How fast are transaction speeds?
How do you work?
This week the Tusk Media panel brings you part two of their "Bitcoin 101" special. In the first episode we spoke about the fundamentals of bitcoin (OTCQX: OTCQX: GBTC).
In addition, the panel touched on bitcoin futures contracts and how they work.
So, is it possible that we see bitcoin scale up to be more widely used? One potential factor in the ramp up is that the currency is the transaction speed. As Ben Nye states:
"The whole bitcoin network can process 5 transactions per second. For context, Visa alone processes 25,000 per second. "
This may foreshadow some difficulty for the cryptocurrency in gaining popularity for transactions. In some cases, it can take hours to process transactions for larger sums.
"How eager am I to jump in on a bit of payment if I know, at the end of the day, could it take me 8 hours to process something that I could process instantly?"
-Andrew Hall
Panelist Jonathan Hicks also offers his concerns on the scalability:
"... and the problem with physical stores. When are they going to adapt, if ever? That's an issue. "
Bitcoin made headlines earlier this month for something other than its record highs - futures contracts. CBOE and CME started offering bitcoin futures in early December. So, what does this mean for bitcoin's success? In addition to betting on the price, you can bet against it. In the investing world, this is a "short". There is potential for huge futures contracts based on the volatility that we have seen with far bitcoin.
Ben Nye offers his thoughts on the risks of shorting bitcoin futures:
"It gives people a short bitcoin. It becomes very costly and expensive to bet against, and you can do it through private transactions. If you do not know what you mean, you will have to pay for it, and it will give you a personal account and give it to the CME as collateral. "
If the price drives up, you would be on the hook for a "margin call" each time a new threshold is passed. Ultimately, if you can not post that margin - you have to buy the underlying commodity.
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source. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4134185-bitcoin-101-everything-need-know-part-2