How Bitcoin is becoming safer and working towards mainstream adoption
When attempting to get people to embrace a new currency and move away from tried, tested, and trusted forms of payment, strong arguments need to be made for why the new way of completing transactions is just as reliable. This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for Bitcoin as the young currency bids to become the number one online payment method. Recently, the developers of Bitcoin have stepped up its security protocols as they seek to make bitcoin the number one internet currency.
When introduced with something new, it’s human nature to initially be skeptical. Imagine being around when email was introduced and people told you that you no longer had to seal your letters and drop them in a postbox. How could you be sure that your important correspondence would make it to its intended recipient? Two decades on and we now know that email is a highly superior form of sending messages. Experts are doing their best to assuage similar concerns about bitcoin, and according to bitcoin analyst Chris Burniske speaking to CNBC, “bitcoin is becoming as safe a haven as gold.”
BitPay, a US-based Bitcoin provider, has now teamed up with Intel and has begun to use the company’s Software Guard Extensions. This technology conducts operations in a protected space so that no sensitive data is exposed. CEO of BitPay Stephen Pair said that “providing user-friendly financial security is one of Bitcoin’s biggest opportunities, and Intel’s silicon-based security helps us move Bitcoin closer to the mainstream.” Bitcoin will surely use this to build and regain confidence among users and potential investors.
Bitcoin has grown in popularity for numerous reasons. There are much lower fees on transactions, it can be used anywhere in the world, and payments are swift and efficient. Economists have predicted that one day there will be a sole internet currency, so some businesses have already attempted to move ahead of the competition by embracing it early.
The booming online casino industry is one such sector, where some sites have opted to use Bitcoin so that they can stand out from the thousands of pages that offer similar gaming experiences. Take slot machines for example: there are endless amounts of games on the internet to choose from but a lot of websites offer the same games, with popular offerings from the developers Microgaming and Playtech playable almost everywhere. Bitcoin video slots are often exclusive to Bitcoin sites, and players can log on to enjoy games like Hot Safari, Animal Party, and Chow’s Chance.
Playing with Bitcoin also means that customers can use a site from any country and not have to think about varying exchange rates. Assurances over security will appease a lot of these online casino users, as some actually play the games as a source of income.
With tighter security measures in place, one would expect Bitcoin to continue to grow at an alarming rate. There are already over 10 million Bitcoin wallets and increasing numbers of Bitcoin transactions per day. It may take users some time to fully trust the e-currency as a superior form of payment to what they are used to, but once they do, it could take the world by storm.