The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde recently indicated that it is all but inevitable that cryptocurrency will be regulated moving forward. Like other authorities on the subject, she believes that nefarious operators use the anonymity of digital currency to hide their money from the authorities.

The IMF prefers that brokers and platforms come under some form of regulation, despite Bitcoin being unsupervised since 2009. Two of the world’s dominant cryptocurrency trading regions, South Korea and China have already implemented a clampdown on digital currency trading and ICOs.

In particular, South Korean cryptocurrency trading platforms can no longer accept foreign clients, as proof of residence and ID needs to be presented. The WEF (World Economic Forum) is also pushing for regulators to take a stance on making trading activity safer for everyone. It’s interesting to point out that on December 16, 2017, Bitcoin (BTC) peaked at over $19,340, but is now trading around $8,380.

The abrupt decline in digital currency has been attributed to increasing talks of regulation, the actions of China and South Korea, and the removal of South Korean cryptocurrency prices from Coin Market Cap. The top five digital currencies were hovering around the following trading levels on Sunday, 11 February 2018:

• Bitcoin – $8,383 with a market cap of $141.3 billion
• Ethereum – $840 with a market cap of $81.9 billion
• Ripple – $1.03 with a market cap of $40.2 billion
• Bitcoin Cash – $1,261 with a market cap of $21.4 billion
• Cardano – $0.3793 with a market cap of $9.8 billion

Presently, the value of the cryptocurrency market and its 1,523 digital currencies is approximately $410.58 billion – that’s a far cry from the near $800 billion towards the end of 2017.

What’s in the Pipeline for Cryptocurrency?

The market appears to be going through a period of consolidation right now. The frenetic selling activity has tapered off somewhat, although the volatility in this asset category remains high. A recent article in Forbes Magazine questioned whether Bitcoin was heading towards zero value.

According to PhD economist, Eli Dourado, Bitcoin will be surpassed by Ethereum and ultimately have very little value in the financial markets and elsewhere. The transaction fees for Bitcoin are much higher than they are for any other cryptocurrency, notably Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

Dourado talks about governance institutions as an important feature in determining the viability of cryptocurrency. In his opinion, Bitcoin suffers bad governance.

Switching gears to Ethereum, there is a greater degree of confidence about this cryptocurrency. For the year to date, Ethereum has fluctuated between $755.76 per unit on January 1, 2018, to its current level of $840.51 per unit. It has traded in a much tighter range than Bitcoin which has also lost significant dominance in terms of market capitalization since January.

As at January 1, 2018, Bitcoin had 38.3 percent of the market and today it’s at 34.5 percent. Ethereum by contrast is up at 20.1 percent today, while it held just 12.0 percent of the market on January 1, 2018. This is significant when the total market capitalization is over $400 billion.

But what is cryptocurrency really about?

Lorena Soto Botero, a leading cryptocurrency analyst believes that traders ought to understand a little bit more about the fundamentals of digital currency before they simply pick any of the 1,523  Cryptocurrencies  Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term currently spread across 8,715 markets.

To this end she states, “I encourage clients to understand this cryptocurrency definition before they simply buy this or that, or trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, or Litecoin. You must know about the utility value of the  Blockchain  Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term technology that powers the cryptocurrency. Does it have mass market appeal? Can it easily be integrated into existing systems? Will it gain the trust of the masses? These issues are just as important as speculative trains which tend to have a short shelf life. Education is important.”