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Imperial College London has released a research paper in collaboration with eToro, and their findings are very exciting: we could see cryptocurrency payments become mainstream within the next ten years.

The research paper also outlines a few of the issues we would need to address before this will become a reality, however.

Cryptocurrency ticks all the boxes

The paper does a very good job of introducing the concepts behind blockchain technology, cryptocurrency tokens, crypto-commodities, digital ledgers, and smart contracts.

The paper also outlines how cryptocurrency, contrary to popular belief outside of the crypto-community, actually does meet the three tenets of what constitutes a currency.

These tenets are that it has to be a medium of exchange (check), be a unit of account (check), and a store of value (also check).

Simplicity is the key to success

According to the researchers, one of the main areas blockchain projects need to bear in mind when they develop their business is user-friendliness. Without app interfaces that have been designed as simple and easy-to-use, the various blockchain-based products and services will simply not take off.

This makes sense, and many of the most popular apps and devices achieved their status due to their simplicity. Think Google and Apple. Both companies pride themselves on simplicity without compromising utility.

What is holding back cryptocurrency?

One of the more interesting points raised by the researchers was the similarities between fiat money and cryptocurrency. Citing the textbook ‘Macroeconomics’ from 1999 by Morris Perlman, the paper lays out how all the fears associated with cryptocurrencies today were also attributed to fiat money in the past.

The main issue many investors have with cryptocurrencies is that it is money not backed by anything with intrinsic value. This is no different to fiat money, which also have no intrinsic value compared to silver and gold coins. Yet, people are more than happy to sell their gold, which has intrinsic value, in exchange for fiat money, which does not.

This would indicate that it is simply a matter of time and familiarity that will make cryptocurrency as widely accepted as fiat money is today.

The challenges remain

Going back to the three tenets of currency (medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value), the researchers raised the issue of volatility. That fact that most, if not all, cryptocurrency tokens are highly volatile damages their credibility when it comes to all three of the tenets.

A second concern was the lack of scalability inherent to cryptocurrencies. Restrictions on block size and transaction complexity can lead to a massive increase in transaction times and costs — and indeed has done in the cases of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Another issue that few people have thought about were the transparency of the cryptocurrency system. Because of the public nature of blockchain, everyone will be able to see what everyone else is doing. The researchers feared that this could lead to industry sabotage between companies who can use this feature to spy on each other.

Moolya ICO Review

There has never been a better time to start a company. Why? Because the Internet has allowed us to be located anywhere in the world, and collaborate with others across borders and timezones.

This means that there are now more startup companies popping up than ever before. But new businesses and the entrepreneurs that run them need support, guidance, investment, resources and groups to brainstorm with. While the Internet does a great job at facilitating this, many entrepreneurs are clustered in smaller groups around the web. Moolya is a project that aims to bring all these groups together, in order to create an ecosystem that everyone can benefit from.

What is Moolya?

Moolya is an entrepreneurship ecosystem built around blockchain technology. It is a place that hopes to aggregate all the entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, institutions, consultants, mentors and collaborators together into one global community of creative business minds. By gathering everyone in one place, the possibilities for networking and collaboration will be unprecedented. The team behind Moolya have already begun to form relationships with popular startup countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, and Singapore.

How does Moolya work?

The Moolya community will bring together institutions, startups, investors, companies, service providers, mentors, gurus, and partners to form the world’s first global entrepreneurial platform. These entities can communicate and collaborate via the platform, and the native currency being used will be the MoolyaCoin. This cryptocurrency token will be the main currency with which investors can fund projects, businesses can purchase products and services from each other, and entrepreneurs can pay advisors with. Furthermore, all the products and services produced by the startups will be accessible through the platform, which in turn will aid the startup businesses in reaching their target markets.

What are the benefits of Moolya?

As with other online platforms, Moolya will be universal and not bound by any physical borders. Being based on the blockchain technology as it is, the network will be decentralized and more secure than existing digital platforms. All the funding and transactions will be trackable and verifiable by the users on the network. One of the many advantages of cryptocurrency transactions is that they are much cheaper and faster than traditional financial transactions. The cryptocurrency system will also provide the users with the benefit of instant liquidity and increased purchasing power. This is particularly useful for startup companies with limited funds and cash flows. As there is a limited supply of tokens, there will be no inflation to worry about. By being connected to the Moolya network, entrepreneurs will also be able to access services not currently available to them.

What are the main features of Moolya?

The Moolya ecosystem platform is already live as of January 2018, with their official patent still pending. By using blockchain technology to facilitate the network, Moolya already place themselves head and shoulders above similar competing platforms. The team behind the project is made up of entrepreneurs, engineers, architects, digital experts, and marketing gurus. The roadmap for the project is very solid and detailed, with much research being conducted on a consistent basis.

bitcointalk Username: Ico Friends

Bigger is not always better. Sometimes, good things come in small packages. Despite the majority of cryptocurrency news revolving around large countries like the US and China, there are quite a few smaller countries that are surprisingly progressive when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency.

The problem with bigger countries is that they often resort to strict regulations that suffocate the development of budding blockchain projects. This is of course often implemented as a preventative measure to avoid criminal activity but, unfortunately, it also affects the honest players in the game. Smaller countries, on the other hand, have the advantage of being more flexible, and many of them use that advantage. Here, we will have a look at some of them — and they are not the ones you might have expected. From Georgia to Liechtenstein, lack of regulation and the encouragement of education within the crypto-sphere is propelling various exciting blockchain initiatives.

Malta

Malta is a haven for blockchain companies because of the lax regulations. The cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently announced that it would relocate from Hong Kong to Malta for this very reason. The Maltese government has also recently formed the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA), which aims to promote the use of digital ledger technology for much more than simply the transfer of money.

Georgia

Not the state of Georgia, but the Eastern European country, which at a population of 4 million is only half the size of the US state. A Cambridge University study from last year ranked the country as number two when it comes to cryptocurrency mining. Why? Because Georgia has very few regulations and harnesses hydropower to generate its electricity. Here, the average cryptocurrency miner can spend $80 on electricity per month, and generate $800 worth of cryptocurrency tokens. Not a bad deal!

Liechtenstein

The small country of Liechtenstein has more businesses than citizens. One of the reasons for this is that is is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), but not the European Union (EU). This makes it particularly attractive to cryptocurrency businesses, as it is not subject to the many EU regulations. As an added bonus, a business can be set up without a bank account or fiat money. All other fees can be paid for with Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Thailand

Thailand is one of the many Asian countries that are at the forefront of blockchain technology. The country’s postal service announced last year that it would begin incorporating blockchain technology into its deliveries. By using smart contracts, the postal service can ensure that deliveries containing valuable goods only are handed over to the appropriate person.

Cyprus

Whilst Cyprus is known for neither mining nor lax regulations, it is a power-house when it comes to education on cryptocurrency. The Cypriot University of Nicosia pioneered school programs in cryptocurrencies, which other countries have since emulated. The university was also the recipient of funding from Ripple, who recently invested $50 million in educational cryptocurrency programs around the world.

Do you know of any smaller countries that have made great leaps in terms of blockchain technology? Let us know in the comments!

Cryptocurrency mining can be profitable, depending on which token you are mining where you are located, and how much the electricity costs. Regardless of whether or not it is profitable, it is a known fact that cryptocurrency mining uses up a lot of energy. So much so, in fact, that the small country of Iceland uses more energy for cryptocurrency mining than it does to power the houses people live in.

This energy usage is only set to increase, as the mathematical problems the mining rigs need to solve become increasingly more complex as more tokens are being mined. The question then is what will be done to solve the problem of rising energy costs for cryptocurrency mining? And what impact will it have on the environment, seeing as much of the energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels?

Putting the problem in perspective

How much energy is being used exactly? The Bitcoin network, which is the largest cryptocurrency network in existence, uses up 71 TWh every year. The next biggest network is the Ethereum network, which uses up to 20.5 TWh every year. To put it into context, the two networks use up as much energy as the entire United Arab Emirates. Alex de Vries, who is an economist, has predicted that the mining of cryptocurrency tokens will use up 0.5% of all of the world’s energy this year.

Renewable energy vs. fossil fuels

The massive energy consumption required to mine for cryptocurrencies would not be a problem if the energy came from renewable sources like solar power and geothermal energy. The latter kind of renewable energy is exactly what Iceland uses, which means that their cryptocurrency mining is not a huge environmental issue. However, not all countries are as big on renewable energy as Iceland is — far from it.

Take China, for example, which has enormous coal reserves. 70% of the energy consumed by the Chinese come from fossil fuel energy sources. If Chinese citizens were the only ones who used Chinese energy, this would not pose a huge problem either. Especially since the Chinese government has now outlawed the mining of cryptocurrency, as they are subsidizing the energy. However, China exports much of their energy to the rest of the world, and 60% of the networks’ energy consumption comes from China’s coal-driven power stations.

The solutions are many

A string of projects with a focus on the environment has now begun to tackle this issue. William Shatner and Solar Alliance are working together to build solar energy farms that can be rented out to cryptocurrency miners.

Foodtrax is an app using blockchain technology to let consumers track the supply chain of their groceries. Energy Blockchain Labs are addressing the carbon trading markets in China, which will help create more transparency. EnergiToken uses a peer-to-peer model to help consumers reduce their energy consumption. Plastic Bank is a project that uses the blockchain model to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean. It would seem that, in spite of the huge energy consumption required by cryptocurrency mining, the blockchain will be the solution to environmental issues.