Another example is Bitcoin. It was started as a response to the financial crisis and the role of the financial sector had. The founders asked themselves a simple question: “Why do we need banks to transfer value”. And the answer was even simpler; we don’t. Bitcoin was invented to bypass the role of the financial sector and governments in every day transfers of value. Whether it was to buy a product in the store, or to send money to a relative on the other end of the world, Bitcoin could make it happen fast and cheap. Currently, Bitcoin has not yet lived up to its promise of becoming the new global currency, but its adoption rate continues to grow every day, meaning that it still has the potential of reaching its original goal. Meanwhile, encouraged by Bitcoins success, many more cryptocurrencies have been developed, using the blockchain technology for a wide range of applications. Some of them are challenging Bitcoin to be the better alternative for everyday transactions by being faster, cheaper or better equipped to handle future growth. Other projects aim to fully digitalize the accounting process using blockchain technology, where every invoice and payment is automatically linked and its integrity forever protected by the blockchain. And so another branch of the financial industry, accountancy, is threatened by this new development. Not surprisingly, the financial sector has not been very positive about cryptocurrencies to say the least.

The benefits of currency based on blockchain technology is that transactions can be made to be processed faster and cheaper. Furthermore, people can take ownership over their savings again, without the need to rely on a bank or to hide large amounts of cash in a matrass. Your savings will be stored on the blockchain, and regardless of the amount, the only thing you need to hide are your private keys to your savings. Payments can be done just as easily as with a credit card, and bank services are no longer required for your everyday spending, nor for storing your savings. Banks will no longer be able to lose your savings during a bankruptcy and can no longer refuse to give you your money in case of liquidity problems.