Crypto 'altcoins'. Will any change the future of finance?
Posted: May 30th, 2021, 1:09 pm
Blockchain, DeFi etc. are thought by some to be the future of finance - just like hardly anyone uses a library to seek information, why won't we use decentralised, inexpensive means to save and borrow money, for example? Even UK is examining the case for a national digital currency, and in particular in developing countries, digital currencies may allow access to financial service to many who do not currently have it. Another appeal to many is the lack of central control. Some folk have it into their heads that the global financial system has not been designed or run with their best interests at heart and seems rigged toward the 'haves' at the expense of the 'have nots'. (I can't think why? )
All the media attention has focussed on Bitcoin, but primarily as a speculative 'asset'. But most would not dream of using BTC to say lend or borrow money due to extreme volatility and environmental concerns. It is deflationary, hence tends to get hoarded, and seems of little practical use.
However, some projects attempt to be more useful. To get the ball rolling (partly on MCB's behalf), take Algorand (ALGO), (https://www.algorand.com/, though others I have found interesting include Cardano (ADA) and Stellar (LUMEN).
The founder of Algorand is an eminent MIT professor who holds the Turing prize for cyptography. It is already the official digital currency of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is also carbon nuetral and aims to be carbon negative. Algorand is an attempt to solve the blockchain 'trilemma'. How can security, scalability and decentralisation be simultaneously achieved?
https://community.algorand.org/blog/understanding-algorand-the-blockchain-which-claims-to-solve-the-trilemma/
A large collection of ‘sober’ articles on Algorand here https://medium.com/algorand. (Medium allows 3 free reads a month, or as many as you like if using ‘incognito’ mode)
Anyway, are any of these projects likely to succeed in disrupting the current global financial system? Is this a good thing? Is there money to made by investing in the more plausible ones?
Disclosure – I have £60’s worth of ALGO (least, it was £60 last time I looked, might be 60p by now )
All the media attention has focussed on Bitcoin, but primarily as a speculative 'asset'. But most would not dream of using BTC to say lend or borrow money due to extreme volatility and environmental concerns. It is deflationary, hence tends to get hoarded, and seems of little practical use.
However, some projects attempt to be more useful. To get the ball rolling (partly on MCB's behalf), take Algorand (ALGO), (https://www.algorand.com/, though others I have found interesting include Cardano (ADA) and Stellar (LUMEN).
The founder of Algorand is an eminent MIT professor who holds the Turing prize for cyptography. It is already the official digital currency of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is also carbon nuetral and aims to be carbon negative. Algorand is an attempt to solve the blockchain 'trilemma'. How can security, scalability and decentralisation be simultaneously achieved?
https://community.algorand.org/blog/understanding-algorand-the-blockchain-which-claims-to-solve-the-trilemma/
A large collection of ‘sober’ articles on Algorand here https://medium.com/algorand. (Medium allows 3 free reads a month, or as many as you like if using ‘incognito’ mode)
Anyway, are any of these projects likely to succeed in disrupting the current global financial system? Is this a good thing? Is there money to made by investing in the more plausible ones?
Disclosure – I have £60’s worth of ALGO (least, it was £60 last time I looked, might be 60p by now )