Ethereum, rival to bitcoin, gains traction
With a rising market value and a roster of high-profile patrons, Ethereum in recent months has become the next hot thing in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is an open software platform, comprising a currency called ether, a public “blockchain” ledger for keeping track of transactions and tools for building so-called smart contracts that automatically make payments when their terms are fulfilled. Anyone can develop new applications that make use of its code. More ambitiously, the currency’s inventors and users are revolting against the growing centralisation of the internet under big companies like Google and Facebook by creating financial structures that can run themselves. Much like its older cousin bitcoin, however, ether is […]
Bitcoin hits two-year high
The price of the digital currency bitcoin hit a two-year high yesterday, trading above $US700 for the first time since 2014, after it jumped 21 per cent over the weekend. The surge came days before an unusual event called the “halving”, an adjustment to bitcoin’s protocol designed to control the creation of new coins. The last time the currency traded at this level — as high as $US719 yesterday, according to data provider CoinDesk — was February 2014, when it was coming down from its December 2013 high of $US1147. Bitcoin, launched in 2009, is a digital currency that runs on a decentralised network of computers and isn’t backed or […]
Blockchain to revolutionise online transactions
IT’S only been around for eight years, and has started life with a reputation sullied by drug dealers and online vigilantes, but there’s a new technology on the rise which could revolutionise how we transact online. And whether it leaves a swath of destructive disruption among large, incumbent businesses — think banks and share registries — in its path is yet to be seen, although it has been widely predicted. Blockchain is the technological innovation which underpins the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. So far Bitcoin has proven to be unhackable and untraceable — a key benefit if you are, for example, running the world’s largest online drug marketplace, a la the Silk […]
Craig Steven Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto – Maybe, the Leader of the Team
Have you already bought into the idea of Craig Steven Wright being Satoshi Nakamoto? There is a growing voice saying not so fast! Indeed, the shadow of doubt is growing every passing moment as members of the Bitcoin community pour over the evidence that he has put on the table. This can be witnessed on various Bitcoin forums, such as the Bitcoin subReddit, where some enthusiasts are expressing their disbelief. They could be wrong. They could right. Who knows at this point? Andreas M. Antonopoulos is one of those who have come out to question the validity of Craig Steven Wright’s claims. The author of Mastering Bitcoin, a Bitcoin security […]
Blockchain is here to stay
Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin, is the talk of the town at the moment. The financial services industry can’t get enough of it. The enthusiasm essentially boils down to the technology’s potential to reduce the financial transaction costs while ensuring robust security. While Bitcoin is unlikely to be make traditional currency extinct, blockchain has provided the impetus needed for new and innovative research into how the slow and often expensive centralised financial transaction systems that dominate banking, so what is this blockchain? Put simply, blockchain is a data structure that can be used to create digital ledgers of transactions shared among a distributed network of participating organisations. Financial institutions […]
Blockchain is useful for a lot more than just Bitcoin
Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology is not just useful for creating digital currencies such as Bitcoin or developing new financial technologies. Blockchains can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as tracking ownership or the provenance of documents, digital assets, physical assets or voting rights. Blockchain technology was popularised by the Bitcoin digital currency system. But, essentially, a blockchain is just a special kind of database. The Bitcoin blockchain stores cryptographically signed records of financial transfers, but blockchain systems can store any kind of data. […]
Craig Wright says he will prove he is bitcoin creator
One day after Australian businessman Craig S. Wright declared he created the virtual currency bitcoin, he says he plans to prove it.
Blockchain and how it will change everything
In May, British billionaire Richard Branson invited a select posse of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology advisers to his Caribbean residence for an exclusive pow wow on an issue occupying some of the top markets minds in the world. The topic for discussion on the picturesque Necker Island was the “blockchain”. “Every now and then, something comes along that might just change everything. And this is one of those moments,” ASX chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper. In case you’re one of the many yet to wrap your head around the promising technology, blockchain, on a simple level, uses computer code to engender trust in digital-economy transactions. One of the attendees […]
