Bitcoin was an invention in the beginning that was questionable if it would survive. It has now been replaced by the question of the extent of its evolution and adoption. Industry sceptics raised concerns regarding the new “currency’s” power to disrupt the financial landscape as we know it and lead world economies to lose financial control to the hands of the common man.
Virtual currencies are likely to make central banks obsolete, and could challenge the current banking model as, essentially, transfers will be free.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently published a discussion document indicating that banks around the world should begin to seriously consider investing in cryptocurrencies and other fintech opportunities, as a means of adapting to new consumer and technological demands.
Even when many countries and companies ‘banned’ the use of the digital currency, its rapid growth and mass adoption by technology fanatics and leading global firms like Microsoft, Virgin Galactic, Shopify, and Tesla led to its strengthening in today’s fiscal society.
According to a report by PwC, cryptocurrencies have been called one of the “greatest technological breakthroughs since the Internet.” They’ve also been called “a black hole” into which a consumer’s money could just disappear.
These two stark contrasting statements are the reason why cryptocurrencies have inspired more debate than actual commerce.
The main advantages of Bitcoins over other cryptocurrencies, according to Bitcoin developer and Medium writer Jimmy Song, are its network effect and proven security. According to him, other advantages of Bitcoins that make them unique are:
- Bitcoin is more accessible with more merchants, more exchanges, and software/hardware support systems available.
- It has the largest developer ecosystem with more software and more implementations.
- First mover advantage: Large user base, loyalists, and entrepreneurs creating companies, open source projects and startups around it.
- It’s far more liquid than other digital currencies
- Security has been proven far more than its much younger counterparts with usage by almost every metric exceeding that of altcoins.
- It has a large lead as a store of value.