Cryptocurrency: still largely unknown to the general public, is a form of digital currency. Though the vast majority of people may be unfamiliar with the word ‘cryptocurrency’, mention Bitcoin and you’re bound to receive a somewhat more knowing response.

For a simple comparison, if cryptocurrency was a smart phone – Bitcoin would be the iPhone, not necessarily better than its competitors but undeniably the first and most notorious.

To obtain Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, an account must be created on one of the numerous cryptocurrency exchange sites. Bank accounts can then be linked to cryptocurrency accounts, allowing users to trade/buy/sell quite easily. An initial purchase of Bitcoin is generally required in order to trade within other cryptocurrencies.

In the past week the price per BTC (Bitcoin) hit an all time high of 10k AUD. Despite this record-breaking growth, it is BTC’s digital sibling Bitcoin Cash causing a stir in the crypto news circuit.

BCH (Bitcoin Cash), birthed in August due to a hard fork of BTC, reached its own all time high this past week by breaking past $3k AUD. BCH’s rapid growth had some investors anticipating a ‘flippening’, which would see BCH taking the place of BTC as leader in the cryptocurrency world. Many seasoned traders have already begun choosing BCH over BTC. BCH is seen as a competitor to BTC because of its ability to handle more transactions.

As part of the continuing battle, BTC proposed a plan to increase its block size and improve scalability. However this was recently called off by Bitcoin leaders due to a lack of unanimity within the community.

Cryptocurrency, known for its volatility, is similarly intense within its community. Many traders become emotionally attached to certain coins and tokens, choosing sides like one chooses a sports team. Devoted supporters form distinctive groups, wear ‘crypto attire’, some even own personalised cryptocurrency license plates.

Besides word-of-mouth marketing, a rise in public interest around cryptocurrency could be the result of various recent mainstream announcements:

Popular American sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, declared it will devote an entire upcoming episode to Bitcoin.

Visa Inc. approved Monaco as a new Visa Program Manager. Monaco, a cryptocurrency backed debit card, aims to make crypto-spending accessible worldwide.

StarGroup and DigitalX have teamed together and plan to launch close to 3000 Bitcoin enabled ATM’s across Australia.

Even though it’s commonly stated that nothing can be certain except death and taxes… cryptocurrency certainly shows no signs of slowing down.

Kiara Casey

Sources: Linux Foundation, IT News and Cryptocoin News

Image source: Coindesk