While the Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin is a form of digital money, it has been at a center of a multi-country investigation of forgery, scientists at the new Imperial College Center for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering are exploring ways and means about how the technology can have applications beyond digital currency.
The manner in which governments and businesses operate and how citizens carry out their lives can be revolutionized by the application of this technology to other transactions such as keeping track of property ownership.
Professor William Knottenbelt, Director of the Center, said: “We are on the brink of the next digital revolution. The College is in a unique position to harness the potential of the technology that currently powers cryptocurrencies.
“Just as the industrial revolution and the internet spawned innovation, so too will this technology, opening the doors for new business models to be developed and helping existing companies improve the way they do business and the way communities live their lives,” he added.
Distributed computerised ledger that acts like a digital book keeper and accountant rolled into one forms the base of cryptocurrencies. Users who do not know or trust each other are able to automatically keep track of who owns what with the help of this technology.
The primary aim of designing this form of electronic transaction with a complex architecture was to prevent financial transactions from being manipulated, making it extremely difficult for fraud to happen.
As governments and companies around the world are exploring the potential of adapting cryptocurrency for wider applications, the creation of Imperial’s Cent comes at this important juncture for the further development of distributed ledgers.
Development of the underpinning policy, technology, design and social research with governments and industry would be carried out by the multi-disciplinary team at the Center along with governments and industry to enable its smooth transition into the wider economy.
“Cryptocurrencies have shown us that we do not need a third party – a middleman – to successfully process transactions between users. It can all be done digitally by a distributed computer network secured by cryptography, which makes transactions much more resistant to fraud,” said Dr Catherine Mulligan, Assistant Director of the Center.
“Many financial institutions are focusing on how they could use distributed ledgers to improve banking, but we feel the potential applications are much broader and far-reaching. It could spawn completely new modes of doing business. The opportunities are limitless and work at the Center aims to make the adoption of distributed ledger technology by society as smooth as possible,” she said.
Countries, industries and individuals would be able to reap a range of benefits after a successful roll out of the technology, says the team.
Distributed ledgers, for example, could enable traders in precious commodities to authenticate the origin of precious stones such as diamonds. Reconciliation exercises between banks – which is where they compare records of transactions to determine discrepancies - could happen more rapidly and securely using a distributed ledger, in the finance industry.
The exchange of value by devices connected to the Internet of Things would also be possible in the long term by distributed ledgers, predicts the Imperial team. Internet of Things is where physical objects such as fridges and televisions are embedded with electronics, sensors and wireless technology to collect and exchange data.
(Source:www. www3.imperial.ac.uk)
The manner in which governments and businesses operate and how citizens carry out their lives can be revolutionized by the application of this technology to other transactions such as keeping track of property ownership.
Professor William Knottenbelt, Director of the Center, said: “We are on the brink of the next digital revolution. The College is in a unique position to harness the potential of the technology that currently powers cryptocurrencies.
“Just as the industrial revolution and the internet spawned innovation, so too will this technology, opening the doors for new business models to be developed and helping existing companies improve the way they do business and the way communities live their lives,” he added.
Distributed computerised ledger that acts like a digital book keeper and accountant rolled into one forms the base of cryptocurrencies. Users who do not know or trust each other are able to automatically keep track of who owns what with the help of this technology.
The primary aim of designing this form of electronic transaction with a complex architecture was to prevent financial transactions from being manipulated, making it extremely difficult for fraud to happen.
As governments and companies around the world are exploring the potential of adapting cryptocurrency for wider applications, the creation of Imperial’s Cent comes at this important juncture for the further development of distributed ledgers.
Development of the underpinning policy, technology, design and social research with governments and industry would be carried out by the multi-disciplinary team at the Center along with governments and industry to enable its smooth transition into the wider economy.
“Cryptocurrencies have shown us that we do not need a third party – a middleman – to successfully process transactions between users. It can all be done digitally by a distributed computer network secured by cryptography, which makes transactions much more resistant to fraud,” said Dr Catherine Mulligan, Assistant Director of the Center.
“Many financial institutions are focusing on how they could use distributed ledgers to improve banking, but we feel the potential applications are much broader and far-reaching. It could spawn completely new modes of doing business. The opportunities are limitless and work at the Center aims to make the adoption of distributed ledger technology by society as smooth as possible,” she said.
Countries, industries and individuals would be able to reap a range of benefits after a successful roll out of the technology, says the team.
Distributed ledgers, for example, could enable traders in precious commodities to authenticate the origin of precious stones such as diamonds. Reconciliation exercises between banks – which is where they compare records of transactions to determine discrepancies - could happen more rapidly and securely using a distributed ledger, in the finance industry.
The exchange of value by devices connected to the Internet of Things would also be possible in the long term by distributed ledgers, predicts the Imperial team. Internet of Things is where physical objects such as fridges and televisions are embedded with electronics, sensors and wireless technology to collect and exchange data.
(Source:www. www3.imperial.ac.uk)