Will 2018 Be The Year Of Bitcoin?

The concept of Cryptocurrency is setting in for most people and bitcoin is poised to have a good 2018.

- Jeffrey Hayzlett

There are two schools of thought: one that says that the Bitcoin bubble is going to burst, much like the dot com bubble did back in the early 2000s. The other believes cryptocurrencies will be to the economy what the internet was to traditional media.

Some, including myself, believe that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have the power to revolutionize world economies and challenge how we think about money, investing, and the economy in general.

Bitcoin used to be known strictly by those in high-tech circles. After the financial banking crisis of 2007, many saw the need to create a decentralized, yet organized, system that could conduct transactions without the middle man, while holding everyone accountable.

WHO’S USING BITCOINS?

No one knows the exact number, but it’s estimated in the millions worldwide. A joint report by ARK Invest and Coinbase estimates that more than 10 million people worldwide hold a material amount of bitcoin. In the past year, Bitcoin has climbed from below $1,000 to a record $19,500-plus over a year; it’s believed that the steady climb has everything to do with education. In 2017, according to LendEDU, roughly 79 percent of Americans had heard of Bitcoin, with 14 percent owning the cryptocurrency.

Many questions still surround the world of cryptocurrencies, including how exactly they work.

Cryptocurrencies work by digitally enabling transactions between two parties without a middle man. Every transaction is digitally recorded in blocks that work as ledgers, called blockchain.

A blockchain is defined as a massive, decentralized ledger generated by transactions that use a specific cryptocurrency. No entries or data can be logged to the blockchain without using cryptocurrencies.

By having every transaction recorded, it creates a high level of security without revealing the information of the parties involved in the exchange.