Bitcoin Could Bring Internet to a Halt?
CNN featured a report on the potential impact cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin could have on the Internet as a whole.
Though the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says not to expect bitcoin to replace the dollar or other traditional currency any time soon, they warn that just processing all the payments "could bring the internet to a halt”.
From CNN:
(But) because every single transaction is added to the digital ledger, the report said using a cryptocurrency like bitcoin for retail transactions around the world would quickly swell the ledger beyond the capacity of computer servers to store it. Supercomputers would be needed to keep up with verifying incoming payments, and the huge amounts of data being exchanged between users would bring the internet to its knees.
Warning about the vast amount of energy needed for cryptocurrency transactions have been issued previously.
Ultimately, the fees attached to bitcoin will prevent it from threatening the dollar, euro and other widely used world currencies.
"Just imagine, if you bought a $2 coffee with bitcoin, you would have had to pay $57 to make that transaction go through," Hyun Song Shin, the bank's head of research, said in a video accompanying the report.
Some in the space argue that cryptocurrencies the likes of bitcoin cash do not include the steep fees.
Once a proponent of bitcoin and now a strong supporter of bitcoin cash, early cryptocurrency investor and head of Bitcoin.com Roger Ver says "High fees, unreliable transactions, and easy double spending are huge barriers to adoption."
Ver refers to bitcoin as "Bitcoin Core".
"Yet these are the exact policies that Bitcoin Core supporters are advocating in favor of. That is why I now favor Bitcoin Cash."
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