The future of cryptocurrency: Trends, prices, and innovation — Switchain
By: P. Prashant Tiwari
Tags: Ethereum Blockchain, Bitcoin Wallet, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin News

You don’t have to go to a tarot reader to know the future of cryptocurrency. Since their inception in 2009 till date, cryptocurrencies have evolved a lot. They have changed the way we invest, trade and do business. They started as a digital payment form and are taking up new roles. The future of cryptocurrency is looking good in general.

Why cryptocurrencies?

It is impossible to store digital currencies centrally. No authority owns or regulates them. Coins are mined digitally. Finance market trends usually do not affect cryptocurrency prices.

Who creates cryptocurrencies?

Mining is an open process of adding crypto coins to the public ledger. A miner solves a complex mathematical problem to mine the coin.

How do crypto coins work?

Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency. It is transferred between peers or stored in a crypto wallet. Public ledger stores all confirmed crypto transactions. Each wallet provides an encrypted signature. This signature serves as a mathematical proof of transaction. No one can modify the entries on the ledger.

How many crypto coins exist?

There are about 1600+ crypto coins in circulation. Some coins with larger market capitalization are:

What are the applications of cryptocurrencies?

You can use cryptocurrencies for many other cases besides payment. In fact, it is the real world application that decides the future of a coin. Some of the specific purposes of digital currencies are:

Creating and promoting unique content: Example Steemit

Reducing fraud in electoral processes: Example Democracy Earth

To make the earth greener: Example SolarCoin

Who decides cryptocurrency prices?

The law of supply and demand determine prices. If the demand for a coin is more than its supply, it becomes pricier. If a coin is difficult to mine then it is difficult to add to it to the public ledger. Thus mining difficulty is a price determinant. Coin utility and underlying blockchain decide the coin value as well.

What makes Bitcoin so expensive?

Bitcoin was initially a payment system. It is now also used as a store of value. Investors hold on it in the hope of better returns when the prices soar. The supply of new bitcoins is halved after releasing a new batch of 210,000 coins. The process of mining a bitcoin is complex. Thus the supply is finite. The market hype and public sentiment around Bitcoin are mostly positive. Bitcoin future price is difficult to predict. However, with falling supply and increasing demand the price is expected to rise.

What is the future of bitcoin and other coins?

The future of a cryptocurrency is predicted to be good if there is a:

Finite supply

Continuous demand

Mass adoption of the coin.

Digital currencies have not yet achieved acceptance as a mainstream payment form, however, a growing number of enthusiasts indicate a rise in interest. The future of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency will ultimately depend on its adoption. Innovators should design more efficient and secure coins. Someday financial transactions will be done with cryptocurrencies. Eventually, if not immediately.

Originally published at https://www.switchain.com on June 17, 2019.