How Cryptocurrency is Paving the Future for Hedge Funds
We all know how cryptocurrency rose to power and the impact it’s having on the world, but now it’s confirming its place as a form of finance that is used and accepted around the world, it’s time to look to the future, in particular, hedge funds.
Have you ever thought about how cryptocurrencies are effective hedge funds, and how many believe that cryptocurrencies are, in fact, the future of hedge funds? Well, the future is now. Crypto hedge funds are already popping up here and there, and while 150 exist at the time of writing, there are many more on their way.
In fact, many believe that this number could double, if not triple, over the coming year. While it’s clear the venture capital industry is changing as we know it, today we’re going to share what we already know, and what we can expect in the coming years.
It’s Far from Ready
By many estimates, there are over 15,000 hedge funds around the world, 150 cryptocurrency hedge funds don’t seem like a lot. Even if you triple this number to 450, that still such a small percentage of the total hedge funds count, so why is this such a big deal?
The truth is, the industry is still growing and finding its feet, which means once it’s able to stand up for itself, so to speak, then it will really start to take up. At the moment, it’s still in its crawling days.
Rough estimates state that the hedge fund industry is worth around $3 trillion, whereas the amount of money going to cryptocurrencies is only around $3 billion. I know these are still huge sums of money, but on the grand scale of things, it’s tiny. However, this is predicted to change over the next 12 months.
This is because cryptocurrency values and estimates are still way too high, and many cryptocurrencies are way too volatile, which means investors are being cautious around them. Additionally, with so much competition in the industry, it’s hard for investors to know what to focus on, and what investment opportunities are worth the risk.
Many people still see investing in cryptocurrency as gambling, and it’s true, there’s still a huge factor in investing it. However, if the rate of integration of cryptocurrency into the mainstream continues as well as it is already, this shouldn’t continue to be a problem over the next few years.
When you consider that the top 35 cryptocurrencies are valued at over $1 billion, so it’s not going to be ignored any time soon.
Technology is Evolving
Of course, blockchain technology is responsible for making cryptocurrency work in the way it does, but it’s important to note that this technology is still evolving. There’s no denying that the technologies and services are still being invested in, but it’s a long way off being where it needs to be, although this is changing rapidly, and the hedge funds markets are reflecting this.
The more success that comes from the technology, the more it will be developed, and the more funds it will have invested in it, and therefore the faster it will evolve. This will be represented by a rapidly spiking curve over time and will happen fast.
The Tides are Changing
Look at the market, and what do you see? There’s no denying that cryptocurrency is the way that the market is going to go. After all, millennials are already ‘unbanking’ and moving their money in cryptocurrency deposits, rather than traditional banking systems and networks.
Traditional banking systems are noticing this and now, of course, have to consider cryptocurrencies in their banking strategies, and will continue to do so over the coming years. From an investor’s point of view, it’s important to start looking at these strategies and at how cryptocurrencies can be incorporated into their investment strategies.
If you don’t already have a cryptocurrency investment strategy existing, this is something you need to think about because you’re going to be left behind.
Although investors with cryptocurrency strategies are already ahead of the curve, the tides are changing fast, and you don’t want to be left behind and without a strategy when cryptocurrencies play such an integral role in the markets.
Michael Dehoyos is an economic consultant and editor at Coursework Writing Services. He assists companies in their marketing strategy concepts, and contributes to numerous sites and publications, as well as offering investment advice.
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Has The Crypto Market Bottomed After Bitcoin’s 50% Collapse?
The second half of 2019 was really difficult for Bitcoin. According to independent experts, the total volume of public digital assets has decreased by more than 50% – from $388 billion to $166 billion. However, there is other evidence. Yes, the cryptocurrency market really fell to the bottom if you look at these statistics, but let’s not forget that market conditions are dynamic. And the factor that means failure today may well mean success tomorrow.
Another Side of the Coin
There were periods of stabilization of the exchange rate, but for a long time cryptocurrency lost much in price. At one time, panic even started on the market, and Bitcoin was predicted to soon fall to zero. Against this background, the results of the year sounded quite unexpectedly: cryptocurrency turned out to be the most profitable investment. The coin rate rose from $4035 to $ 7344, providing investment growth by 82%.
Crypto Market and Bitcoin in Modern Political and Economic Conditions – What to Expect in 2020?
This year will be great for Bitcoin, Wall Street analyst and Fundstrat founder Tom Lee suggested. The destabilization of relations between Iran and the United States is one of the reasons.
Plus, modern realities make it possible to add a supposedly modern coronavirus epidemic to these factors. However, at the moment there is no consensus among experts on how the coronavirus will affect the Bitcoin exchange rate. It is still unclear whether we are dealing with a real threat to people’s lives or is this another hype, a political company, or an attempt to distract investors from other, more important issues.
However, even those experts who believe that the disease can affect the main digital coin explain that this will happen only if the outbreak develops into a full-fledged epidemic.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper is also confident in the long-term growth in Bitcoin value. In an interview with FOX Business, he advised millennials to invest in cryptocurrencies, as they are on the verge of a new financial revolution. However, the explosion of the financial revolution will slow down due to the influence of the values of older generations and the obsolescence of the current banking system.
Conclusion
Bitcoin exchange rates are very unstable. Cryptocurrencies have already shown that it can rapidly fall and take off at a breakneck pace. Due to this state of affairs, bitcoin does not inspire confidence among many investors who would be happy to invest big money in the development of the blockchain, but fear for their savings. In 2020, we are unlikely to have to observe the strong influence of this factor, but we should not forget about it.
About the author: Gregory is passionate about researching new technologies in both mobile, web and WordPress. Also, he works on Best Writers Online the best writing services reviews. Gregory in love with stories and facts, so Gregory always tries to get the best of both worlds.
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Basic terminology for beginners in regards to Bitcoin trading
For those interested in digital currencies, It has changed the way we do business and the way investors invest in a company. Employers are offering crypto as pay and others, such as music artists, are accepting them in exchange for singles. The attention crypto has attracted made it popular among many. One the biggest reason why many are attracted to crypto is that many of them sit on a decentralised network. This means an organisation or a government does not control them, unlike Fiat currency. Ther is also no physical form of cryptocurrency, but it can be converted into the more familiar notes and coins we know and love.
The introduction of Bitcoin brought with it new technology such a blockchain. The nature of blockchain makes it a secure way of working, and we will go into more detail about it below. It is essential to mention, however, that not all countries share standard consensus o what crypto is. Some view Bitcoin as exchange tokens. Others view crypto in the same light as hard cash. These anomalies in the crypto world mean taxes for Bitcoin differ from country to country which why before investing, purchasing or dealing with crypto, it would be wise to find out the countries views on it.
A big part of making an investment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and being successful at it means learning the lingo. Here are some of the underlying crypto trading terms that are commonly used. Knowing these terms will help you navigate your way through the world of crypto in ease.
Blockchain
Blockchain is a decentralised and distributed public ledger which means it is a database that is validated by a vast community of people rather than a central authority. In most cases, blockchain refers to the bitcoin blockchain, which is made up of blocks. It allows data to be stored globally on thousands of servers and lets individuals enter the networks to see all the entries in real-time. By doing this, it makes it hard for users to gain control of the system. The immense reach of blockchain makes it harder to hack as all transactions are transparent for all to see. Falsifying a single record in the chain means you would need to forge the entire chain. Bitcoin transactions sit on a blockchain.
Wallet
A wallet is a secure digital wallet that is used to store, send and receive digital currency like bitcoin. It is typically a string of numbers and letters. Many official coins like bitcoin have official wallets, but you can find wallets which hold different types of currencies in one place.
To use a crypto wallet users will usually be given an ID as a way to identify the wallet along with its own private key which will help to authenticate and prove possession of the wallet by the person who owns it.
Private Key
To carry out a transaction with digital currency, you will need two things. The first is a wallet which acts as your address and a private key. The private key is a string of random numbers, but unlike address, the private key must be kept secret. The private key gives users authority to digitally sign and authorise different actions that are done by the digital identity when used with the public key.
The main priority when dealing with cryptocurrencies is to keep the private key secure. It the key gets lost or stolen; there is no means to recover it.
Order Book
The order book displays current prices with volumes in real-time of current order from buyers and sellers.
Bid Price
The price at which a person is trying to sell an asset is known as the Bid Price.
Ask Price
The ask price is the price individuals are trying to buy an asset for.
Bull Market
A period during which asset prices consistently keep rising is known as a Bull Market. To get the most out of investments, users are likely to enter the market at the beginning or just before the start of a Bull market. This is so the assets they buy become more valuable.
Bear Market
In the flip side to the Bull market, a bear market is a period during which the prices of assets consistently fall. The silver lining to this si that the drop in prices means that entering the market becomes cheaper, and it becomes possible to buy the same amount of assets for a lower price. Generally, Bear markets are not specific to cryptocurrencies, and any tradeable asset can go through the same life cycle.
Spread
Spread is referred to as the price difference between the buy price and the sell price of an asset. The exchange between the individuals defines them.
Buy order
When an individual wants to purchase an asset at a designated price, buy order or bids are created. When an individual wants to sell an asset at a selected amount, sell orders, or asks are created.
High and Low
In a 24-hour trading cycle, high means the peak price Bitcoin or other assets have reached in 24 hours. And so low means the lowest price the particular assets has become in the 24-hour trading cycle.
Slippage
The difference between the price a trader expects and the trade to execute at, and the price it eventually executes at known as Slippage.
Execution
The official completion of a trading process is known as Execution.
Cold storage
Storing digital money in an offline wallet is known as cold storage and usually stored on a platform that has no connection to the internet. There are many Blockchain smartphones which now have cold storage capabilities.
Satoshi
Satoshi, named after the creator of Bitcoin, is the smallest unit of Bitcoin (BTC) recorded on the blockchain.
Confirmation
The act of a transaction which is included in a single block within the Bitcoin blockchain is known as confirmation.
Digital signature
Like a fingerprint, a digital signature is an e-signature which is created by using the Publick Key Cryptography (PKC). The digital signature associates securely, a signatory with a document in a recorded transaction. Every transaction has a different digital signature that depends on the users private key.
Transaction Fee
Each Bitcoin transaction incurs a fee. It is processed by a miner who is paid for their services, and the Bitcoin network confirms the results.
Author: Yasmita Kumar
A little bit about me: I am a writer and have been writing about various topics over many years now. I enjoy writing about my hobbies which include technology and its impact on our everyday life. Professionally I write about Technology, Health and Fashion and previously worked for the NHS.
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5 Reasons Why Cryptocurrencies Should Be Taught For Students
Cryptocurrency has been impacting lives, no doubt, and Bitcoin has now become quite popular among the youth and even the adults, making smart investors extremely rich.
Cryptocurrency has been in existence for more than 10 years now. There is hardly a developed country, a civilized geographical location, or an economy of significance around the world still ignorant of the word “cryptocurrency.”
The fact is that even if one does not know what cryptocurrency is all about. Then definitely, you have heard about it from the news, colleagues, neighbors, friends, internet, newspapers, handouts, and souvenirs, and so on.
Bitcoin is taking the lead as the most popular and the most utilized cryptocurrency with billions of dollars of transactions being carried out with it daily. Now, this begs the question, why is cryptocurrency still not taught to students?
Schools are institutions for educating people. Thus, it is of great importance and a matter of necessity that courses or subjects related to cryptocurrency be taught in school systems. This initiative will serve as a means of equipping our young generations for the future to come since cryptocurrency symbolizes a new viewpoint on finance and, primarily, the economy.
In lieu of these, it is worthy of mention that schools should also consider teaching online academic translation services as provided by The Word Point. Nowadays, such skills are essential in virtually all spheres of life.
Why not read on as you discover the five(5) essential reasons why cryptocurrency should be taught to students.
#1 Changes in Valuation Overtime
The knowledge of cryptocurrencies have increased in the general population of the world and have undertaken a new shape over time. According to BitcoinWiki, in 2009, there was no cryptocurrency exchange; the users at that time were majorly cryptography fans who transferred bitcoin mainly as a hobby.
In 2010, a user, known as “Smoke too much,” auctioned 10,000 BTC for $50 without any buyer. Lazlo Hanyecs was also reported to have successfully bought two pizzas at Jacksonville, Florida, on the 22nd of May, 2010. This was the first recorded successful bitcoin transaction. On the 26th of June, 2019, Bitcoin hit $13000, which notable experts attributed to the development of the cryptocurrencies technology industry. This is to enlighten you concerning the history of the significant changes of Bitcoin as a major cryptocurrency. To open your minds to a new life-changing experience, and for you to reason and agree with me as per why cryptocurrency should be taught to students.
#2 Promising Career Opportunities
Taking into consideration, the rate at which cryptocurrency is growing concerning its wide acceptance, thousands of career opportunities are bound to manifest within the years to come.
Concerning a report by Coinbase, it was brought to public knowledge that the population of students from various departments who have become interested in cryptocurrency is growing so fast.
Some companies today are on the lookout for job-seeking graduates who are progressive-minded and are interested in fast-growing technologies. Likely, most of these employers are not well-grounded in the knowledge of cryptocurrency themselves. Hence, they need workers who are capable of bringing this knowledge to an organization.
In the world of crypto, Many opportunities abound, and the possibilities are limitless. Cryptocurrency and digital currency go hand in hand, such that a wide range of opportunities are opened for young scholars. The lists of potential careers for cryptocurrency lovers are virtually enormous.
Here are some few potential career opportunities you should look forward to:
- Cryptocurrency developers and miners
- Cryptocurrency traders
- Cryptocurrency analysts
- Cryptocurrency-based software engineer
- Cryptocurrency developers, and so on.
#3 Encompassing all Industries
According to the SI News blog, Cryptocurrencies have been forecasted to be utilized extensively in industries like Agriculture. Going by this report, it becomes evident that cryptocurrency technology is here to revolutionize the way we run our businesses.
In current times, workers are highly required by employers to collaborate and work across different departments. Several Interdisciplinary research is also growing in popularity in various universities in most developed countries.
For instance, the University of California-Berkeley started delivering a cryptocurrency class called “Blockchain, Crypto economics, and the Future of Technology, Business and Law” which has become quite popular among students.
#4 It is a Great Investment Opportunity
Investment in cryptocurrency is highly encouraged for every business person or investor looking to make it big within a short period. It is indeed an excellent Investment platform given the astronomic rise in bitcoin rate in the year 2007 when it rose to its highest-ever to about $20,000, by which investors made a whole lot of money as a result of their investment.
Even though some investors or individuals will argue that Bitcoin is highly volatile and full of risk, the same principles that apply to businesses and investment opportunities are still applicable to an investment in cryptocurrency.
#5 The Impacts of Cryptocurrency are Enormous
Following the growing trend of cryptocurrency, the impacts are becoming greater and more significant over time. This further stresses the reason why the course should be taught to students. Students need to be prepared for the crypto revolution to come.
Jake Gardner, a crypto analyst once said that “the impact of cryptocurrency is omnipotent considering the huge amount of benefits attached to it”. He also gave some notable advantages of cryptocurrency, which includes:
- It reduces the cost of health-care services.
- It guarantees a secured record-keeping.
- It produces an extensive adoption of cryptocurrency technologies in the next 2-3 years.
- It helps to reduce the cost of operations as well as minimizes the cost incurred from cross-border payments and many more.
Final Thoughts
There is a strong need for cryptocurrency classes to be held in various schools, and it should not be handled with levity. Students should be well equipped and fortified with the knowledge of cryptocurrency to be economically relevant towards its full implementation in a few years to come. Given the reasons above, should cryptocurrency be taught in schools or not? I leave you with this question to ponder on.
About the author: Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
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20 surprising things you can buy with Bitcoin
BTCPlayMania prepared this infographic which highlights twenty ways to spend bitcoins you might have not known about.
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What Are the Investment Returns on Bitcoin Mining
You know about Bitcoin: The original digital currency based on blockchain. Every transaction is written to a shared ledger and verified by the rest of the network. Each set of approved transactions is a “block” added to the chain.
But you may have missed the buzz on Bitcoin mining. It’s not just for web geeks or digital currency traders. There are thousands of people around the world looking to profit in this way.
What is Bitcoin Mining?
Participants try to guess a random number generated by the system. Those who get the answer “own” the next block of transactions and collect a reward; currently 12.5 bitcoins. If you manage this, you can also collect fees on transactions in the block you created.
This number comes from a complex equation. In the early days it was handled by ordinary computers, and then GPUs (graphics processing units), which were better suited to the task. Over the years the equation has evolved in difficulty to regulate the rate of discovery.
Technology
Bitcoin miners now rely on hardware-intensive systems known as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), which appeared in 2013. If you own or can get access to such a system, you stand to guess a fair amount of numbers on the blocks constantly taking shape.
If this sounds like an easy way to profit, it is. Many people have joined the ranks of digital currency miners. However, with so much competition, the big question is whether there are still decent profits to be made.
Can You Still Make Money?
The more computers that are trying to capture the number, the harder the equation becomes and the fewer numbers you get.
But Bitcoins also tend to go up in value. It was a price spike in 2013 that launched mining as a popular investment option. Speculators agree that the value of Bitcoin should continue rising as its popularity grows.
Investments Required
To maximize your return on Bitcoin mining, you need an ASIC system. These computing solutions utilize high-end hardware that generates a lot of heat. Such a setup requires state-of-the-art cooling and ventilation systems along with higher utility bills to operate all of this.
Without an ASIC of your own, your odds of scoring aren’t good. It is possible to save some money by leasing an ASIC rather than buying one outright.
Other Options
Fortunately for the smaller investor, recent years have seen the rise of cloud mining, or cloud hashing. This response to growing demand is basically another cloud service where you get to lease a portion of someone else’s ASCI-enabled data center.
A cheaper option, albeit with smaller potential rewards, is a mining pool. This is a third-party service that uses investor funds to do their own mining and shares out the profits. The upside of this is that you don’t need technical or financial knowledge at all; you just need to come up the minimum investment required by the service.
Profit Potential
You can join some of these investment pools for as little as $500. Some of these third-party services state that you could earn your investment back in as little as two months or so, and start seeing profit after three. When these claims are legit, or even close to it, you’re seeing a remarkable and fairly consistent ROI better than most forms of investment.
However, transaction fees are currently voluntary on the part of individual users of Bitcoin, as is whether the transaction should even be included in a block. This is encouraged as the transaction is more quickly verified if it’s part of a block. Even so, your profit depends on the current value of Bitcoin, the number and size of transaction fees involved, and the number of people sharing the rewards.
Federal Regulation
In 2015 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) declared that digital currency trading is legal and subject to fair trading laws. However, this doesn’t guarantee that you’re protected. Prudent investors always do the homework: Know who you’re dealing with and determine realistic expectations.
Risks in Bitcoin Mining
The Bitcoin reward is halved every 210,000 blocks, or about four years. As the reward approaches zero, it may not be profitable at all unless transaction fees are increased and enforced. And while the general trend is up, there’s also fluctuation in Bitcoin value.
There’s also a question of integrity. As more cloud services spring up, you’ll have a widely varying scenario of payouts, contract stipulations, and the potential for dishonest reporting; even outright fraud. Also, on the downside: The IRS says that mining profits may be taxed as individual investment gains!
Is Bitcoin mining still a good investment? At the present time, yes, and hopefully for years to come with appropriate changes. Are you ready to sit back and let the computers make you bitcoins?
Jen McKenzie is an independent business consultant from New York. She writes extensively on business, education and human resource topics. When Jennifer is not at her desk working, you can usually find her hiking or taking a road trip with her two dogs. You can reach Jennifer @jenmcknzie
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UASF Bitcoin: a Crypto Guide for Beginners and not
Yesterday we published the image below on Facebook, related to UASF Bitcoin we support. But what does it mean?
What is UASF Bitcoin?
UASF is an abbreviation that stands for User Activated Soft Fork.
It’s a mechanism for the activation of a soft fork that might occur on a specified time enforced by full nodes, a concept that is also called “economic majority”.
In the past years, a UASF was successfully developed to activate the P2SH soft fork (BIP16).
Instead, currently, the UASF is combined with the so-called SegWit activation in the BIP148 proposal you can read here: github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0148.mediawiki.
What is a MASF?
MASF means Miner Activated Soft Fork. It’s a system by which miners can trigger the activation of a soft fork when a majority decides to execute an upgrade. This allows a faster activation of the soft fork, leaving full nodes to upgrade when they decide to do it.
This mechanism is a tradeoff because it puts trust in the hash power, enforcing the new rules. Conversely, it can cause invalid chains. This was the case with BIP66.
What is BIP148?
BIP148 is a UASF designed to run the current SegWit MASF deployment in order to activate it in all the existing SegWit capable node software (80% + at this time).
From August 1st, 2017, miners have to signal their readiness for SegWit creating blocks with the version bit 1.
What is Segwit?
SegWit is an upgrade to the bitcoin blockchain that might be able to solve the so-called block size debate, by increasing the capacity of each block of the digital currency chain in order to allow more transactions in less time and with fewer fees to be executed and registered on the blockchain itself.
Right now, Bitcoin supports up to 2000 transactions per block in 10 minutes, but SegWit will be able to double this capacity up to 4000 transactions.
Read this infographic to know more about SegWit.
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How to buy Bitcoin with bank account
How to buy bitcoin with bank accounts? Read this step-by-step guide to convert your fiat currencies into your favorite digital currency.
We recently opened a new service called HolyTransaction where you can buy and sell bitcoins.
This is an important feature when you need to buy or sell bitcoin immediately. You just need to create an account on HolyTransaction.
You just need to visit HolyTransaction and follow the process you can read below.
This guide will enable you to buy bitcoin with bank account.
- Visit the Funding page inside your account;
- Choose your method (bank transfer in this case)
- Click on the blue “Deposit” button;
- Fill the form with your information
5. Insert the amount that you want to transfer for your purchase and then click “Next”
6. Wait for the validation of your order. This process of verification will one or two minutes.
6. Then you will need to pay the amount of EUR you decided, so you need to order the bank transfer from your bank account. You will see the IBAN where you need to send the fiat currency to and you must include the reference.
7. Then you will see a countdown that starts from 48h. At the end of that, the operation will be completed. You will see a similar image as shown below:
NOTE: the max amount you need to buy daily is 4500 EUR. Bank transfer needs 48h to be received.
Open your account on HolyTransaction here
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Bitcoin regulation in Europe: “it’s too early”
During a recent event held by the European Parliament, members talked about new technologies including the Blockchain and Ethereum and Bitcoin Regulation.
According to them, the European Parliament will have to regulate and monitor the new tech but “it’s too early to intervene at this stage, because we as legislators don’t yet see sufficiently clearly to know what the main issues are going to be – so in order to not to stifle innovation, we don’t want it to be now.””, said MEP Jakob von Weizsäcker.
So, the EU wants just to monitor blockchain and smart contracts in order to allow developers doing their job.
Also, MEP Eva Kaili from Greece explained that regulation is necessary to protect citizens, but EU doesn’t want to suffocate innovations.
“[In] 2008 when the crisis started in the European Union, especially in my country [Greece], people lost trust in banks and in the politicians. I woundn’t blame them because we didn’t protect them and the reaction was that some young people that we don’t really know discover this technology that actually makes unnecessary to have banks, politicians and intermediaries. So the potential is there, but it is still under progress”.
Also, she continues by saying the following:
“Blockchain is not just bitcoin and bitcoin is not just blockckhain. We need to understand how to protect citizens because if we help them trust this technology, they will actually start to using it. I do believe that banks will outsource a lot of their services,” she said.
Bitcoin regulation to regain trust by citizens
“We’ll have to educate citizens on how to use it […] Hopefully, [bitcoin regulation] will come and we’re going to try to protect the technology and not to stop it. I know that usually politicians and banks don’t want to change and they want to keep control, but I think this technology is unstoppable and we have to give control back to the citizens and maybe this way we can regain some trust,” Kaili argues.
Watch the full conference video here.
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Litecoin Segwit has been finally approved
Litecoin Segwit has been finally implemented, so this long-debate to change to change the digital currency network can be said to be closed now.
Originally intended to improve the bitcoin blockchain, Segwit – or Segregated Witness – had to solve the so-called block size debate, but it has been used on the lesser known litecoin chain, with some in the community that believes that it will help to finally have a quick implementation on the bitcoin network too.
Litecoin Segwit: how does it work?
Segregated Witness, in fact, is a new system that will allow litecoin to improve its block size, by modifying how transaction data is stored by the blockchain itself.
The change was first locked-in two weeks ago, when the proposal reached the 75% threshold level.
Then, the community had to wait two more weeks (8,064 blocks) to ensure that the upgrade approval was consistent.
After that, yesterday (on May 10th) the change was officially activated at block 1201536.
What does it mean?
Litecoin users can now start using a new kind of network, and there has been at least one transaction so far.
Anyway, several supporters are thrilled about the new techs that can now be created on the Segwit-supported network.
For example, the Lightning Network could boost litecoin transactions by million times; thanks to Segwit it can now be used to move real money.
Developer Loshan T explained to CoinDesk:
“I think today will be a great day for pushing more awesome tech into Litecoin. With SegWit activated on litecoin’s mainnet, I cannot wait until we deploy confidential transactions, Lightning Networks, MAST and Schnorr signatures.”
Unfortunately, these projects are early stage right now, but developers from the Lightning Labs seem thinking that it is too early to talk about sending money over an experimental network, so they plan to continue to develop the chain.
The future is unwritten
It not so clear where the Segwit activation will lead to or what role Litecoin will have in the next future.
Loshan explained that some in the community are skeptical about litecoin needs of the Lightning Network tech because litecoin blocks are not full yet, but they would like to have trustless cross-chain transactions between bitcoin and litecoin as a potential Lightning use case; and developer believes could be a benefit for both the digital currencies.
Anyway, at the moment, the Litecoin blockchain seems to work properly, without any issue, even after the Segwit activation.
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