A new study has found that cryptocurrency markets and initial coin offerings (ICO) are now the primary sources of revenue for at least 46 companies operating in the financial technology sector. Visit The official trading platform for more information on bitcoin trading.
The idea that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin would revolutionize finance and lead to a massive redistribution of wealth first emerged during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis when governments across the world bailed out large banks.
Since then, a growing number of people have come to believe that cryptocurrencies will denationalize money and return monetary control to individuals.
7 Positives of bitcoin that benefits the fintech industry
1. Faster transaction
According to the Bank for International Settlements data, the bitcoin network can process transactions much faster than traditional payment processors like Visa.
” One of its functions serves as a kind of counterparty for central banks in their financial
transactions.
2. Security
Two critical features are built into the bitcoin protocol to ensure security. First, each block contains the preceding block’s hash (or fingerprint) within it.
This has two effects – first, it makes tampering apparent because altering even one block would also change the block’s hash that came before it.
Second, changing the order of transactions is very difficult because you would also have to calculate and recalculate all subsequent hashes, including the last block in the chain (hence “blockchain”).
3. No intermediaries
An autonomous system of devices verifies Bitcoin operations cryptographically.
In other words, there’s no need to place your trust in a bank or payment processor – you don’t have to pay high fees for the safety and peace of mind that comes with financial institutions acting as intermediaries during transactions.
4. No single point of attack
By directly broadcasting transactions to the network and bypassing intermediaries, bitcoin is less susceptible to infiltration by cyber attackers.
For instance, in the case of the infamous Mt. A Gox hack that compromised hundreds of thousands of user accounts, users were ‘insured’ up to $480,000 (based on a 1 BTC balance).
The losses would have been astronomical if the same amount had been stored using
conventional financial institutions.
5. Lower fees
Most people know that there’s no physical representation of your bitcoin balance (e.g., actual coins or banknotes).
Since you can’t pick up a bitcoin and feel it between your fingers, most users accept the fact that they’re not in direct possession of their funds and have to trust a third party to keep their balance safe.
But the lower cost of transacting in bitcoin means that you don’t have to accept a combination of high fees and slow transaction times to enjoy secure, decentralized banking.
6. More accessible
One of the most significant obstacles preventing people from investing in cryptocurrencies is that most exchanges require extensive verification of one’s identity before allowing each user to trade (and withdraw) more than a small number of relatively illiquid coins.
One way bitcoin circumvents this is by integrating an additional layer on top called the “Lightning Network,” which allows individuals to make micropayments without waiting for block confirmations (the transaction confirmations this network also allows are more secure, too).
3 Negatives of bitcoin that affects the fintech industry
1. High Volatility
Bitcoin only has value because people are willing to trade fiat currencies. This creates a circular relationship where bitcoin’s “value” directly depends on its utility, which depends on its perceived value.
This makes the currency highly speculative – while volatility may decrease as bitcoin adoption increases, it will likely remain high enough to deter many potential users.
2. No recourse in the case of theft
If your bitcoin wallet is compromised, then it’s very likely that you will lose your coins forever.
And since there are no intermediaries involved, there’s no way for authorities to track down and recover stolen bitcoins.
3. No intrinsic value
Unlike fiat currencies, which are backed by a central authority that can issue new “paper money” as it sees fit, no underlying asset secures the bitcoin network.
Conclusion
Since the bitcoin network is decentralized, running on computers worldwide incentivized through self-interest to keep it alive, no central authority controls it. This means that nobody can arbitrarily increase the supply of bitcoins in existence – unlike state currencies, which governments can print at will, manipulating its value relative to other currencies or commodities.