RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGY TRENDS: DIGITAL CURRENCY

A Research Submitted to

San Sebastian College - Recoletos de Cavite

College of Business and Accounting

Business Management

In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the subject

Living in the IT Era: GE304

JOSEPIA A. TOBIAS

2021
San Sebastian College - Recoletos de Cavite Research on Technology Trends

Table of Contents

I.

History and Evolution of Digital Currency………………………………….1-2

Digital Currency and Issues Related to Digital Currency………………….. 2-6

Current State of Digital Currency……………………………………………6-8

Application of Digital Currency……………………………………………8-11

Future Trends and Issues of Digital Currency……………………………..11-14

Analysis and Comments…………………………………………………..14-15

II.

Declaration Statement of Original Work……………………………………16

III.

References………………………………………………………………17-19

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History and Evolution of Digital Currency

According to a research paper by Chaum (1983), prior the year the idea of

digital cash was introduced. In 1989, he founded DigiCash, an electronic cash

company, in Amsterdam to commercialize the ideas in his research. It filed for

bankruptcy in 1998 (pp. 199-203).

Moreover, E-gold was the first widely used Internet money, introduced in 1996,

and grew to several million users before the US Government shut it down in

2008. e-gold has been referenced to as "digital currency" by both US officials

and academia (Zetter, 2009, paras. 1-5). In addition, in 1997, Coca-Cola offered

buying from vending machines using mobile payments (Near Field

Communication, 2017, para. 2).

Accordingly, PayPal launched its USD-denominated service in 1998. In

2009, bitcoin was launched, which marked the start of

decentralized blockchain-based digital currencies with no central server, and no

tangible assets held in reserve. Also known as cryptocurrencies, blockchain-

based digital currencies proved resistant to attempt by government to regulate

them, because there was no central organization or person with the power to

turn them off (Finley, 2018, paras. 4-5).

On the other hand, origins of digital currencies date back to the 1990s Dot-com

bubble. Another known digital currency service was Liberty Reserve, founded

in 2006; it lets users convert dollars or euros to Liberty Reserve Dollars or

Euros, and exchange them freely with one another at a 1% fee. Several digital

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currency operations were reputed to be used for Ponzi schemes and money

laundering, and were prosecuted by the U.S. government for operating without

MSB licenses (Cloherty, 2013, para. 3).

Consequently, according to Ewing (2006), Q coins or QQ coins, were used as a

type of commodity-based digital currency on Tencent QQ's messaging platform

and emerged in early 2005. Q coins were so effective in China that they were

said to have had a destabilizing effect on the Chinese Yuan currency due to

speculation (para. 1). Furthermore, according to Frankenfield (2020), recent

interest in cryptocurrencies has prompted renewed interest in digital currencies,

with bitcoin, introduced in 2008, becoming the most widely used and accepted

digital currency (para. 1).

Digital Currency and Issues Related to Digital Currency

According to Fleming & Pickford (2021), Digital ‘crypto-currencies’ and

‘crypto-assets’ aim to mirror some, or all, of the uses of traditional money – a

means of payment, a store of value, and a unit of account. The terms used to

describe them are often confusing and misleading, covering a wide range of

financial instruments with different technical, legal, and practical

characteristics. They range from decentralized digital tokens such as Bitcoin at

one end of the spectrum to official, sovereign-backed, central bank digital

currencies at the other. Bitcoins and their many look-alikes, often known as

‘crypto-assets’, are best viewed as a volatile, speculative asset class, which

some users are prepared to accept as a form of payment (paras. 7-9).

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However, partly because their security relies on a combination of cryptographic

and decentralized ‘blockchain’ technology which protects the identity of

holders, governments are deeply concerned about their use in illicit activities

such as money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion (Fleming &

Pickford, 2021, para. 10).

Similarly, Loprespub (2018) study the following Issues and Concerns Related

to Digital Currencies:

In a January 2018 interview, Stephen Poloz, the Governor of the Bank

of Canada, said that investing in cryptocurrencies is essentially

gambling because they have no intrinsic value that one can analyze.

The International Monetary Fund compared the excitement and

unprecedented price increases of some digital currencies to historical

speculative bubbles such as the tulip mania of the 1600s and the more

recent dot-com bubble. In March 2018, the Group of Twenty

Communique stated that digital currencies raise issues with respect to

consumer and investor protection, market integrity, tax evasion, money

laundering and terrorist financing,” and “they could have financial

stability implications. Concerns related to digital currencies centre

around their price volatility, links to criminal behaviour, and

environmental impacts. However, many argue that digital currencies and

their supporting technologies might also be used to reduce poverty

(paras. 2-5).

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In fact, according to the Cryptocurrencies Blockchain (2018), the price

volatility of digital currencies hinders their ability to become legal tender. Given

the risks of digital currency investments, the International Monetary Fund is

concerned that investors borrowing to invest in these markets may have

difficulty repaying their loans. Regulators are also concerned about initial coin

offerings (ICOs) where investors purchase tokens redeemable in a new digital

currency once – and if – it goes into circulation. Tokens can represent shares in

a company, earnings streams, an entitlement to dividends, interest payments, or

a company’s product or service (pp. 45-47).

Likewise, according to the Ontario Securities Council (2020), businesses raised

an estimated US$5.6 billion in 2017 (including over US$200 million reportedly

raised by Canadian businesses) selling digital tokens, but 46% of ICOs launched

in 2017 had already failed by February 2018 (para. 3). A recent investigation by

the Wall Street Journal (2020), also found that nearly 1 in 5 ICOs displayed red

flags of fraud, including plagiarized investor documents, promises of

guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams (para. 7).

Traditionally, cash was used by criminals for such illegal activities as trade in

narcotics and weapons, money laundering, human trafficking and terrorist

financing. Some of the characteristics that make cash attractive to criminals are

also present in certain digital currencies: pseudo-anonymity, store of value and

wide acceptance. With the emergence of digital currencies, criminals can

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digitally transfer value, allowing for anonymous online and cross-border illegal

commerce (Loprespub, 2018, para. 10).

According to a study conducted by (Foley, Karlsen, & Putniņš, 2018),

approximately 24 million bitcoin market participants use bitcoin primarily for

illegal purposes and almost half of bitcoin transactions are associated with

illegal activity. These users reportedly conduct approximately 36 million

transactions annually, worth $72 billion, and hold about $8 billion in bitcoin (p.

3).

Further, Bitcoin uses a publicly available distributed ledger of all historical

transactions called blockchain to validate transactions. Bitcoin miners perform

complex calculations using computing power and specialized software to create

new “blocks” and validate them. The computing power required for this process

continues to expand as the complexity of calculations necessary to validate new

transactions continues to increase. Many bitcoin miners have joined mining

pools or companies who purchase and run specialized computers. Ironically, the

economies of scale involved in mining pools has led to a concentration of

computing power, making the “distributed” ledger much more centralized

(Loprespub, 2018, paras. 14- 15).

On the whole, while the price volatility, criminal links and environmental

impacts of digital currencies concern regulators, some digital currency

enthusiasts focus on the potential for digital currencies and related technology

to improve the lives of the world’s underprivileged. Financial inclusion, the

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access of people to the formal financial system, is a key factor in poverty

reduction. However, 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked. Many proponents of

cryptocurrencies argue that distributed ledger technology has the potential to

increase financial inclusion since it does not require physical bank branch

presence or expensive infrastructure to run. In March 2018, the Group of

Twenty Communique stated that technological innovation, including that

underlying cryptoassets, has the potential to improve the efficiency and

inclusiveness of the financial system and the economy more broadly

(Loprespub, 2018, para. 17- 19).

Current State of Digital Currency

According to an online article tackling Cryptocurrency News published by

Investopedia, Bitcoin, as of December 2020, has experienced a steady rise to

reach new all-time highs, breaking through $20,000 per BTC, but it was not

always so steady. To get a sense of just how troubling the market had been, just

look to 2018: Heading into 2018, Bitcoin traded for close to $13,500 after

reaching an all-time high of $19,783.06 in December of 2017. It subsequently

dropped as low as $3,400, a loss of about three-quarters of its value—and other

digital currencies weren't faring much better at the time. Ethereum (ETH), for

example, fell from an early-year high of $1,300 to just $91 by December 2018

before rallying back to over $450 by the end of 2020.Cryptocurrencies like

Bitcoin and Ethereum have indeed proven resilient. Investor interest, both retail

and institutional, in digital currencies has risen dramatically in recent months.

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Many early investors who were eager to make gains from the "cryptocurrency

craze" have since moved on to other ventures, leaving a smaller group of

stalwart HODL-ers behind. But there are still reasons to believe that the

cryptocurrency industry has some fight in it left. Investors are again asking: how

high digital coins could fly? And Bitcoin indeed has risen back to all-time highs

as of December 2020, reaching over $23,625 and Ethereum to nearly

$700. Now, looking into the end of 2020 into 2021, the better question might be

how this space will adapt in order to survive (Reiff, 2020, paras. 1-4).

Although, trade figures for individual investors are down in many cases,

institutions are climbing on board in a significant way for the first time.

Institutional investors allow for significantly larger trading volumes than most

individual investors, meaning that even if fewer trading partners are transacting

in the digital currency space, the industry can still sustain itself. There are

several potential developments projected to take place in 2020 and 2021 that

could significantly impact institutional participation in the digital currency

market. If crypto is floated on the Nasdaq or a similar exchange, for example, it

will immediately get a boost in reputation and likely, value (Reiff, 2018, paras.

3-5).

Moreover, in the concept of The Elusive Bitcoin ETF, according to Reiff (2019),

for years, crypto enthusiasts have pined for a digital currency ETF available to

mainstream investors in the U.S (para. 4). The U.S. Securities and Exchange

Commission (SEC) has repeatedly rejected or delayed Bitcoin ETF applications

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to be decided upon at a future date. One of the most talked-about funds, by

provider VanEck, has seen its final approval decision pushed back again and

again. Some analysts believe that the approval of a mainstream Bitcoin ETF

could provide a significant jolt to the digital currency world, opening up the

industry to investors eager to participate without some of the risks associated

with buying and selling tokens directly. As of now, though, the future of

VanEck's fund remains to be seen. (Chen, 2020, para. 3).

Currently, Stablecoins takes the lead, Stablecoins are digital tokens that are

pegged to a fiat currency that act as hedging mechanisms against the potential

decline of underlying cryptocurrency collateral prices—and they may just be

the industry's best hope going into 2021. Stablecoins may see growth next year

for two reasons: one, a result of the long-term instability of non-centralized

tokens; and two, the current leader in the stablecoin industry, tether, is

positioned to be dethroned. As one of the earliest stablecoins to reach the

mainstream, Tether (USDT) has suffered a number of highly publicized

growing pains while the sub-industry developed. Other stablecoins have already

entered the field, aiming to wrench away its dominance (Hayes, 2020, para. 1).

Application of Digital Currency

According to Axelrod (2020), the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated

cryptocurrency’s exit process from the marginal state, and has firmly pushed it

front and center into many more people’s consciousness than ever before.

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Today, the global economy needs a payment instrument with which you can

make payments quickly, inexpensively and without unnecessary intermediaries,

such as Visa or Mastercard, and it needs such an instrument now more than ever

before. China is already testing its “digital yuan,” with the USA, Great Britain,

France, South Korea and other countries working on similar steps, too. Already

20% of 66 central banks reported that they are likely to issue a CBDC within

the next six years. With all of this action behind the scenes, it seems inevitable,

in the coming years, that state digital currencies will become widely available

to ordinary citizens. However, few people understand what this will change, so

let’s explore how it will evolve in the not-too distant future (para. 2).

Specifically, one of the most well-known uses of cryptocurrency is for sending

and receiving payments at low cost and high speed. For example, a recent $99

million litecoin (LTC) transaction took only two and a half minutes to process

and cost the sender only $0.40 in transaction fees. If this money transfer had

gone through a financial intermediary the fees would have been much, much

higher and the transfer would have taken several days, or longer if this was a

cross-border transaction. The low fees associated with transactions using digital

currencies such as litecoin (LTC), stellar (XLM) or bitcoin cash (BCH) make

them excellent payment systems for international money transfers (Lielacher,

2021, paras. 3-4).

Moreover, successfully trading crypto for profits requires a lot of time,

experience and skill and instead many cryptocurrency owners are holding their

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coins for long term gain. There are ways to earn steady 'interest' on crypto,

though. Popular examples include DeFi lending and crypto staking. With the

interest rates offered by traditional bank accounts at all-time lows, lending your

crypto to a reputable platform is certainly an option - with 10% per annum being

offered for highly liquid cryptocurrencies like Tether. It is important to note,

however, that this type of lending is not risk free and is not insured by the FDIC

or similar government bodies in other countries (Lielacher, 2021, para. 5).

In addition, the emergence of digital token-based fundraising has allowed

anyone with an Internet connection to become an investor in innovative early-

stage tech startups, while at the same time providing new startup ventures with

much-needed seed capital. Although a rarer event these days, Initial coin

offerings (ICOs) and IPOs are a form of fundraising that provides startups with

the opportunity to raise capital by selling a newly-created digital token to early

backers of the project in exchange for established cryptocurrencies such as

bitcoin (BTC) or ether (ETH). The price of the newly-issued token then acts as

proxy linked to the success or failure of said startup once it starts to trade in the

secondary market. In the past, access to these deals would have only been

available to experienced venture capitalists, but the advent of cryptocurrency

has opened these opportunities up to a much broader spectrum of investors. In

some cases, the digital tokens of the most successful ICOs have increased in

value by several thousand percent and cryptocurrency-based fundraising has

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helped startups to raise over $12 billion in the past two years (Lielacher, 2021,

paras. 8-11).

Also, privacy-centric digital currrencies such as Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC),

and PIVX (PIVX) enable users to make anonymous financial transactions. That

means individuals can make money transfers without having to explain to a

bank why they are sending a large sum of money, what the sources of the funds

are and who they are sending it to, which can delay the transaction and involve

unnecessarily bureaucratic processes (Lielacher, 2021, paras. 12-13).

Due to the explosive growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the past nine

years, it is now possible to travel the world by spending cryptocurrency.

Established travel agents such as CheapAir and Destinia accept bitcoin as a

payment method to book flights, car rentals, and hotels and for those who prefer

to stay in an apartment when traveling can book accommodation using bitcoin

(BTC) or ether (ETH) on CryptoCribs. The growth of the bitcoin ATM market

also means travelers are now able to convert their cryptocurrency into local

currency in most major cities around the world (Lielacher, 2021, paras. 19-23).

Future Trends and Issues of Digital Currency

The announcement by Tesla (TSLA), an electric car company, that it would

begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars – and that it was buying $1.5

billion of the cryptocurrency put digital finance under the spotlight like never

before. The price of Bitcoin soared to new highs, hitting just under $47,700.

Digital currencies are certainly poised to impact financial systems. According

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to the World Economic Forum, roughly 86% of the world’s central banks are

exploring the benefits and drawbacks of central bank digital currency (Morris,

2021, para. 1).

According to the report of World Economic Forum, some 86% of central banks

are now exploring the benefits and drawbacks of a cryptocurrency, though in

virtually all cases, it’s no more than exploratory research and examination – and

not anything close to a commitment to act (Morris, 2021, para. 4).

However, the primary concern, not surprisingly, is that there’s nothing backing

the value of Bitcoin. Still, that hasn’t stopped some major corporations from

embracing Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Software firm Microstrategy

made a big bet on Bitcoin in August 2020, sinking $250 million into the

currency. As of Feb. 11, that investment was worth just under $1 billion. It

didn’t stop there, though. The company kept buying – and now owns over

71,000 Bitcoin, valued at over $3.3 billion, nearly twice Tesla’s estimated

holdings. Other public companies that have notable Bitcoin investments include

Mass Mutual, Square and Marathon Patent. (Morris, 2021, paras. 5-8).

Meanwhile, UBER has indicated its open to considering accepting the

cryptocurrency as payment. And Mastercard (MA) is planning to support digital

currencies on its network later year 2021. “Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies

is straightforward: It’s about choice,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice

president of digital asset and blockchain products and partnerships, in a blog

post. “Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But

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we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value

traditional or crypto however they want” (Stankiewicz, 2021, paras. 12-14).

Subsequently, Tesla might be the most notable company to give full-throated

support to Bitcoin to date. At least one analyst, though, says there’s a strong

case for others to pile on. Mitch Steves of RBC Capital Markets issued a note

saying the Canadian investment bank saw the potential for Apple (AAPL) to

add Bitcoin to its balance sheet as part of a broader strategy (Morris, 2021,

paras. 12-13).

Specifically, RBC suggested building a cryptocurrency exchange directly into

Apple Wallet, potentially boosting its quarterly revenue by billions. In addition,

the analyst wrote, Apple could fund the expansion by buying Bitcoin (Morris,

2021, para. 14).

On the contrary, Apple doesn’t seem eager to jump into Bitcoin just yet, though.

The company does not allow mining for cryptocurrencies on iPhones and does

not allow its Apple Card credit card to be used to purchase cryptocurrencies.

Part of the larger problem with cryptocurrencies globally is access. Bitcoin and

other cryptos require Internet access to be bought, spent or traded. That limits

access in low- and middle-income families – and even rural parts of America.

And only about one-half of the adults in the world have access to a smart phone

today. Even when those numbers increase, there’s a lot of education that has to

take place, so people will understand and trust digital currency technology and

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know how to safely use it if they choose to do so (World Economic Forum,

2021, para. 1).

Analysis and Comments

Although it is difficult to say which digital currency will soar in 2021 and the

future years, we can say with certainty that cryptocurrency will not disappear

anytime soon. Blockchain is the technology behind many cryptocurrencies. It

has gone far beyond the digital currency industry and is expected to have new

applications this year. The government and regulators will continue to seek

better ways to simplify and control digital tokens.

Indeed, it may come and go, but the cryptocurrency market may still have many

advantages. One thing we must know, in the history and evolution of digital

currency, cryptocurrencies changed the entire financial system. This enthusiasm

will not disappear overnight. Therefore, expect to hear information about

cryptocurrency or at least the first fan in at least a year.

However, Digital currencies are generally considered to be a solution to long-

standing problems in the coin and payment ecosystem, but their applicability

has not been carefully evaluated. Digital Currency has several issues related to

digital currencies, including consumer protection, education, and privacy, still

unresolved. Used for technical and regulatory compatibility. Digital financial

inclusion has not been fully assessed.

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With that being said, Cryptocurrencies are an ongoing generation and

socioeconomic experiment. As a result, the blockchain area is booming with

new possibilities like being capable of making investments on Platforms

wherein you get double your invested cryptocurrency after 30days. This new

enterprise is continuously evolving, consequently, the sooner you get familiar

with it, the better your advantage will be of its future development.

Thus, investing in digital currency is still a question for many, unless you have

a lot of money to spend and you are unwilling to take risks, you should stick to

a safer investment portfolio. If you want to try it, you may be able to buy it, but

in the financial world, this is definitely still a gray area.

In the final analysis, the coronavirus pandemic has multiplied this need of use

of digital currency further, with humans now engaging in an increasing number

of transactions from their houses and counting on online services. Technology

makes our lives possible, and we are moving towards the digital economy.

Including a tokenized digital economy. The new digital economy needs digital

currency. We need money in digital form. Otherwise, you will be threatened by

Bitcoin or other currencies that can integrate their technology into the new

digital economy.

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Declaration Statement of Original Work

I solemnly declare that I worked on the research paper on Research on

Technology Trends: Digital Currency, independently and that this paper that I

submitted for GE304 is my own original work.

Tobias, Josepia A.

BSA 1A Signature

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