{"id":613,"date":"2019-01-19T09:04:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T16:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/technut\/?p=613"},"modified":"2019-01-19T09:04:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T16:04:35","slug":"blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/technut\/2019\/01\/19\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockchain Developments to Watch in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-614 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/technut\/files\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1018654609-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"438\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While 2018 has been The Year of Patience for cryptocurrency investors, the developers behind the world\u2019s leading cryptocurrencies haven\u2019t been sitting idle. The developers behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum aren\u2019t waiting for prices to recapture their late-2017 glory. They\u2019re working on new technology that will make cryptocurrency better, faster, more accessible, and more valuable to all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of good reasons to stay excited about cryptocurrency and new developments in blockchain technology. From what the leading cryptocurrencies have told us already, there appear to be 3 main themes emerging for 2019: scalability, usability, and speed, all while institutional investors hover just around the corner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>#1 Scalability<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The biggest hurdle facing the mainstream use of cryptocurrency right now is scalability. Scalability is hampered by transaction speeds, transaction fees, database architecture, and tech literacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ethereum is taking a proactive approach to scalability with its <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Constantinople hard fork<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a move that\u2019s driven ETH\u2019s price recovery. Constantinople was designed to introduce off chain transactions such as BTC\u2019s Lightning Network, reducing block reward and delays. The hard fork is being supported by major cryptocurrency exchanges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>#2 Usability<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bitcoin Cash has laid out a pretty clear <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">road map<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that outlines what usability means in 2019:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instant security for merchants through pre-consensus<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Low fees for fractional satoshis<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using CashAddr to differentiate Bitcoin Cash addresses from those used for Bitcoin<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are just some of the steps Bitcoin Cash is taking to become more user-friendly, and they\u2019re not the only cryptocurrency taking usability seriously in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>#3 Transaction Speed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improving transaction speeds without resulting in higher transaction fees is crucial to making the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more widespread. That\u2019s why Bitcoin developers are rolling out an update called <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lightning Network<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a solution to Bitcoin\u2019s ongoing struggle with scaling and transaction speed. The Lightning Network will prove to be a big step forward for mass adoption \u2013 just in time to meet institutional investment dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2019 will be another important year for cryptocurrency. Be sure to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bitbuy.ca\/en\/blog\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">read about the latest cryptocurrency news<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to see where cryptocurrencies are headed. As they improve on these three cornerstones: scalability, usability, and transaction speed, you can expect usage to increase. With Bitcoin ETFs still on the horizon, there\u2019s also the promise of a new wave of speculation and investment money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, it\u2019s easier than ever to buy cryptocurrencies for everyday use or investment on cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitbuy, one of the few exchanges that let you buy Bitcoin with Canadian funds directly from your bank account. Cryptocurrency exchanges are also evolving in an effort to make cryptocurrency more widely available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the long-run, skyrocketing prices may not be the best thing for cryptocurrencies. Finding more widespread use as everyday payment methods and in smart contracts, cryptocurrencies promise to become a permanent fixture in the everyday economy. Cryptocurrencies are maturing and developing the blockchain technologies needed to meet a broader audience.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While 2018 has been The Year of Patience for cryptocurrency investors, the developers behind the world\u2019s leading cryptocurrencies haven\u2019t been sitting idle. The developers behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum aren\u2019t waiting for prices to recapture their late-2017 glory. They\u2019re working on new technology that will make cryptocurrency better, faster, more accessible, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48857,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blockchain Developments to Watch in 2019 - TechNut<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/technut\/2019\/01\/19\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blockchain Developments to Watch in 2019 - TechNut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While 2018 has been The Year of Patience for cryptocurrency investors, the developers behind the world\u2019s leading cryptocurrencies haven\u2019t been sitting idle. The developers behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum aren\u2019t waiting for prices to recapture their late-2017 glory. They\u2019re working on new technology that will make cryptocurrency better, faster, more accessible, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/technut\/2019\/01\/19\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TechNut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-19T16:04:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TechNut\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TechNut\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TechNut\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0baab1f46b449984ba3a1d46459170fc\"},\"headline\":\"Blockchain Developments to Watch in 2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-19T16:04:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/shutterstock_1018654609-1024x640.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.ubc.ca\\\/technut\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/19\\\/blockchain-developments-to-watch-in-2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blockchain Developments to Watch in 2019 - 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