Since its creation by ‘faceless’ Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, Cryptocurrency has been gaining a lot of attention as well as controversies. The issues hovering around this unique technology have thrived due to the decentralized system on which it operates, and the whole situation has not been helped by the insufficient knowledge people have garnered about this new trend.
One would have thought that, in a nation where activities revolving around get-rich-quick schemes have raised so much concern, Cryptocurrency will not even get the least of consideration. The reality however is that more and more persons seem to be getting attracted to the technology as the years pass by.
Once upon a time, cryptocurrencies [in form of Bitcoins] were seen as ‘insignificant’ as people could hardly see the value they hold. Such was the case when a box of pizzazz was exchanged for 10,000 Bitcoins; this same amount (of Bitcoins) is equivalent to over ₦22.1 billion in today’s market – a testament to how far Cryptocurrency has come.
The rise in the value of Bitcoins has been majorly down to increased acceptance world over. For instance, the Swiss government views Bitcoin to be a highly valuable tool for economic growth and top merchants such as Virgin Galactic, Microsoft, Reddit and Shopify to mention just a few are presently accepting Bitcoins as a means of payment for some products and services. With the stock of this digital currency rising, quite a good number of persons who had previously taken it to be a fraud, are now becoming more open to the technology.
Contrasting though, a number of companies [like technology giant, Google and several financial institutions] are making moves to clamp down on campaigns promoting cryptocurrencies. The reason for this is often said to be connected with the perceived insecurity that has been attributed to Bitcoins – since the technology, being a peer-to-peer network, permits transaction to go untraced. Some proponents have however accused these institutions of trying to protect their own business since the technology permits transactions to go ahead with the influence of any intermediary. Let me quickly chip in here that Cryptocurrency is not all about Bitcoin; this, I hope to shed some light on this later.
Although it is irrepressible to wave aside the security concerns linked to Bitcoins [especially when one recalls the hacking incident that resulted in the theft of over US$70 million worth of Bitcoins in 2017] but with the incorporation of the Blockchain technology, such events might be put in check to a very large extent. It is to this end that other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple and some digital currencies have been invented – Bitcoin however has the edge as it is more popular.
There is no denying the fact Cryptocurrency will keep evolving; it is definitely bound to bring about some structural changes in the financial market, and will revolutionize the way business transactions are completed in the nearest future. Notwithstanding, there is a need to exercise caution before venturing into trading cryptocurrencies as there are a whole lot of factors to weigh in on.