Cryptocurrency is a big thing right now and my opinion is to be very rigorous when investing in this industry. Cryptocurrency is used in every industry and here are some examples. Insurance : Accenture—With goals to boost efficiency and productivity within the insurance industry, Accenture builds blockchain solutions for its insurance clients. They translate key insurance industry processes into blockchain-ready procedures that embed trust into the system.

Logistics and supply blockchain cases : De Beers—De Beers mines, trades and markets more than 30% of the world’s supply of diamonds. The company plans to use a blockchain ledger for tracing diamonds from the mine to the customer purchase. This transparency will help the industry and anybody who wishes to verify, confirm diamonds are free from conflict. Fura Gems also plans to use blockchain in its supply process of emeralds, rubies and other precious stones.

Google is also reported to be working on a proprietary blockchain to support its cloud-based business. Parent company Alphabet is developing a distributed ledger that third parties will be able to use to store data, believed to be in regards to Google’s cloud services for enterprises, with a white label version for companies also in the works.|Blockchain is now being used to support sustainable fishing. Illegally caught fish is an endemic problem within the industry, and distributed ledger technology provides a means of proving where fish were caught, processed and sold. This ‘net-to-plate’ chain allows inspectors to determine whether fish had come from regions notorious for human rights abuses or from countries that are affected by economic sanctions. Read extra info at what is blockchain technology.

This encryption is called hashing. In simple terms, hashing is when an input produces an output of a fixed length. Bitcoin uses a hashing algorithm called SHA-256 which means that no matter the length of the input, the output will always be 256 bits in length. This hashed output functions as the block’s fingerprint in the sense that it is a unique identifier. The hash of the block is determined by the contents of the block, so any change to the data within the block will result in a new, and very different, hash.

Although blockchain technology can sound confusing at first, it is actually pretty simple to get to grips with. Ultimately, it is a list of public records, also known as a public ledger, where transactions between parties are listed or stored. Each record, known as a ‘block’ within blockchain terminology, is secured using cryptography. Over the past decade, the Internet and software have made the transaction of money practical. You can easily shop online and trade securities. But transferred financial assets go through correspondent banks, archaic systems linking clearing houses, and central depositories. Sometimes it takes many days for the funds to reach an account or purse to settle. Not only are these systems slow, but they are expensive and unsafe. Blockchain development is addressing this problem by restructuring fundamental business transactions, including money market transactions, and introducing new forms of digital interaction.

Here are some terms explained : Ashdraked: A situation where you lose all your money, more specifically when you lose all your money shorting Bitcoin. This was based on a story of a Romanian trader who continued to short BTC when it went from $300 to $500, since he had made a lot of profit doing so historically. Adapt your trading strategy!

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP): A technical design document providing information to the Bitcoin community, describing new proposed features, processes or environments affecting the Bitcoin protocol. Suggested changes to the protocol are submitted as a BIP. The BIP author is responsible for soliciting feedback and consensus for his or her suggested improvements within the community, and documenting dissenting opinions.

Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICO): A method for decentralized funding of projects, combining ideas from Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), proposed by Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum. It introduces a form of governance in the ICO process, allowing backers to vote for the return of their funds if certain conditions are met.

And the latest crypto news : According to Cointelegraph Japan, the FSA has identified shortcomings in Fisco’s internal control systems — such as anti-money laundering measures — and found it to be insufficiently compliant with local laws and regulations. As previously reported, Fisco assumed ownership of Japanese exchange Zaif in fall 2018, shortly after the platform was hacked to the tune of ~$59.7 million. The FSA’s action has reportedly been taken under the provisions of the country’s Act on Settlement of Funds. See extra info on US-China trade war’s impact on Bitcoin