In a new and exclusive segment, we’ll be asking industry insiders four of the pressing questions facing their particular niche. First in the firing line for the Fast Fintech Four is Eric Overby, associate professor with Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, whose academic focus is information technology management, and blockchain tech.
- What do you feel were the primary causes of this week’s cryptocurrency price slump?It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. The Bitcoin Cash hard fork probably played a role. It may also be that Bitcoin payment transactions are dwindling, despite that the price of Bitcoin was relatively stable before the recent slump. Stability should lead to increase transactions; the fact that it hasn’t creates doubts about the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method.
- Are hard forks (like that of Bitcoin Cash) helping or hindering the ongoing development of blockchain technology?The forks don’t appear to be helping cryptocurrency (at least in the short term), but they are arguably good for blockchain technology overall. That’s because we’re still figuring this out. Different approaches to operating a public blockchain at scale can help show what works and why.
- What role do you think STO’s will play in the future of cryptocurrency? STO’s should help with the fraud risk associated with ICO’s. Coins purchased in an ICO may turn out to be worthless, and we have seen instances of fraud. Security tokens should help this because they are tied to future cash flows, voting rights, etc. If STO’s work as designed, then they will create new demand for cryptocurrencies as the means to buy the tokens.
- Which cryptocurrency do you think has the most real-world utility and why?Probably Bitcoin, but none of them have much real-world utility right now, except for being used as a highly volatile investment.
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