We have often covered the controversies surrounding block size debate, a possible fork on the bitcoin network, and the inability of miners to reach clear consensus in the past. On August 1st, due to the fact that consensus was not reached throughout the network, a hard fork took place, thus separating the bitcoin network as we know it, into two separate versions: Bitcoin Cash and BTC.

To put things better into perspective, until the 1st of August this year, Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Cash were the same, operating on the very same network as well. The event broke these two digital currencies into 2 separate ledgers, and due to the fact that cryptocurrencies are represented by their own ledger, users woke up to having double the amount: once in BTC and once in BCC.

The Blockchain has often been praised for the wide variety of benefits that it has, and huge potential on the market. People have discussed how it can be used to send money, pay taxes, place votes and even trade stocks, yet the number of possibilities seems infinite.

Recently, interesting discussions have been taking place on the subject of how the Blockchain would help us fight and stop climate change. It could potentially allow people from all around the world to no longer need energy companies, and work together towards meeting energy saving goals.

During the last couple of months, digital currencies of all kinds have been growing exponentially in terms of their value. This represents a trend that hasn’t only affected bitcoin and Ethereum, but other altcoins as well, thus showcasing that digital currencies are indeed the future of the financial market.

However, volatility on the market is still present as currencies struggle to find their true value. This has led to both some sharp increases, but also decreases in terms of their price. Perhaps one of the most amazing growths in terms of value was covered by Ethereum, which holds the second highest market cap, as it managed to grow from around $7 in the beginning of this year, to over $400 in June 2017.

Based on this aspect, Ethereum has managed to entertain a 5400% increase in terms of its values in only six months, so this begs the question: What is the fuel of this massive growth?

Since Bitcoin became mainstream on the market, there have been numerous talks regarding whether it would be wise for governments to implement a set of regulation, meant to protect both the public, but also companies from abuse, and possible market manipulation.

While the market is divided into two sides, with one side believing that regulation will spell the end of the bitcoin haven, whereas the other thinks that some form of regulation is wise, this is indeed a sensible topic.

The influence of the fall of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange are still felt on the market today, regardless of over 3 years having passed since its collapse.

For those who do not know, Mt. Gox was once the biggest bitcoin exchange on the market, handling over 70% of all transactions back in 2014. However, in February that year, the exchange decided to suspend trading, while also closing both its exchange service and the actual website, shortly after filing for bankruptcy, after over 850,000 bitcoin, valued at over $450 million were stolen.

The last year has brought bitcoin an interesting evolution, considering the fact that the price has tripled in a couple of months, and has reached the sum of $3,000 not long ago. This massive growth has brought about massive amounts of speculation on the market, with economic analysts from all around the world thinking that the increasing price is simply a bubble that will break soon enough.

It seems like the chief technician behind Goldman Sachs’ shares the same idea in this case, yet with a little twist. With this factor in mind, Sheba Jafari, in a recent report stated that in the near future, the price will likely break and decrease for a while, only to then proceed to climb even higher, possibly hitting the sum of $4,000 per unit of currency.

During the last couple of months, Bitcoin has been rapidly growing in terms of its popularity, which, in turn, also has had numerous effects on the way that governments perceive and regulate the cryptocurrency. While numerous countries have shown their support for Bitcoin, and begun measures such as eliminating taxation, or giving incentives to blockchain-based businesses, there are still regions which take the currency with a grain of salt.

With this aspect in mind, recent reports indicate that the Colombia Tax and Customs Office, recently announced that Bitcoin is taxable, regardless of the fact that not long ago, the Colombian Government has declared that Bitcoin isn’t even legal in their area of jurisdiction.

During the last couple of months, numerous advancements have been made in terms of blockchain technology, and this is quite understandable given its rising popularity. Not long ago, a platform known by the name of BankChain, which is basically meant to help banks implement blockchain-based solutions, has announced that they have partnered up with Microsoft.

Thanks to this partnership, the members of the BankChain consortium will now be able to use Microsoft Azure as their main cloud partner. In a recent press statement, the general manager of Microsoft’s Partner and Enterprise Group mentioned that: “The partnership with BankChain underscores our commitment to enable the digital transformation of the BFSI [banking, financial services, and insurance] sector in India. Blockchain is one of the most exciting innovations in this sector and we at Microsoft are leading this trend by offering the best-in-class Azure Blockchain offering. We look forward to working with stakeholders like Primechain to make this partnership a success.”

During the last couple of months, China has been showcasing an interesting approach towards Bitcoin and the other digital currencies available on the market, but also towards the blockchain network which is basically the system that powers everything up.

With this in mind, recent reports indicate that the People’s Bank of China, also known as the PBoC, is preparing to start up a development plan that will continue over the period of five years, meant to bring in improvements, upgrades and advancements in the country’s financial market. For long, China has been seen as one of the world’s most promising economies, given their huge market infrastructure, the billions of dollars-worth of investments being made in areas from all around the world, and their attitude towards small and big businesses. However, they’ve been fairly close-minded to the idea of digital currencies for a while now, due to the possible risks they may pose to the country’s own financial system. However, the Beijing Government will finally take the example of other countries and likely become a bit more open to digital currencies.

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