Bitcoin is a remarkable environment that allows for not only new ways of transacting but also fantastic innovation. At Blockchain, a web wallet and block explorer firm, we are part of an innovative ecosystem that is securing and transforming activity around the currency.
Bitcoin, a digital or crypto currency talked about in highly polarised positive and negative terms, is an unstoppable force and an environment allowing innovation and opportunity. Like any major change, as with the introduction of the Internet, there are opportunities for misuse, but there are also many more ways for good people to do great things.
Security in a rapidly transforming area
The liberal nature of Bitcoin, an unregulated currency, allows for fast innovation and useful application. Security is one such area, where there is extensive development, as companies look to provide safe transactions and offer quality services to customers.
At Blockchain, we provide two key services. One is a web wallet service, which allows our more than 1.3 million users to have their digital currency easily accessible for transactions. The other is a block chain explorer - effectively we are a search engine for Bitcoin. This service enables people to look through and find items in the Bitcoin block chain, which is the log of transactions of the currency.
Having strong security is absolutely vital here. Blockchain has gone the extra mile and it offers people the ability to be fully protected as they transact. Blockchain's wallets operate directly on the browser of the user, and by not taking the user's details, we are not logging private information. We double-encrypt information, and we do not hold the funds of the user.
Security around Bitcoin is constantly strengthening as programmers create excellent cryptography. It relies on good computation, and not just on excluding any bad actors in the environment.
Bitcoin transactions offer extra privacy in that unlike credit cards, the vendor cannot access or keep your personal information. Some of the security aspects of Bitcoin are light, by design, because it is a decentralised system that aims to give users the ability to control their own environment.
The future of Bitcoin
We have complete belief in Bitcoin and its viability as a currency, and we want to lead by example. As a company, Blockchain operates entirely on Bitcoin, using it as the only currency for our payroll and all of our finance. We also used it for the two acquisitions we have made as a company.
There has been some real volatility in Bitcoin's value, and such risks and changes are a part of any business. Overall, the currency is growing well and is on a strong positive trajectory.
Bitcoin is even more than a currency; it is a platform for services and applications. It absolutely transforms finance, by allowing innovation and access. Never before have people been able to start a money transaction business from their garages, because the barriers to entry have been too high; new companies simply haven't been able to exist on processing or clearing platforms. Bitcoin is innovation that does not require permission.
Equally, the environment opens up financial transactions to billions of people around the world who do not have access to the full banking systems we are used to in developed economies. Given the proliferation of mobile phones globally, many more people can now transmit currency without requiring a full-blown banking access.
The Mt Gox controversy
The recent collapse of Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, after apparent serious business and code problems, has prompted much comment around the currency.
However, one thing that is very clear is the transparency on Bitcoin and how it allows us to tackle problems. Unlike banks in the financial crisis, Mt Gox is a Bitcoin business with all transactions visible on the block chain. This allows for all of the necessary scrutiny around what happened. Additionally, in this evolving environment, Bitcoin developers and users will advance further from the lessons that come out of the Mt Gox incident.
Regulation and open development
There are two approaches regulators can take: try to stop an existing technological bandwagon and end up being run over, or work with an ever-growing and popular system. Much of the negative comment and concern around Bitcoin has been based on misunderstanding, and failing to see the potential for good.
Increasingly, we think that national governments are recognising the opportunities it opens, and just how crypto currencies can create innovation and jobs. Recent examples include Britain's step to scrap the planned VAT on Bitcoin trades.
It is clear that Bitcoin brings about a big change and a new way of doing things. Sometimes change scares people, as it did with the Internet. But people said that the Internet would not provide a safe and vital service that people would rely on, and this has been proven wrong - it is now essential. The great thing about Bitcoin is that as an open development platform it cannot be corrupted from the top the way a bank might be. The whole development community and the users have the ultimate power. That has to be a force for good.
Security in a rapidly transforming area
The liberal nature of Bitcoin, an unregulated currency, allows for fast innovation and useful application. Security is one such area, where there is extensive development, as companies look to provide safe transactions and offer quality services to customers.
At Blockchain, we provide two key services. One is a web wallet service, which allows our more than 1.3 million users to have their digital currency easily accessible for transactions. The other is a block chain explorer - effectively we are a search engine for Bitcoin. This service enables people to look through and find items in the Bitcoin block chain, which is the log of transactions of the currency.
Having strong security is absolutely vital here. Blockchain has gone the extra mile and it offers people the ability to be fully protected as they transact. Blockchain's wallets operate directly on the browser of the user, and by not taking the user's details, we are not logging private information. We double-encrypt information, and we do not hold the funds of the user.
Security around Bitcoin is constantly strengthening as programmers create excellent cryptography. It relies on good computation, and not just on excluding any bad actors in the environment.
Bitcoin transactions offer extra privacy in that unlike credit cards, the vendor cannot access or keep your personal information. Some of the security aspects of Bitcoin are light, by design, because it is a decentralised system that aims to give users the ability to control their own environment.
The future of Bitcoin
We have complete belief in Bitcoin and its viability as a currency, and we want to lead by example. As a company, Blockchain operates entirely on Bitcoin, using it as the only currency for our payroll and all of our finance. We also used it for the two acquisitions we have made as a company.
There has been some real volatility in Bitcoin's value, and such risks and changes are a part of any business. Overall, the currency is growing well and is on a strong positive trajectory.
Bitcoin is even more than a currency; it is a platform for services and applications. It absolutely transforms finance, by allowing innovation and access. Never before have people been able to start a money transaction business from their garages, because the barriers to entry have been too high; new companies simply haven't been able to exist on processing or clearing platforms. Bitcoin is innovation that does not require permission.
Equally, the environment opens up financial transactions to billions of people around the world who do not have access to the full banking systems we are used to in developed economies. Given the proliferation of mobile phones globally, many more people can now transmit currency without requiring a full-blown banking access.
The Mt Gox controversy
The recent collapse of Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, after apparent serious business and code problems, has prompted much comment around the currency.
However, one thing that is very clear is the transparency on Bitcoin and how it allows us to tackle problems. Unlike banks in the financial crisis, Mt Gox is a Bitcoin business with all transactions visible on the block chain. This allows for all of the necessary scrutiny around what happened. Additionally, in this evolving environment, Bitcoin developers and users will advance further from the lessons that come out of the Mt Gox incident.
Regulation and open developmentThere are two approaches regulators can take: try to stop an existing technological bandwagon and end up being run over, or work with an ever-growing and popular system. Much of the negative comment and concern around Bitcoin has been based on misunderstanding, and failing to see the potential for good.
Increasingly, we think that national governments are recognising the opportunities it opens, and just how crypto currencies can create innovation and jobs. Recent examples include Britain's step to scrap the planned VAT on Bitcoin trades.
It is clear that Bitcoin brings about a big change and a new way of doing things. Sometimes change scares people, as it did with the Internet. But people said that the Internet would not provide a safe and vital service that people would rely on, and this has been proven wrong - it is now essential. The great thing about Bitcoin is that as an open development platform it cannot be corrupted from the top the way a bank might be. The whole development community and the users have the ultimate power. That has to be a force for good.
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