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In addition to revolutionizing the technology industry, Bitcoin has definitely shaken up the financial services and banking industries quite a lot too. The introduction of a deregulated and decentralized currency that is solely backed up by its users has been seen as a hope by the regular consumers and as a major thread by the world’s banking systems. Not only the whole idea about the bitcoin attracted people, the digital technology it was built with, known as the blockchain, has been seen as a catalyst for the financial services. Let us examine the sectors that can benefit the most about the bitcoin and its technology.
Banking
Surprisingly, but banks are actually amongst the parties that can benefit the most out of bitcoin. Why is that? The thing is, the blockchain technology can be just a perfect replacement for the core digital banking systems that are very outdated. When blockchains are employed, the banks can enhance the transparency, regulatory reporting and massively speed up the transaction times. It does not mean that the banks should adopt bitcoins, it means that the banks should look into its technology.
Decentralized Markets
Decentralized markets are no longer the seedy, drug trafficking platforms like they were in the days of the Sylk Road and other open source solutions. However, this decentralized market architecture is now used by the likes of BitTorrent and OpenBazaar, presenting a unique opportunity for bitcoin. These decentralized architecture platforms allow you to sell anything, including real estate or other property, with no fees or trade regulations to worry about. This is only possible thanks to Bitcoin payments. This sector is sure to help aid the rise of bitcoin in the future, just as bitcoin is likely to help these decentralized markets succeed too.
Universal Companies
One of the absolute best sectors in bitcoin that stands to gain from these financial technology solutions is the universal company sector. This area has had more venture capital investments than any other bitcoin sector, particularly the companies Coinbase and Circle. In addition, other companies like Korbit and Coinplug also offer a a plethora of services for customers, like exchange services and wallet and payment processing. This clearly stands to improve business all around, offering business owners in all sectors to get in on the bitcoin trend easily and quickly.
Gaming
Love it or hate it but online gaming is here to stay. It is a large industry that has been growing ever since it got established despite the criticism it has received. While for years gaming sites had to rely on various shady payment processors, today it is possible to fully integrate bitcoins into gambling. Instead of using bitcoins as a method of depositing, nowadays it is possible to actually find online bitcoin casinos where you can place bets with bitcoins and receive payouts in bitcoins as well. This way the use of payment processors (and the costs associated with them) is completely removed.
Apart from that, bitcoins provide absolute anonymity. This is a very important factor for the players in these open systems.
Payments
Initially, bitcoins were designed as a payment system, just like any other money. The main difference between bitcoins and, say, PayPal is that there is no processing entity behind the bitcoins. Hence, there is nobody who can charge commissions. When paying with some sort of online wallet, either of the parties has to cover anywhere between 0.5% and 5% of the transaction. When a retailer received a payment via a regular Visa or MasterCard, a fee of around 2.5% is due. This is not the case with bitcoins as the payments are free from any commissions.
The Final Thought
The sector of financial services has received quite some innovative players within the last few decades. People use PayPal or other internet wallets more often than regular wire transfers, access to funds have became much easier with the development of online loans, and generally most of the financial services have been digitized. However, the bitcoin and its technology can possible change the whole philosophy and mechanics behind the way finance works.
Image from http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoins/
