Rise of Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

Money, assets, and liabilities have been along humanity since the very beginning and throughout history, people have used many forms of money. The way people are trading value so far has developed to a great extent. It’s in human nature to keep exploring and developing technology and new ways to improve our daily lives, especially in trading and financial sphere.

So far in human history money and valuable assets were mostly considered to be something physical, but in modern times this might be changed in a big way. Money which we are used to has been in our lives for a long time, but in 2009 we were introduced to a digital currency. Not many people knew a lot about so-called cryptocurrency back then. Now in 2018, it’s a completely different story.

First digital cryptocurrency — Bitcoin

It was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto which is the name used by the unknown person or group who developed bitcoin. It’s still a mystery who is the mastermind behind this.

Bitcoin and technology behind it called blockchain might be one of the most revolutionary inventions. Cryptocurrencies are 100% digital and they do not have a physical form which is one of the reasons people doubt this way of trading value and assets. It is the technology and possibilities behind this that made the cryptocurrency buzz. One of the main reasons why people are willing to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is because the inventor of Bitcoin found a way to build a decentralized digital cash system. This means that cryptocurrencies are not controlled by the government. Cryptocurrencies are somewhat controlled by the people who are involved and hold the digital currency. The blockchain technology behind it makes it safe to use.

From $1 to nearly $20'000 per Bitcoin

Crypto world started with just one cryptocurrency — Bitcoin which was priced just under $1. Due to possibilities and technology which Bitcoin uses, the count of other cryptocurrencies slowly increased and became a huge trend. This got other enthusiasts and developers involved exponentially creating new currencies with different purposes and technologies behind those. At the end of 2018 there are over 2000 cryptocurrencies and inevitably this number is growing fast.

Bitcoin and other currencies have had a lot of bounces up and down, but in the long run, cryptocurrencies growth trends so far have increased. It was at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 when the cryptocurrency market exploded and raised interest in many people. Bitcoin exploded to an all-time high price — just below $20,000 for one Bitcoin. Despite the cryptocurrency market falling from all-time highs, cryptocurrencies are definitely still a thing.

Used across multiple industries

We are living in an advanced technology era and everything is spinning around the World Wide Web. It would seem impossible to run most of the businesses without the involvement of an online network. This is why e-commerce businesses are growing rapidly.

Cryptocurrencies have become a widely accepted payment method across many industries and companies like Microsoft, Amazon, CheapAir, Reddit, Subway and many others. And yes, there are many companies accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies in their brick-and-mortar stores for products ranging from coffee to jewelry and others.

Still in the early stage

Cryptocurrency payments are not necessarily perfect by any means, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The main reason people support cryptocurrencies is that it’s decentralized which means your money is not tracked or listed in the government, yet you still should pay taxes. This is something governments are worried about which might be one of the obstacles for digital currencies growth.

The second reason is due to its volatile prices which make digital currencies not too stable compared to regular (Fiat) currencies. Many don’t see how cryptocurrency payments are promising future payment and can help to expand the number of customers on your online shops. This is one of the many reasons why Magebit supports cryptocurrency payments and provide such implementation for online shops based on Magento and Shopify platforms.

There is a number of ways to implement this type of payments on websites. For instance, special wallets or exchange accounts for the website, making use of external payment processing, but the easiest approach to enable payments on your online shops are plug-ins and modules designed specifically for this purpose. Online retailers are more and more adapting to this new trend and this can give a customer a whole new experience of shopping online and paying for orders, especially when privacy is of the essence.

So where is it heading?

Cryptocurrencies definitely have a long way to go. People are always looking for new technologies and improvements to make our daily lives better and digital currencies might just do it. Blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies has a huge potential not only in the crypto world but also in banking, cloud storage, voting, health care, and many other industries.

Your personal belongings are mostly tracked by the government and technically can be interfered with. Decentralization is the attractive element of cryptocurrencies that can influence the future of freedom as it takes away the ability for the “owner” or middle-men to modify data. Many believe that this can turn out to be a huge trend and success for humanity and being able to transfer money 24/7 globally without anyone being able to stop it might very well be our future of payments.