All anyone seems to be talking about these days is crypto, blockchain and the significance of the latest Bitcoin volatility.
We’re entering a new digital era and no industry from finance to farming, or household goods to healthcare will be free from disruption.
To understand the evolution of blockchain we need to look back at where it all began. Bitcoin was undoubtedly a product of its environment, born out of the 2007 financial melt-down.
Satoshi Nakamoto wrote his white paper in 2008, in an environment where trust in financial institutions had been almost completely eroded and the idea of bypassing the traditional economic infrastructure was immensely appealing to many.
Satoshi Nakamoto believed that by side-stepping the financial middle-men, and removing the banks and credit card companies from the equation, a more democratic economy could emerge, as the flow of value is put back in the hands of the parties making the transaction.
He sought an electronic cash system that is completely decentralized, based on a peer-to-peer network with no central authority and no single institution, government, body, enterprise or individual able to control the flow of funds or unjustly influence any transactions.
However, that creation couldn’t be controlled. As it has grown and morphed over the years, the reality of Bitcoin and the many ways it has been used is a far cry from the fair economic ecosystem that Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned.
Bitcoin has in many ways exceeded all expectations having started out as a fringe endeavor it has gained global recognition, has sky-rocketed in value and has spawned countless copycat currencies.
However, as opposed to enticing users by providing a decentralized, trusted and transparent mechanism for transferring funds, for many, Bitcoin is “digital gold” and is used as a speculative asset due to its high volatility. Look at the way, just yesterday, it took a swing and fell below $10,000 for the first time since early December, and has since swung back.
Bitcoin has struggled to scale to billions of transactions, fees have arisen for the purchase and sale of the cryptocurrency and the network has had difficulty processing transactions speedily. As a result, rather than serving as a decentralized payment method, it is now being adopted as a means of storing digital capital.
Bitcoin is a living, breathing organism that while given life by Satoshi Nakamoto, has continued to grow and evolve, taking on a momentum all its own. Bitcoin will continue to influence the future of financial transactions and take electronic cash systems in new and fascinating directions.
