Since the beginning of 2015, a growing number of financial establishments and banking groups have adopted the Bitcoin blockchain technology to create decentralized financial applications and platforms.
Multi-billion dollar banks have been conducting collaborative research and co-developing blockchain-based experimental applications to explore the potential and technical advantages of the distributed ledger technology in the finance sector.
Visa Europe, a membership association and cooperative of over 3,700 European banks and alternative payment services providers which operate Visa branded products further emphasized that 2015 has turned the blockchain technology into a vital technology which the industry cannot live without.
“It is no longer a choice anymore. Recent news speculating about the identity of its creator and the formalisation of virtual money as a commodity, just makes it more real than ever before,” said the organization .
The blockchain technology and its decentralized and transparent nature has significant advantage over existing financial and remittance applications. It is secured by an unprecedented level of computing power generated by millions of miners in the network settling and clearing transactions.
Such feature of the blockchain technology enables anyone in the network to send payments instantaneously, with extremely low fees. Due to the Bitcoin blockchain network’s low transaction fees, an increasing number of remittance startups have begun to offer bitcoin-based international payment services.
According to Visa Europe, traditional fintech and remittance startups including TransferWise have achieved billion dollar valuations and attracted prominent venture capital firms and angel investors into the industry. However, the organization predicts that the blockchain technology will disrupt the existing remittance industry with a more efficient and secure solution.
“The challenges for blockchain and bitcoin in the year ahead will be two-fold. Proponents will have to further address the lack of trust, a challenge they’ve faced since their creation. Then, the challenge of turning these technologies to tackle more real-world […]
