We may not all understand it, but at this point in time, we’ve definitely all heard about something called Bitcoin, a form of cryptocurrency. With over 14 billion Bitcoins in circulation, investors are looking into future possibilities of this new technology and are heavily invested. In the last few years, the cryptocurrency market experienced explosive and volatile growth – and it’s not expected to go anywhere in the near future. 

 

What is cryptocurrency?

 

Cryptocurrency is a huge market, but it’s not one that we’re all familiar with quite yet. So let’s update you in case you aren’t familiar with the term. 

 

In its simplest form, a cryptocurrency is a form of digital money. The main difference between this and let’s say, a debit card is that cryptocurrency relies on a technology known as Blockchain. But why does that matter?

 

When you use a bank card or other form of transaction, there is always a middleman. You can use your debit machine at an ATM to withdraw money, but in order to withdraw that money, you must store your money in a bank. The bank is your middleman. And what do middlemen do? They take a cut of your transaction. 

 

But Blockchain is decentralized. This means it’s not run by any single person, which also means that there is no middle man. And a lot of people are seeing the value of money without a middleman, especially when it puts them in charge of their own money.

 

How has cryptocurrency changed the financial market?

 

Cryptocurrency has changed the financial market in many ways. Firstly, it’s giving people more confidence in financial systems. Sadly, many people don’t have a lot of faith in authorities today. Unfortunately, it’s authorities who control things like our credit cards and payments. Well, with cryptocurrency, this is no longer an issue. People who were once worried that authorities did not have their best interests in mind can now sleep soundly knowing their money is in their own hands. 

 

And when you put money into people’s own hands and remove the power that the middleman holds, you also remove any corruption or abuses of power that comes along with that. 

 

And as cryptocurrency continues to grow, it can also impact the future of the financial market by making it more secure to borrow money and lowering interest rates, creating more transparency and trust among global traders, and making transactions cheaper and quicker. 

 

The flip side of this is because of the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, governments have less power to influence the financial markets. Is that a good or bad thing? It depends on your economic philosophy but the financial tools that a Federal Reserve has such as affecting interest rates via bond markets are no longer possible. Is it possible that an economic downturn is made worse because the federal government no longer has tools to prod the markets a certain way? 

 

Cryptocurrency and Dentistry

 

So far the Cryptocurrency market hasn’t disrupted the dentistry industry the way it has others, but some dentists are already accepting it as a form of payment from their clients. 

 

In addition, a new and innovative technology-based on cryptocurrency may also be introduced to the dentistry industry very soon. The technology, known as “Dentacoin” is designed to shift the focus of care from treatments to preventative maintenance by providing dentists with monthly payments from the patients in exchange for no-fee (or greatly reduced fee) services. All contacts, payments, and infrastructure will be set out by Dentacoin. 

 

In conclusion, cryptocurrency is here to stay. Whether it continues to grow unregulated or is controlled by laws remains to be seen. So it is a good financial move to keep up on cryptocurrency and see if it fits into your financial goals either as an investment or possibly a merchant that accepts payments via cryptocurrency.

 

 

 

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