Ten years ago, cryptocurrencies were an academic concept, largely unknown to the world’s general population. This all changed in 2009 with the creation of Bitcoin. Today, most people are aware of cryptocurrencies, although they may not be familiar with how the system works.
The cryptocurrency market continues to gain traction in various facets of government, business and personal financial activities:
— Governments and large corporations are now looking closely at the cryptocurrency market to evaluate how they can adapt the transaction mechanism, specifically blockchain technology, to exchange value.
— Many companies have initiated blockchain projects to assess the feasibility of integrating this technology into their businesses.
— Where the Internet we know connects people around the world and facilitates the exchange of data, experts consider blockchain technology to be a second type of internet: the internet of value.
Our society is increasingly becoming digitally driven. Financial service providers in particular are looking at the cryptocurrency model to ascertain how they may provide secure services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. Before we consider the potential growth of the cryptocurrency market, let’s look at where it all started.