The Future of Money
Cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, has been making headlines recently, but its true meaning isn’t well understood by the public.
“Bitcoin is basically a digital currency,” said Alula Zeryihun, a CSUN pre-accountancy student who organized CSUN’s Blockchain Summit last year.
Consumers can use this currency to send payments from peer to peer.
“A person can send money to another person without the need of a bank or any centralized authority to facilitate the transfer of the fund,” Zeryihun said.
But it would be difficult to explain bitcoin without talking about blockchain. Blockchain is a ledger, or a record-keeping mechanism. It’s a way of keeping a record of where, and to whom, bitcoin is sent.
Morgan Steckler, vice president of CoinIRA, said it’s important to note that there’re different types of block chains for Bitcoin.
Steckler said one of the advantages of using Bitcoin is being able to transfer money without having to go through a middleman such as a banking institution.
“You’re no longer tied to a bank account,” Steckler said. “You’re no longer controlled by these walls. You will become the bank, and you can go anywhere in the world and you can convert it [to physical currency] wherever you want.”
Steckler said Bitcoin is completely safe because it’s a one-way transaction. However, consumers still need to educate themselves and do some research before using this currency.
Steckler said about 800,000 companies are using Bitcoin as a form of payment. These companies include Microsoft, GE, Amazon, Tesla, among others.
Zeryihun said he doesn’t think traditional financial establishments will completely disappear. “If anything I see some sort of integration of block chain technology into what’s already here today.”
Moderator: Savannah Palacio
Producer: Kelcey Henderson
Anchor: Karen Elle
Social Media Editor: James Farr
Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly, Savannah Palacio