What is cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency can simply be defined as a digital form of money based on a software platform as a medium of exchange that is transparent and secured.
Ecash was the first thought of cryptocurrency in 1983 by David chaum it was then implemented by him in 1995 through digicash. The first decentralized cryptocurrency is bitcoin which was created by sir satashi nakamoto in 2009. Any other coin apart from bitcoin are called altcoin(alternative coin) there are a number of them you can check coinmarketcap.com for top coins. Coin get into the cryptocurrency world by organising an ico(initial coin offering) this attracts investors. Cryptocurrency is like a big world of its own and there are some terms used here. You can read up useful term here
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/terminology-126798 by yogi Cryptocurrency is gaining a steady acceptance globally but this acceptance varies from country to country. Some countries for some reasons has put a total ban on it countries like Iraq, egypt, Morocco, Nepal and Pakistan while in countries like the USA, china and Canada there are suggested ban that are not being directly expressed.
Cryptocurrency aims at making transactions easier, faster and more secured but there has also been some set backs.
Advantages of cryptocurrency
It eliminates middle man involvement: middle man is also referred to as third party in legal term third party is an individual or entity who is not party of the transaction but has an involvement. Right now globally The issue of third party involvement is on the increase when. When trying to acquire a property or make day to day transactions via the traditional means this process would require a middle man which can impose as an extra fee or make it slower. Cryptocurrency eliminates all that in crypto you are in control it being decentralized means that it is beyond the reach of any board or government regulations thereby no need of any third party.
Prevent identity theft and fraudulent practice: using traditional means of transactions there has been issues of identity theft and fraudulent activity. The use of card rather than cash is becoming a norm well this is not bad but there has been cases where card of an individual has been used by another to make payment with out the owners knowledge this is act is fraudulent. In cryptocurrency your identity and personal information are secured and only you has access to it. Also the blockchain tech is transparent which makes it difficult to carry out corrupt acts
Acceptance: ever try using the Japanese yen to make payment or transactions in Leicester England well that might be difficult or not possible. Globally countries varies in there forms of payment and transaction although innovation has been made to tackle it like the use of credit and debit cards but still not effective the issues of high cost, bank authorization and so on are still there crypto being decentralized has no third party involvement so no issues of bank authorization, fee and it is done anywhere at good speed with no cost
Some setback of cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is still in it growing stages: although this innovation has shown a great deal of growth and strength it is still a young one so there are bound to be errors and some field that has not been accessed. Cryptocurrency still has a long way to go to achieve stability and acceptance but it is surly on the right track
Requires a bit of technical shrewdness: cryptocurrency is a digital money built on a soft ware so this implies that there is a need to have a bit of knowledge of technology which poses as a challenge to some individuals and countries that are not technically advanced but this issue can be tackled by employing a trusted technological representative to aid you
Software can fail. Cryptocurrency is established on a software platform and there are possibilities of a software that is not properly built to fail it crash. Example the tsb bank had soft ware issues that caused panic amongst it customers
It's can be hacked: like every other software application can be hacked cryptocurrency is not an exception. Cryptocurrency exchanges has been under the attack of hackers which if done can lead to lost of funds. The largest hacking incident in cryptocurrency history was on My. Gox exchange where over 1.35millon bitcoin was stolen. Well this can be tackled by implementing hard cyber security measures and for individual always protect your wallet private key
