Cryptocurrency: An Overview
“Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.” – Thomas Carper, USA senator. (Viswanatha, 2013)
The world was not set to welcome the ultimate disruption of current times, when Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin published a paper stating that a peer to peer electronic cash system had been developed. However, to magnify the disruption all over, Nakamoto had indeed founded the Bitcoin, a digital currency run based on cryptography, which was something not intended to be found. (Nakamoto, 2009) In a time of change, driverless cars, colonies on the moon and what not, innovation progression for currency, though unexpected at large, was coming as well. Money printed on paper was slowly getting “boring” and was to be replaced in other forms, perhaps in virtual forms as well. The introduction of cryptocurrency was a shake-up in the entire magnitude of virtual currencies included, slowly taking the world towards an unpredictable disruption era, which confused mankind completely whether this was a good move or bad.
Cryptocurrency; is a digital currency, which in layman words is a product of exchange for services or tangible products, into which encryption techniques are used to perform, regulate and analyse the generation of currency. The Bitcoin is one such example of cryptocurrency, widely the most successful one to date. There are many such coins such as the Bitcoin, found a dime a dozen daily nowadays, thanks to the demand and supply associated with them. To go deeper into the disruption surrounding these, it is important to see how these currencies are recorded for usage of personnel, auditing and other activities. Blockchain is a platform or software which has been another standout subordinate of this disruption, which has also made possible a exponentially better system of security and data storage worldwide, creating better financial systems. Blockchain supports the recording, saving and exchange of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are created through a process called mining. To mine them, one needs supercomputers and other advanced equipment at large scales, involving tonnes of energy. (Nakamoto, 2009)
Though primarily created as a peer to peer money transaction mode, Bitcoin is now the biggest payment option of the terrorist, drug mafia world in India, which has ensured that this form of cryptocurrency is out here to deeply impact the economy. Many nations have witnessed their economies being disrupted by cryptocurrencies. The phenomenon has been one to cause more fear and headaches to Governments of nations, who also have no potential of extracting revenue through the source. (Shubber, 2018)
The Bitcoin, founded by Satoshi was the first famous and still the most valuable cryptocurrency. The possibilities of the Bitcoin being a more accepted and useful currency for transactions worldwide, back in the day when the popularity of this type of Cryptocurrency had far overtaken the use of electronic cash systems was subject to a major question, a few years after the phenomenon broke out to the world. It was also recorded that the biggest positive of the Bitcoin, lied in its ability to be decentralised, making it easy to acquire but not as much to undermine the power and authority of the same. The biggest advantage of this invention seemed to be the encryption and ambiguity attached to it but the biggest advantage was becoming the biggest disadvantage, if it were to expand beyond the usage of people with a technological stronghold. (Barber et al., 2012)