Cryptocurrencies have gained a huge amount of media attention over the last few years. The technology first entered the public consciousness when the infamous Silk Road, a marketplace on the Dark Net, was shut down and its owner arrested. The case brought attention to crypto for all the wrong reasons. Here, the anonymity so valued by the wider crypto community had been used to facilitate transactions involving drugs, guns, and other illegal and untraceable sales.
But, if anyone had inferred from the Silk Road case that cryptocurrency was little more than a black market currency for facilitating illegal transactions, they would surely now be forced to retract. A multitude of legitimate businesses now accept cryptocurrency payments, both online and offline. Increased regulatory attention has been cautiously welcomed in most corners, this is widely regarded as a necessary step towards attaining complete legitimacy.
The question of what else the future might hold for cryptocurrencies is worth investigating. Let’s take a look at some of the key factors to consider here.
Blockchain
The blockchain is the technology upon which cryptocurrencies are based. It is blockchain that makes cryptocurrencies possible by serving as a kind of digital ledger. It is because the blockchain is so trustable, and will hopefully stay that way, that cryptocurrency and other blockchain derived technologies, offer the potential that they do. If cryptocurrencies mature to the point that some are predicting, it will likely renew focus on the underlying Blockchain technology.
More Specialized Crypto
For many people, the potential of cryptocurrency lies in its versatility. Companies can produce their own cryptocurrencies to suit their own individual needs and those who have any reservations about the security of a particular crypto, therefore, have other options. Let’s take something as obscure as Apollo as an example.
The makers of Apollo wanted to correct what they saw as shortcomings in existing crypto options. They developed a currency which they claim is much faster and much more secure than the alternatives. While currencies like Bitcoin might be well known and established, some consider them outdated by now. One of the strengths of cryptocurrencies is that older currencies can easily be exchanged for newer, more secure, ones without having to necessarily incur a loss in the value of your portfolio.
Enhanced Crypto
Again, using Apollo as an example, what we have is one of the most feature-rich cryptocurrencies available. Among the features that Apollo incorporates are a monetary system, asset system, encrypted messaging, file transfer, blockchain file storage, leasing, alias system, authentication, multi-signature accounts, decentralized exchange, decentralized marketplace, coin shuffling, and more. Apollo was designed to become the ultimate all-in-one currency allowing for complete and total privacy when using any feature that could be used in a cryptocurrency. We can expect to see more specialized cryptocurrency offerings over the next few years.
Eco Crypto
One of the big drawbacks of cryptocurrencies is also one of the least discussed. Generating all the power for crypto mining operations presents a very real logistical challenge. Hopefully, consumers and users will begin to demand that we take a sustainable approach to generating crypto.
Cryptocurrency is an infamously difficult field to make predictions about. However, that is part of the excitement! There are some brilliant people and inspiring ideas floating around the world of cryptocurrency. This is technology that could truly change the world.