It has been almost 15 years now since the inception of cryptocurrencies from the Bitcoin revolution back in 2008. Since then, the crypto space has gone through a roller coaster ride of regulatory issues, price fluctuations, and new innovations. Throughout this time, though, many institutions have begun to catch on to the underlying value that these digital currencies bring to the table.
This value comes from the revolutionary innovations that blockchain created. While many people are focused on the different cryptocurrency investment options and trading possibilities, the real driver of value has always been the underlying blockchain technology. Leading institutions such as Goldman Sachs and other major financial players are now all-in on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with one representative stating “We’ve crossed the line now…because of the underlying technology that’s coming.”
In order to understand why cryptocurrencies are here to stay, it is important to understand the basics of this underlying tech:
Blockchain and Decentralization
Bitcoin’s value stems from the overall bias of society that desires to keep strangers away from their personal data and assets. Currently, banks operate under a single, centralized ledger that is owned and operated under a single corporation, governed by a small group of individuals. As you can tell, this requires some serious trust in these strangers.
In 2008, the weakness in this approach was laid bare for all to see, and the housing market crash ruined the United States’ economy. If you haven’t learned about how this occurred, the flaw was trusting small groups of people and individuals to verify transactions and ensure they were able to be executed. Houses were bought with money that didn’t exist, and the homeowners could not afford their monthly payments. With this happening consistently, the market was bound to snap – and it did.
Enter Bitcoin
After this crisis, Bitcoin brought with it the concept of “trustless” transactions, among other innovations. This simply means that there is no trust involved in a bitcoin transaction, as the exchange of value is stored, publicly visible, and verified by multiple parties with an incentive to ensure its proper verification. Therefore, blockchain enables two “untrusting” parties to engage in a transaction without the need for a moderator. Additionally, it distributes the control of the system to the entire community, removing centralized power structures and essentially creating the “decentralized” system it has become known for.
Mass Adoption Is Happening
As you can see, blockchain has the ability to radically reform the way in which our society handles and approaches money. At its core, it provides the rails for which many current fintech innovations are able to operate at their highest level – digital wallets, DeFi exchanges, encrypted data, smart contracts, etc. These tools all have the ability to comprehensively modernize supply chains across the world in industries such as logistics, finance, healthcare, investing, real estate, and much more.
Huge corporations have been actively researching this technology, and recently, have begun serious efforts to implement blockchain into their current infrastructure. According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Bank of International Settlements, 86% of central banks are actively researching the potential for CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies. This includes Sweden’s Riksbank, The Bank of Canada, and even the European Central Bank.
The cracks in our current infrastructure have been exposed, and many big players are realizing that this technology is going to be a part of our future for a long time to come. Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and they are only going to continue to gain mass adoption as an investment asset as the underlying technology continues to revolutionize the world we live in.
If you are ready to invest in the asset class of the future, you can reach out to a cryptocurrency specialist at Coin IRA to learn more about how you can add cryptocurrency to your long-term retirement plan. Buying, selling, trading, and storing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies inside your IRA is safe and easy with the help of Coin IRA’s experts.