Bitcoin
In November 2008, the unknown 'Satoshi Nakamoto' mysteriously released a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' via a cryptology mailing list. Also known as the Bitcoin White Paper, this nine and a half page document provided detailed analysis of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system created to combat the Internet's reliance on "financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments."
With a limited future supply, Bitcoin is more similar to gold than traditional fiat currencies. No government or central authority has the ability to produce additional bitcoins. As you can see from the chart below, the logarithmic algorithm regulating the mining of bitcoin has a mathematical limit of 21 million. There will never be 21,000,001 bitcoins in existence. This means that once all bitcoins have been mined, there will be no inflation of the bitcoin supply for all of history. A truly amazing characteristic.
With a limited future supply, Bitcoin is more similar to gold than traditional fiat currencies. No government or central authority has the ability to produce additional bitcoins. As you can see from the chart below, the logarithmic algorithm regulating the mining of bitcoin has a mathematical limit of 21 million. There will never be 21,000,001 bitcoins in existence. This means that once all bitcoins have been mined, there will be no inflation of the bitcoin supply for all of history. A truly amazing characteristic.
Since the genesis of the bitcoin blockchain, the price of a single bitcoin has fluctuated greatly, rising from a few pennies to over $1000 in late 2013, before falling rapidly after the hacking of prominent bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox. In recent years, bitcoin price volatility has decreased as the digital asset has matured.
The Bitcoin Core developers are currently working on major improvements to the bitcoin protocol which could alleviate recent scalability concerns. Among these technological improvements is Segregated Witness (SegWit). A method of reorganizing bitcoin transactions to hold some relevant data off-chain. SegWit allows for increased utility on the bitcoin blockchain, such as the implementation of the Lightning Network and the execution of smart contracts on-chain. The Lightning Network will allow parties to conduct unlimited instant transactions via secure, off-chain payment channels.
Information on innovative projects building platforms based on the bitcoin blockchain is provided below for educational purposes.
The Bitcoin Core developers are currently working on major improvements to the bitcoin protocol which could alleviate recent scalability concerns. Among these technological improvements is Segregated Witness (SegWit). A method of reorganizing bitcoin transactions to hold some relevant data off-chain. SegWit allows for increased utility on the bitcoin blockchain, such as the implementation of the Lightning Network and the execution of smart contracts on-chain. The Lightning Network will allow parties to conduct unlimited instant transactions via secure, off-chain payment channels.
Information on innovative projects building platforms based on the bitcoin blockchain is provided below for educational purposes.
Factom
Factom is a data storage and record management platform built on top of the bitcoin blockchain. By recording data on the blockchain, it becomes immutable and instantly verifiable with significantly reduced costs to organizations. Title records, legal documents, scientific journals, medical records and more can be securely recorded and stored on the Factom data-layer.
The Factom protocol could one day be applied in manufacturing standardization, air traffic control, government healthcare, and social benefit management. Any data management process susceptible to human error or corruption could serve to benefit.
Due to the clever mechanics of the Factom protocol, users can buy Entries Credits for Factom without ever owning the cryptocurrency (factoids) that drives the network. Bypassing the creation of a 'wallet' and use of cryptocurrency is meant to 'extend the benefits of the blockchain to the real world'.
Factom has recently announced its integration with the ethereum blockchain (ETH). This could one day provide any decentralized application built on the ethereum blockchain to view Factom data entries and ledgers. Factom's on-chain data platform could one day be integral to the function of various decentralized applications and other IoT technology.
The Factom protocol could one day be applied in manufacturing standardization, air traffic control, government healthcare, and social benefit management. Any data management process susceptible to human error or corruption could serve to benefit.
Due to the clever mechanics of the Factom protocol, users can buy Entries Credits for Factom without ever owning the cryptocurrency (factoids) that drives the network. Bypassing the creation of a 'wallet' and use of cryptocurrency is meant to 'extend the benefits of the blockchain to the real world'.
Factom has recently announced its integration with the ethereum blockchain (ETH). This could one day provide any decentralized application built on the ethereum blockchain to view Factom data entries and ledgers. Factom's on-chain data platform could one day be integral to the function of various decentralized applications and other IoT technology.
OmniWallet
The Omni Protocol is an application layer built on the bitcoin blockchain. The native digital token, 'omnis,' are exchanged for premium services such as creating custom assets on the bitcoin blockchain, crowdfunding, and currency pegs. In addition, the platform offers client-side encrypted bitcoin web wallets, meaning no private keys or passwords are sent to Omni Servers. Development of the Omni Protocol was funded via the sale of 619,478.6 omnis, As demand for the platform's services increases, so will the market value of the fixed omni supply.
Rootstock
Rootstock is a open-source smart contract platform utilizing a 2-way peg to the bitcoin blockchain. It is 'merge-mined' along with bitcoin, rewarding bitcoin miners and leveraging the security of the world's most secure blockchain. Rootstock hopes to leverage their 100 transaction per second capabilities to become a leader in the instant payments industry of the future, with applications from retail store payments to online gaming.
Rootstock is the Bitcoin community's answer to the turing-complete programming capabilities of the ethereum blockchain.
Rootstock is the Bitcoin community's answer to the turing-complete programming capabilities of the ethereum blockchain.
CounterParty
Counterparty (XCP) facilitates the use of custom tokens or 'colored coins' which can be used to represent any kind of value on the bitcoin blockchain. Custom tokens have been utilized to conduct crowdfunding, represent real-world goods & services, and host online votes.
Counterparty also offers a smart contracts system based on ethereum which allows for code written in the Solidity coding language. Counterparty smart contracts have the advantage of interacting with both custom token and bitcoin transactions. They hope to utilize the Lightning Network to enable nearly instant, cheap and safe peer-to-peer exchange.
Counterparty also offers a smart contracts system based on ethereum which allows for code written in the Solidity coding language. Counterparty smart contracts have the advantage of interacting with both custom token and bitcoin transactions. They hope to utilize the Lightning Network to enable nearly instant, cheap and safe peer-to-peer exchange.