Crypto currencies Background

In 2008 the world banking system almost collapsed. The same year Satoshi Nakamoto published his paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System". In 2009, he released the first Bitcoin software that launched the network and the first units of the Bitcoin currency.

All currencies are defined by trust. The financial crisis severely impacted our trust in the banking system and the role of the central banks that created the debt bubble. Bitcoin is an alternative currency, where trust is based on cryptographic technology and the central banks are replaced by a peer-to-peer network over the Internet.

Crypto currencies behave like cash and in theory transactions can be anonymously executed. Crypto currency transactions are worldwide instant and the transaction costs are low, making it specially useful for small transaction amounts or international transactions with an otherwise relative high commission.

In 2011 Bitcoins have been named "the Most Dangerous Technological Project Ever" on Slashdot and Launch, because it removes central control from a currency. In October 2012 the European Central Bank published a report on virtual currencies referring to Bitcoins as "probably the most successful – and probably most controversial – virtual currency scheme to date". The report concludes that the true impact will largely depend on the number of active users, as well as the number of merchants willing to accept the virtual currency for real transactions. The main risk identified by the report is the potential damage to the reputation of institutional central banks.

Crypto currencies will co-exist with the regulated currencies, but with the benefit of instant, low-cost worldwide transactions. For crypto currencies to become a general used currency, it should be accepted by a growing number of merchants in exchange for goods and services. Therefore they need to trust the concept and it must be easy to swap between crypto currencies and other currencies for consumers and companies.

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