Kelly Robertson
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the value of cryptocurrency transactions is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2017, which is more than 15 times the level in 2016.
The research, entitled “The Future of Blockchain: Key Vertical Opportunities & Deployment Strategies 2017-2022,” stated that transaction values in the first half of the year surpassed $325 billion, driven by the meteoric increase in Ethereum’s price that saw it accounting for two-thirds of cryptocurrency transaction values in that time.
Another token that experienced a surge in volume and value is Litecoin which — if current levels are maintained — could exceed $100 billion in transactions this year.
These days, daily cryptocurrency trades easily surpass $2 billion.
Bitcoin keeps growing…
While Ethereum has been growing like crazy, Bitcoin is still the most valuable digital asset out there, with its value surpassing the $4,000 mark. Heck, at one point it has even hit $5,000 but has returned back to $4,000’s shortly afterwards. Nonetheless, it is our belief that Bitcoin will yet again reach $5,000 by the end of this year (though we’re not providing an investment advice here, mind you).
Also read: Will Bitcoin Reach $5000 This Year?
This year, the world’s first cryptocurrency grew from around $1,000 to more than $4,000. The last roll happened in the wake of the hard fork on August 1st, which resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash.
However, the research cautioned that a second planned fork in November, when the SegWit2x scaling solution should be implemented, may prompt a split in the community, potentially leading to depreciation.
“There is no resolution in sight to the continuing and fundamental disagreements between many Bitcoin miners and Bitcoin Core developers over the future of the cryptocurrency,” The research author Dr Windsor Holden said in a statement. “This in turn could lead to uncertainty about Bitcoin’s future and downward pressure on its valuation.”
Ethereum Plasma is in works, as well
The Ethereum community is preparing its own set of improvements in the form of a scaling framework that should optimize smart contracts and streamline the process of settling financial activities on the blockchain.
Dubbed Plasma, it aims to eliminate unnecessary data in smart contracts and only broadcasts “merkelized commitments” to the public Ethereum blockchain. By doing so, the Ethereum blockchain will be able to process smart contracts and transactions with lower costs and computation, and at high scale.
The new framework, according to those proposing it, is needed to support forthcoming decentralized apps (dapps) with millions of users, as well as to enable a massive number of transactions per second.
Also read: Ethereum Plasma – 5 Things You Need To Know
Blockchain tech is booming
Beyond cryptocurrencies, Juniper’s research is also looking at other use cases for blockchain, claiming that the brightest prospects in the sector came from deployments of private blockchain technologies for permissioned ledgers, rather than the public chains running cryptocurrencies. (related: How Will Ethereum Change the World?)
As individuals following the industry we agree with them, but also find the prospects of investing in cryptocurrencies equally attractive. And from our point of view, that is the way to join this revolution and potentially reap rewards… big time!
