Some exciting news came to light this morning as researchers at a college in London (The Imperial College London), announced that digital currency is ready for mass adoption. The research team consisted of Professor William Knottenbelt and Dr. Zeynep Gurguc.
Alongside their announcement they released a paper called “Cryptocurrencies: Overcoming Barriers to Trust and Adoption.” The London researchers are highly confident that the process of payment in our day to day activities will be largely effected if not completely altered by cryptocurrency. We’ve speculated this all along, but this type of backing might be just what the world needs.
The confidence of the research team is empowering the crypto-world and stands as a reminder not to abandon cryptocurrency, but to embrace the challenge to find solutions. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do indeed have the ability of managing large payments, and operate on a global scale in real time.
“The world of cryptocurrency is evolving as rapidly as the considerable collection of confusing terminology that accompanies it,” said Imperial professor William Knottenbelt.
“There’s a lot of scepticism over cryptocurrencies and how they could ever become a day-today payment system used by the man on the street. In this research we show that cryptocurrencies have already made significant headway towards fulfilling the criteria for becoming a widely accepted method of payment.”
The researchers developed a checklist of three criteria that is required for any new form of currency to fulfill, in order for it to be considered for mass adoption. They also happen to be the three roles the current fiat system fulfills, they are: store value, medium of exchange, and unit of account. The two claim that digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have already passed one of the three fundamentals of currency: acting as a store of value. Fortunately, cryptocurrency has the potential to meet all three of theses fundamentals. Let’s look at each definition:
Store of value: the buyer as the option of choice on products/service and vendor.
Medium of exchange: a way of exchanging goods and services by eliminating the inefficiencies associated with a barter economy
Unit of account: Has a relevant measurement of value.
The research continues to state that the last two fundamentals will be the biggest hurtle to face as cryptocurrency will need to develop in the areas of scalability, simplicity, security, and regulation.
Moving forward, the coins need to fulfill the two remaining roles necessary to become a legitimate currency, becoming a medium of exchange by making it easier for people to exchange goods and services, and also prove it can be used as a unit of account, acting as a measure of value in the economic system.
We have yet to have a reputable solution to some of the issues cryptocurrency is currently facing regarding mass adoption. However, this is among the more promising news we’ve received this year, after watching the market dip into the bull arena.
We’ve seen amazing things be conquered in the last 200 years regarding our financial system. From bartering, to physical fiat, to tap card technology we are surely headed into a new era of digital finance. We are excited to see what the future holds for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.