While some individuals still don’t understand the role cryptocurrency has in a global economy, there are more and more signs showing how crypto is gaining a larger market share. This trend is only going to continue and substantially more adoption is expected in 2019. An entire country seems to be prepared to make the jump into digital currency and is forecast to see a drastic reduction in cash usage within seven years.
According to a report by the New York Times, half of the retailers in Sweden could quit receiving cash before 2026 rolls around. The country is already testing a state-backed digital currency (SBDC), the e-krona, which is being managed by Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank.
The SBDC could pave the way for Sweden to become completely free of cash within a decade. The governor of Riksbank, Stefan Ingves, asserts, “When you are where we are, it would be wrong to sit back with our arms crossed, doing nothing, and then just take note of the fact that cash has disappeared. You can’t turn back time, but you do have to find a way to deal with change.”
Cash is dying in the country. The people know it and the government knows it. They believe it to be on a course toward dissolution that can’t be stopped, which is why a number of businesses and individuals have already begun to make the permanent switch to digital currencies.
While that trend will continue, no one expects the landscape to change overnight. There are still a number of reasons why cash may have to be used, but those reasons are being addressed. As it happens, though, some caution that the country needs to ensure that it considers all the implications of a cash-free society. Mats Dillén, an economist and head of a Parliament committee studying the financial landscape in the country, states, “We need to pause and think about whether this is good or bad, and not just sit back and let it happen. If cash disappears, that would be a big change, with major implications for society and the economy.”
Sweden isn’t the only country going through this evolutionary cycle. The Marshall Islands are set to introduce a digital currency that would be legal tender, and several Asian countries are also experiencing substantial crypto adoption. Cash is becoming more of a rarity in Japan and South Korea, as digital payment networks become mainstream in the countries.
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Jimmy Nguyen, the affable CEO of nChain, has been making his rounds to promote Bitcoin BCH and how the blockchain is changing the scope of cryptocurrency. He recently completed a couple of discussions in front of cryptocurrency enthusiasts where he went into great detail about how Bitcoin BCH is poised to be the ultimate blockchain and how it will revolutionize how the cryptocurrency ecosystem is viewed.
One of the conversations led by Nguyen was to a group of individuals in Wales. The seminar was uploaded to YouTube only a few days ago and, as usual, his effervescent personality and in-depth knowledge captivated the audience. He provided a significant amount of support for why cryptocurrency and blockchains are so crucial to a changing world and additionally needs to happen for this evolutionary cycle to continue.
Providing an overview of what a blockchain is, Nguyen broke down the fundamentals of the blockchain, pointing out that the technology can completely alter how records are kept and how it can ultimately eliminate the need to rely on intermediaries. This is an important feature, as the intermediaries, such as banks or information processing houses, slow down transactions and result in higher costs.
Nguyen also touched upon the need to create a network that is much more scalable than what is seen now. This will not only lead to faster transaction times but a blockchain with a greater foundation, such as the proposed 128MB block size for Bitcoin BCH, will give businesses the confidence they need to want to innovate on that particular blockchain. This leads to greater stability and usability of the particular blockchain.
In his second seminar, which is also available on YouTube, Nguyen targeted Bitcoin SV, a new full-node implementation of the Bitcoin BCH protocol for miners. The idea behind the implementation, as Nguyen points out, is to create a network that is more stable, more secure and more scalable. It’s an opportunity to return to the original vision of cryptocurrency offered by Satoshi Nakamoto, and to stop viewing the blockchain as a playground for developers.
As Nguyen so eloquently puts it, “It’s time for Bitcoin to grow up.” It’s time to introduce a network that is more solid and gives the world a chance to see what cryptocurrency was really designed to be – a valuable peer-to-peer digital currency.
Following Satoshi’s original design for the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Core (BTC) developers never gave cryptocurrency a chance to mature as it had originally been intended. This was the impetus for Bitcoin BCH, to continue along the same path and definition of cryptocurrency.
Nguyen rightfully asserts that cryptocurrency needs to be constructed on solid block, not on moving sand. When developers want to introduce changes (most of which do not enhance the network) every few months, the blockchain can never evolve appropriately and cannot build the foundation that it needs. Only through projects such as Bitcoin SV can provide the necessary stability to take Bitcoin BCH into the future be achieved.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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