Bitcoin Profit Secrets 19

The Future Of Cryptocurrency
Before we talk about the future of cryptocurrency, it’s important to remind
ourselves of the past and what cryptocurrency was like in the beginning.
Back in 2008, when Bitcoin founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, first released his
whitepaper on Bitcoin, many people said it was just a fad and a scam
designed to trick people into giving up their ‘real’ money.
There were many naysayers and financial experts who said Bitcoin will
never be adopted by the masses and will fizzle and die out in a year or so.
Fortunately, the cryptocurrency community rallied and worked together to
make Bitcoin a success. They saw potential in the blockchain technology
and what it could mean for the finance sector. They saw the need for
cryptocurrency because the current financial setup via banks and
governments had too many problems and was causing national economies
to collapse.
They saw that keeping inflation at bay was difficult with traditional
currencies and the poorest people often have no easy access to banks.
Receiving or sending payments was oftentimes a headache with
transaction fees eating up a significant amount of money.
Banks charge exorbitant fees just so their customers can get access to
their very own money, and the government takes very little action, if at all,
to help the people.
Bitcoin supporters say the modern financial system is a mess where banks
and governments collude or work together, not to help their citizens’
financial needs, but to take as much money as they can from them in terms
of fees collected.
Bitcoin changed all that. With Bitcoin, you’re cutting out the middleman.
There are no more banks to deal with and no government to spy on your
bank accounts. With Bitcoin, you are your own bank. You’re the bank teller
sending and receiving payments, and you’re the banker in charge of
keeping your money safe.
Bitcoin has been a leader on so many fronts. As the first successful
cryptocurrency, it has paved the way for other cryptocurrencies to succeed
and the global community has slowly taken notice these past few years.
Read on to find out what other possibilities Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
bring for the future!
Massive Support From The Masses
In most developed countries, getting a credit card or a business loan is
relatively easy. However, in developing countries, you’d have to literally
jump through hoops and government red tape before you can get one. But
with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, all you need is just your digital wallet, and
you can start receiving cryptocurrency from anyone, anywhere in the world.
You don’t even need your own Internet connection at home; you can simply
go somewhere with good Internet access and create a quick wallet online
or on your mobile phone. Of course, storing your crypto online is not a good
idea so you should look into storing these in cold storage, such as a
hardware wallet or paper wallet.
But online wallets are great for small transactions so if you need to pay a
utility bill or your credit card bill, simply scan the utility company’s bitcoin
wallet’s QR code and send your crypto payment. No need to spend the
whole day standing in long lines!
Today, there are already many businesses which have started to accept
bitcoin payments (though they are still in the minority). These forward￾thinking business owners see the benefit of accepting bitcoins and are
profiting nicely from this smart business decision!
You can buy virtually anything with bitcoins. You can buy plane tickets, you
can rent cars, you can pay for your college tuition, you can buy groceries,
you can buy stuff on Amazon by purchasing Amazon gift cards on third￾party sites, and so much more!
In the future, we can expect so many more businesses to jump onto the
bitcoin payment wagon, and it would be a win-win situation for both
business owners and customers.
Businesses will get their payment fast and into their bank accounts the very
next day (using a payment gateway like BitPay which offers instant bitcoins
to fiat currency conversion), and customers will get to buy items in a very
convenient manner.
Bitcoin In Developing Economies
It’s not surprising that Bitcoin has seen massive adoption in recent years. In
fact, in Zimbabwe, people are using bitcoins to make financial transactions.
With the demise of the Zimbabwean dollar, the country had to resort to
using US dollars as their main currency.
However, this is not a very feasible solution because their government can’t
print US dollars themselves. Venezuelans are also experiencing the same
problem. The Venezuelan bolivar has become so hyper-inflated it’s almost
unusable. People have resorted to using bitcoins to pay for basic goods,
medicines, groceries, and so much more.
For the Zimbabweans and Venezuelans, as well as the Vietnamese,
Colombians, and citizens of countries with super inflated currencies, Bitcoin
is a beacon of light because it’s not subject to the whims and manipulations
of their local banks or their governments.
Their present economic situation is a perfect example of the downside of
having a central authority to manage a country’s currency, while at the
same time, it highlights all the benefits of using Bitcoin, a decentralized and
100% transparent financial network.
With Bitcoin getting massive support from people in developing countries,
governments may soon be stepping in to regulate the use of Bitcoin and
other cryptocurrencies. While we can’t predict the future, for now, Bitcoin
provides a wonderful inflation-less alternative to traditional currency.
And with skyrocketing Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices, this gives many
people a lot of purchasing power which their national currencies can’t
provide.
Fast And Cheap International Payments
One of the main benefits of bitcoin payments is the speed by which the
recipient can get their bitcoins. This is perfect for people who hire
freelancers or employees overseas.
The employees don’t need to sign up for a bank account and incur fees left
and right just because they’re receiving money from yourself, an
international client.
Of course, we must not fail to mention the fees that you yourself will be
paying to your bank everytime you remit or transfer monies to your
overseas workers.
In addition to the fees both you and your recipient pay, you’d also have to
factor in the exchange rate. Most banks and money transfer services will
usually tell you up front that “this” is the current exchange rate but when
you compare it to actual rates, the bank rate would be much lower.
Even for PayPal payments, you’ll notice a difference in the exchange rate
they use. You probably won’t notice the exchange rate when you’re
transferring relatively small amounts, but when you’re transacting in
thousands of dollars, the fees can very quickly add up to a significant
amount.
With Bitcoin, you can say goodbye to all these exorbitant fees.
For every bitcoin transaction, you do need to pay a small fee for the miners,
but it’s literally nothing compared to what your banks are charging you!
Whether you’re sending 1,000 bitcoins or 0.01 bitcoins, the mining fee can
be the same since the fee is computed in terms of bytes, not the amount of
bitcoins.
The size (in bytes) of your transaction will depend on the number of inputs
and outputs per transaction. Without going into the technical details, what’s
important to take note here is the mining fees are very, very small
compared to your bank’s fees. This is why Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are
going to change the future. More people will transact with each other
directly to avoid paying those very expensive bank fees!
With more and more people sending cryptocurrency to each other directly,
there may be no more need for third-party money transfer services or even
banks. Though this may take many years to happen, it’s still a possibility
once everyone gets educated on the benefits of using cryptocurrency to
send and receive payments from anyone in the world in just a few minutes.
Combat Crime and Corruption
Many people are worried that the Bitcoin network is being used by money
launderers, criminals, and corrupt officials because they think it’s an
anonymous network. Yes, all verified transactions are recorded on the
blockchain and no, there are no names listed there.
You can see only alphanumeric codes, lots of it in fact. If you download the
free and open source Bitcoin Core client, you’ll also need to download the
entire blockchain which is already more than 100GB+. Millions of bitcoin
transactions since 2009 are stored on the blockchain. You’ll even see the
first ever transaction by its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto.
We’re mentioning this to point to the fact that Bitcoin is not really
anonymous. Instead, it’s pseudonymous, meaning users can hide behind
pseudonyms, but on close inspection, digital forensics experts can trace
who owns Bitcoin wallets.
This is, of course, a time-consuming endeavor but when you’re after
criminals who’ve laundered millions or billions of dollars’ worth of bitcoins
then catching them becomes a top priority. In fact, experts say that
criminals are better off stashing their stolen loot in offshore bank accounts
with their super strict bank privacy laws.
But bitcoin is easier to move around so people think they can easily hide
their illicit transactions in the alphanumeric maze known as the blockchain.
In short, a number of criminals have been put behind bars thanks to Bitcoin
and the blockchain.
In the future, if and when cryptocurrency gains massive support and
adoption from the masses worldwide, it will be easier for authorities to trace
and catch criminals hoping to use cryptocurrencies as a means to hide and
move their stolen money around.
Blockchain Technology Will Become Mainstream
Many governments, banks, and private organizations are looking into
adopting the blockchain technology into their products and services. The
blockchain is the underlying technology behind Bitcoin and other
cryptocurrencies.
The technology is already starting to receive recognition and adoption
from many sectors in the world. While this may take several years, it’s at
least a positive nod in favor of the blockchain revolution.
Two of the most popular blockchain technologies today are Ethereum and
Hyperledger. You may have heard of Ethereum as the second most
popular cryptocurrency, after Bitcoin. But it’s more than just a virtual
currency platform.
Ethereum is a platform that allows anyone to create smart contracts which
help people trade or exchange anything of value, such as money, property,
stocks, etc. The contract is publicly transparent and is recorded on the
blockchain which means other people are witness to the agreement.
The best thing about smart contracts is you are basically automating
contracts without paying for the services of a middleman such as a bank,
stockbroker, or lawyer.
Hyperledger, on the other hand, is an open source, cross-industry
collaborative project with contributors from many major companies such as
Deutsche Bank, IBM, Airbus and SAP.
According to their website, the collaboration aims to develop a “new
generation of transactional applications that establish trust, accountability
and transparency.” These applications have the potential to streamline
business processes and reduce the cost and complexity of various systems
in the real world.
These are just a few examples of how blockchain technology is going to
change the world in the future. Blockchain may be less than a decade old,
but it has already changed the lives of so many people for the better.
Will You Be A Part Of Cryptocurrency Revolution?
In this guide, you’ve learned so many benefits of using Bitcoin,
cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Investing in cryptocurrency may
be in your best interest though it’s always best to do in-depth research on
which cryptocurrency to invest in.
Bitcoin may be too expensive for now but remember that you don’t have to
buy a whole bitcoin. Alternatively, there are other emerging
cryptocurrencies with good track records you may consider investing in.
With cryptocurrency looking set to get integrated with mainstream financial
markets, investing in cryptocurrency is not a scary thought anymore. In
fact, it just might be the best financial decision you’ll ever make for yourself
and your family’s future.