7 benefits of cryptocurrency – A new digital economy.
Over the last couple of years, the term cryptocurrency has been rapidly gaining ground and understanding of its use and value in the public eye. At first it seemed unfamiliar and somewhat scary, like the credit card looked to users in its early days. You might be more familiar with terms like Bitcoin, and Ether. These are all cryptocurrencies using the Blockchain Technology. As a result of the great work of the Blockchain Technology to keep this currency and technology safe, we are the benefactors.
Currently there are many types of cryptocurrency. A simple google search of the popular trend shows you the start of the growth and where it is taking us.
Dash
Ripple
Dogecoin
Litecoin
Before you continue reading, let me give you a short primer of cryptocurrency, its prevalence and its customary usage at this time. Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is created and managed through the use of advanced encryption techniques known as cryptography.
Cryptocurrency made the leap from being an academic concept to (virtual) reality with the creation of Bitcoin in 2009. While Bitcoin attracted a growing following in subsequent years, it captured significant investor and media attention in April 2013 when it peaked at a record $266 per bitcoin after surging 10-fold in the preceding two months. Bitcoin sports a market value of over $10 billion now. Globally
How will cryptocurrency help you?
Below, I will outline some pros and cons of us adopting a global acceptance of Cryptocurrency. And my hopes with this is, you will understand the benefits of cryptocurrency.
The benefits of cryptocurrency over current fiat currency tech
Example: Central governments can’t take it away
Remember what happened in Cyprus in March 2013?
The Central Bank wanted to take back uninsured deposits larger than $100,000 to help recapitalize itself, causing huge unrest in the local population. It originally wanted to take a percentage of deposits below that figure, eating directly into family savings. That can’t happen with cryptocurrency/bitcoin. You own decentralized currency. No central authority has control, and so a bank can’t take it away from you. For those who find their trust in the traditional banking system unraveling, that’s a big benefit.
Take a look at some of the improvements that can be made to fiat currency by shifting towards digital cash:
ADVANTAGES OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
Fraud: Cryptocurrencies are digital and cannot be counterfeited or reversed arbitrarily by the sender, as with credit card charge-backs.
Immediate Settlement: Purchasing real property typically involves a number of third parties (Lawyers, Notary), delays, and payment of fees. In many ways, the bitcoin/cryptocurrency blockchain is like a “large property rights database,” says Gallippi. Bitcoin contracts can be designed and enforced to eliminate or add third party approvals, reference external facts, or be completed at a future date or time for a fraction of the expense and time required to complete traditional asset transfers.
Lower Fees: There aren’t usually transaction fees for cryptocurrency exchanges because the miners are compensated by the network (Side note: This is the case for now). Even though there’s no bitcoin/cryptocurrency transaction fee, many expect that most users will engage a third-party service, such as Coinbase, creating and maintaining their own bitcoin wallets. These services act like Paypal does for cash or credit card users, providing the online exchange system for bitcoin, and as such, they’re likely to charge fees. It’s interesting to note that Paypal does not accept or transfer bitcoins.
Identity Theft: When you give your credit card to a merchant, you give him or her access to your full credit line, even if the transaction is for a small amount. Credit cards operate on a “pull” basis, where the store initiates the payment and pulls the designated amount from your account. Cryptocurrency uses a “push” mechanism that allows the cryptocurrency holder to send exactly what he or she wants to the merchant or recipient with no further information.
Access to Everyone: In fact, here are approximately 2.2 billion individuals with access to the Internet or mobile phones who don’t currently have access to traditional exchange systems. These individuals are primed for the Cryptocurrency market. Kenya’s M-PESA system, a mobile phone-based money transfer, and microfinancing service recently announced a bitcoin device, with one in three Kenyans now owning a bitcoin wallet. (Let me repeat that again. 1/3)
Decentralization — A global network of computers use blockchain technology to jointly manage the database that records Bitcoin transactions. That is, Bitcoin is managed by its network, and not any one central authority. Decentralization means the network operates on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis. The forms of mass collaboration this makes possible are just beginning to be investigated.
Recognition at universal level– Since cryptocurrency is not bound by the exchange rates, interest rates, transactions charges or other charges of any country, therefore it can be used at an international level without experiencing any problems. This, in turn, saves lots of time as well as money on the part of any business which is otherwise spent in transferring money from one country to the other. Cryptocurrency operates at the universal level and hence makes transactions quite easy.
MOST IMPORTANT. YOU OWN IT
There is no other electronic cash system in which your account isn’t owned by someone else.