currencies are a fad. As argument, we try to clarify the definition of currency in general and explain what a "digital currency" really mean. Than we examine the arguments for the digital currencies and at the end we present the evidences of perils of digital currency.
The hidden power behind cryptocurrency is blockchain technology, which is as tough to recognize as it is to discuss. There are definitely in-depth descriptions of exactly how blockchains work offered, yet generally, each is built on an openly
Bitcoin has no value of its own contrary to what many argue. Its value is derived by the number of people adopting it and pouring their money into the BTC ecosystem. Investments by deep-pocketed investors like Winklevoss twins (estimated BTC stake around 11 million USD back in April), Chamath Palihapitiya, ex-Facebook executive and early employee, who has already dropped $5 million into BTCs and has plans to invest another $10 million are the reasons for skyrocketing price of bitcoins [3] [4]. Add to this, the publicity and trust in the system they are generating. Bitcoin's future potential was a hot topic this October at emTech, an MIT conference on emerging technologies [5]. Considering BTCs more as a start-up rather than a currency, its growth curve makes more sense but unlike a start-up it’s not generating any value itself but gaining people’s trust. And that’s what gives it value.
Nowadays, the Internet has implemented great impacts on people’s life, and it also has changed the business world significantly. In order for companies to cope up with the changing customer demands, they must adopt new technologies not only to support their business functions but also to reduce paper works, reduce costs, and provide better services. Bitcoin is a currency of the Internet, distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money that be developed as a new payment method. In Australia, the regulator has defined Bitcoin as property instead of currency for accounting purposes (King, 2015 February). Although Bitcoins are not materially existed, it can be exchanged for goods and services at places that accept it, the same way you would give someone a dollar for a cookie.
Litecoin – is the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of capitalization in the market today. It reached a market cap of $1 billion by the end of the year, 2013. The litecoin was primarily created as an improvement to the Bitcoin, the market leader. Among the added features are - mining capabilities with the use of an ordinary desktop computer, faster processing time (2.5 minutes versus 10 minutes for Bitcoin), and a maximum limit (84 million versus 21 million) which is four times more than Bitcoin, its leading rival.
Digital coins are not controlled by any government or an organization. That means even criminals use cryptocurrency so that the government cannot trace their leads. And this property made is popular. It has already created numerous scams all round the world and many investors loose thousands of dollars because of this disadvantage.
It’s important to note that since Bitcoins are produced without the involvement of governments or banks, they avoid taxes. Lastly, the cap of 21 million bitcoins has driven the value of a single coin up as shown by the below graph depicting expected growth of coins over time.