Do you remember what took place in August 2008? The 29th Olympic Games opened in Beijing and the domain Bitcoin.org was registered. In January 2009 Slovakia officially became the 16th member of the Eurozone and adopted the euro; also that month the Bitcoin Network came into existence.
Technology is changing money. We are moving away from commodity based [physical] value, and moving towards network based [digital] value. Fiat [no intrinsic value]money has major problems. Credit Cards first appeared in 1946 – technology has barely changed. Worldwide people are using less cash to pay. In 2017 debit card transactions exceeded cash payments for the first time.
Credit and debit cards remain popular BUT are increasingly being used via smartphones.
Smartphones and digital transactions now go hand in hand.
Digital currency and fiat currency already co-exist but digital currency will only continue to grow.
Blockchain is the future of transactions:
- Blockchain is a mutual distributed ledger the keeps digital assets completely secure – creating new possibilities for money
- It removes the risk of theft, hacking and duplication
- It allows people everywhere to transact safely and securely
- The system is a reliable way to validate digital transactions transparently and globally
- By 2020 Dubai plans to conduct all government business by Blockchain.
- 80% of the world’s banks are developing their own blockchains.
Satoshi Nakamoto is widely credited as the inventor of Bitcoin however he also created the first Blockchain in 2008 – which is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. The first work on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks was described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta.
“…one of the biggest IT inventions of our time”
TheGuardian.com
Bitcoin began it all though it does have limitations and is steadily losing market share. As the prototype – like all first inventions, what follows is more advanced. Think about the phone you had before your first smart phone.
Early adopters have made millions – despite its well publicised fall in value it is still worth an amazing $3,500. From a $0.03 start.
How widely used is Bitcoin today?
- A growing number of firms are offering services to the new adopters encompassing advice on when to buy and sell and which currencies to trade – Bitcoin being the primary asset. Despite being around for over 10 years Bitcoin is still only accepted by 400,000 merchants worldwide.
- Today you can pay in cryptocurrency using a Visa and MasterCard; the merchant suffers no horrendous fees, benefits from a hack free transaction and receives payment in his/her preferred currency.
- Business owners may now gain extra income by encouraging their customers to pay in crypto.
- Those fed up with less than 1% pa on their savings may consult a myriad of opportunities where returns of 1.5% every day are not uncommon.
- In March 2010 Hurt Locker won best film at the Oscars and Bitcoin was worth $0.03.
- In February 2011 the Arab Spring saw Hosni Mubarak resign as Egypt’s President and Bitcoin was worth $1.00.
