Bitcoin exceeds the $ 1 billion target during its anniversary

Bitcoin reached $ 1 billion in commissions in cumulative transactions, surpassing the main milestone on the 200.000th anniversary of the world's first cryptocurrency. Data collected by the analysis firm Coin Metrics revealed that over 2009 bitcoins have been paid in transaction fees since its launch in XNUMX - three months after its creator Satoshi Nakamotoa (a pseudonym) published the white paper by revealing it for the first time in the world.

Nakamoto presented the details of a â € œnew fully peer-to-peer electronic cash systemâ € which denied the need for banks and other third parties on October 31, 2008. Its popularity has grown in recent years, but despite the volume of transactions has increased considerably, the actual cost of transactions has decreased in the last year. This is thanks to the implementation of solutions such as Lightning Network, which helps to speed up and simplify blockchain transactions.

What the experts think

"Bitcoin users have transacted on the network throughout the year and solutions like Lightning Network have grown in size," Galen Danziger, co-founder of the blockchain accelerator MouseBelt, told The Independent. 2019 was relatively positive for bitcoin, especially compared to the seemingly terminal decline of the cryptocurrency market in 2018.

After hitting a peak close to $ 20.000 in December 2017, bitcoin dropped below $ 4000 before finally recovering early in the year.

This uncertainty has been fueled by recent developments in China, where authorities are undertaking a new crackdown on unauthorized cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. Cryptocurrency analysts have indicated another mass sell-off since the latest drop, which has seen some $ 100 million in overnight currency liquidated.

The so-called Death Cross is a market model that occurs when the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day moving average. Falling below that level is usually an indication that bitcoins will suffer even heavier losses.

What challenges will you face

It still faces a number of challenges before it can be considered a legitimate and traditional form of payment, including regulatory barriers, price volatility and security concerns that make wallets and exchanges vulnerable to hackers.

An estimated 4,2 billion dollars in cryptocurrency has so far been stolen by hackers this year, surpassing last year's record high.

"As we celebrate bitcoin's XNUMXth anniversary, it's important to reflect on how far we've come as an industry," Pascal Gauthier, chief executive of blockchain security firm Ledger, told The Independent.

â € œThe market is maturing, institutional investors continue to embrace cryptocurrencies and the long â € œcrypto winterâ € â € œis behind us. Despite these advances, security is still lagging behind in this highly technological sector.

He added that Bitcoin blockchain technology "has the potential to change the world in many ways beyond finance, but without security this potential cannot be realized."