Massive Developments Are Taking Place Around Major Cryptocurrencies

2017 has been an incredible year for cryptocurrencies and people who have invested in them as prices have been soaring by huge margins. Researchers claim that the market cap of all the cryptocurrencies combined was around $17.7 billion at the beginning of 2017 but their value was at around $494 billion by December 12. This means that the aggregate growth rate for all the cryptocurrencies was 2,700 percent.

The aggregate growth rate of 2,700 percent is quite impressive because it is a totally new market and such growth has not been recorded in any other industry. It is also quite mindboggling because all that happened within one year. In fact, the rate of returns is more than what most investors experience throughout their lives.

The rise in the value of the total cryptocurrency cap is mostly pegged on the growth of Bitcoin which is currently at around 69 percent of the total cryptocurrency cap. First, the launch of Bitcoin a few years ago saw the introduction of blockchain which is the underlying technology behind all the cryptocurrencies. This technology is shaping up to be a vital technology for the future of many industries including banking.

One of the reasons for the popularity of blockchain technology is that it has trust built into the system since it acts as a ledger that holds all the transaction. It eliminates double spending, thus making it suitable for transferring digital value and the fact that it is decentralized means it cannot be controlled by any single entity and it cannot be hacked. These factors have led to the creation of other cryptocurrencies collectively known as altcoins and most of them aim to tackle an existing limitation. This is why a digital currency such as Bitcoin is considered a good store of value while Litecoin is considered ideal for transactions.

Cryptocurrency is currently considered the next step as far as globalization is concerned. While social media has turned the world into a global village as far as socialization is concerned, digital currency makes it possible to make payments and transfer currency over the internet almost instantly. This is a huge advantage especially for e-commerce and easy money transfers across great distances. It is also significantly cheaper to transact through cryptocurrencies because the blockchain technology eliminates middlemen whose services are usually pricier.

Cryptocurrencies have thus been becoming more popular as people learn about them and influenced many people to buy. As a result, their value has been going up and this explains the sharp surges that have taken place this year. A lot of people have continued to purchase them because everyone is interested in making some profit and thus the inflated prices.

It is important to note that this growth has led to an interest in the use of blockchain in other areas. Ethereum’s blockchain, for example, has smart contract protocols that can be used to enforce, verify, or facilitate contract negotiation. Roughly 200 global organizations are already testing the technology to take advantage of all that it has to offer.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.

Image courtesy of Ron Mader via Flickr