Dmitry Leus of East-West Connect Comments on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology

LONDON, October 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Writing this week for EU Today, Dmitry Leus of East West Connect commented that: "Much has been made this last weekend of the news that Bitcoin broke the $6000 price barrier, sparking new attention for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. But just how excited should we be getting about these developments and what does all this jargon mean?"

Mr Leus explained: "To understand the new cryptocurrencies, we must remind ourselves of what money in general actually is. Money has value because we have all decided that it does. It's our method for exchange and transaction. Traditionally we have had institutions such as banks to underwrite this system for us. In our modern age, we can see that sometimes these institutions are frustrating for people. International bank transfers can take longer than we would like them to. PayPal might wrongly flag a vendor for fraud and then that vendor can't get paid. Increasingly, people look to find a way around these institutions."

He went on to ask: "What happens if money becomes programmable? If these institutions such as banks are removed from the loop? The cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are the first wave of this process starting to happen. Essentially it is digital money designed to work without the gatekeepers of banks or governments. Bitcoin is the example making the headlines this week, but there are many more players, such as Ethereum and Litecoin. Of course the media likes to talk about the practical examples, such as restaurants accepting Bitcoin for payment or a $6.5m Miami house being on sale, with Bitcoin accepted as payment. But what is really interesting is the blockchain technology behind the currency."

Mr Leus added: "To understand blockchain technology, we must go back to a specific field of mathematics called cryptography, the study of how to secure communication. Two important aspects are masking information so that it is hidden in plain sight, as well as verifying the source of a piece of information. We can think back to examples such as the cracking of the Enigma code that was so important in World War II. These systems are a part of our daily lives without us even thinking about it. Our online passwords and our browsers all rely on this."