The two faces of Bitcoin

Bitcoin can be a risky asset and the sharp depreciation of February 2018 is a proof of that. However, the blockchain technology on which it is designed is far from useless. Could this invention one day, designed a decade ago by Satoshi Nakamoto, bring benefits to humanity and not to speculators?

The British magazine The Economist points out that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that currently exist in the world are of little use, while blockchain technology is a better interpretation of a database. All users of this database can copy it and alter it since it is not regulated by the authorities, it is not centralized.

What's good about the blockchain?
According to the media, the blockchain advocates believe that it is able to help solve many types of problems: rationalize bank payments, guarantee the origin of medicines, secure property rights and provide forged documents for refugees.

Many of these beliefs were invented by speculators who hoped that the enthusiasm for the 'blockchain' would sustain the price of their assets invested in cryptocurrency. However, companies that use this technology end up discarding it very frequently. The continuous change of data in the 'blockchain' system carried out by the users contributes to its slowness. If these organizations used a conventional database, they would be much faster.
The existence of all these limitations caused the cooling of users towards technology. Some organizations such as SWIFT -a banking payment network- and Stripe -an online payment company- abandoned their projects related to the use of the blockchain after concluding that it did not bring enough benefits.

"The fact that the 'blockchain' was overestimated does not mean that it is a useless technology, its ability to link its users to a particular way of working can be practical in areas where there is still no centralized authority, as in international trade. ", explains The Economist.

However, the media also points out that "the 'blockchain' is not a panacea against the usual dangers that have always been related to the implementation of large technological projects such as cost, complexity and overestimated expectations." Emphasizes that "cryptocurrency did not achieve its ambitious objectives."