With radical changes in our business and personal lives since the onset of the pandemic, financial technologies have developed quickly. Online banking came into existence before lockdown and the process has accelerated rapidly ever since. Most consumers now use mobile banking and pay for purchases through mobile phones. Banks have literally disappeared from High Streets overnight. With consumers spending more time than ever online, they’re expecting smoother transactions and greater security when making purchases. Businesses and banks have had to adapt fast to stay competitive and meet consumer needs. Business and consumer interest in cryptocurrency is buoyant. Check here for fiat crypto exchanges.
Blockchains
Blockchains have transformed banking systems and provided an alternative system where financial services can no longer be controlled by national banks and governments. With rising inflation rates, blockchain technologies and the cryptocurrencies they enable, are becoming increasingly attractive to businesses and investors. They withstand inflation, facilitate faster smoother transactions, promote transparency and optimize security. Some mainstream financial services already accept payments in cryptocurrencies.
What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is the term for the digital currency, coins or tokens distributed across the decentralized blockchain.The blockchain records transactions and manages new units. It’s safeguarded by cryptography against fraud.
Bitcoin and Ether
- The first digital currency to emerge was Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin incurs low fees for payments and provides greater stability than fiat currencies.
- Ethereum is the network that gives rise to Ether (ETH), another well known digital token.
- Both digital currencies are traded online and kept in cryptocurrency wallets.
- They’re distributed along blockchains.
- Bitcoin is intended as an alternative to traditional currencies, a means of transaction and an asset.
- Ethereum has a variety of applications and can be applied for Decentralized finance, smart contracts and non-Fungible-tokens.
- The issuance transaction time for Bitcoin is 10 minutes whereas for Ether it’s 10 seconds.
Although Bitcoin and Ether are the best known cryptocurrencies, there are thousands in existence and they’re developing fast. Some of the currencies worth researching for investment are listed below:
- Litecoin is becoming a valued cryptocurrency. It’s efficient to mine and facilitates swifter transactions than bitcoin.
- Ripple XRP is well known and approved and linked to banks. It’s renowned for faster, more efficient transactions and doesn’t need a middle man.
- Dogecoin with its mascot dog -Shiba Inu- has a huge cyber fan base and a high number of coins in circulation. It lends itself easily to the mining process and is inexpensive to purchase.
- Cardano has more sophisticated features and provides smooth transactions. It can be used globally as an exchange of value. The blockchain has two layers and deals with transactions and manages smart contracts. Transactions are secure and transparent.
- Monero (XMR) focuses on privacy and security and doesn’t permit transaction tracking.
- Quarkcoin facilitates swift transactions, is secure and is one of the most mined cryptocurrencies.
- Peer coin is an interesting choice though since there’s no limit on coins to mine, the inflation rate is 1%
- Freicoin is similar to blockchain but holders pay a fee to keep it in circulation.
