Tag: European Union

Bitcoin is gaining traction throughout the world

Bitcoin may become the sixth largest reserve currency in the world by 2030

Digital currency is becoming a more powerful force in the global economy, especially as mobile commerce continues to grow in popularity. A new study from Magister Advisors and International Business Times predicts that Bitcoin, a famous, but relatively controversial digital currency, will become the sixth largest global reserve currency by 2030. Though Bitcoin is quite volatile in value, more consumers and businesses are showing favor for this currency as they become more committed to the digital world.

Digital currency is gaining support in Europe

Bitcoin is currently experiencing a very large increase in value, which is being fueled by a recent decision from the European Union, which has declared that Bitcoin is an actual currency and that it is exempt from value added taxes associated with exchange transactions. The study suggests that banks throughout the world will invest approximately $1 billion into Bitcoin and Bitcoin exchanges over the next two years. Banks are expected to make use of new processes for clearance and settlement in order to make Bitcoin more convenient for consumers to use in the future.

Bitcoin remains somewhat infamous due to its volatility

Digital currencies have become somewhat infamous, largely due to their volatile nature. In the case of Bitcoin, the currency has been unregulated for the majority of its existence. This has lead to major fluctuations in the currency’s value, with crashes in value leading to financial ruin for some individuals and organizations that have heavily invested in the currency. While 90% of Bitcoin’s value is held in speculation, the vast majority of transactions made with the currency are commercial transactions that are occurring in developing economies throughout the world.

bitcoin mobile commerce trends

Consumers show interest in Bitcoin as mobile commerce grows

Growing in popularity, Bitcoin for beginners AKA: newbies, has been catching on especially for mobile users. This is mainly due to the rising popularity of  people taking care of their investment profiles via their phone. More consumers are relying on their mobile devices to do their shopping, both online and in physical stores, and Bitcoin represents a relatively easy way to make large purchases. As this trend continues to gain momentum, more retailers and banks are expected to show their support for this digital currency.

5G mobile technology definition underway between the E.U. and China

These two regions are working together to decide on the details of this upcoming tech.

The European Union and China have now agreed to work together in order to be able to come up with a working definition for 5G mobile technology, which is a term that is already heavily used despite the fact that it has not yet been properly define.

So far, there hasn’t been a great deal of agreement that has occurred as a standard understanding of 5G.

Among the only things upon which everyone can agree when it comes to defining 5G mobile technology is that it is what will be built and purchased as the next phase after 4G. Therefore, any agreement that will occur between the E.U. and China could be quite an important one. The agreement will be an expansion of the foundation that occurred between the E.U. and South Korea, back in June 2014, as well as another one that was signed in May 2015 between the E.U. and Japan.

Many companies have already been tossing around their own definitions of 5G mobile technology.

Mobile Technology - European Union & ChinaMany large players in the mobile tech industry have been talking about 5G for the last while, including Samsung Electornics and, even more recently, Verizon. In fact, in September, Verizon said that they were already working on building 5G networks. That said, actual definitions of the technology have not been provided along with the claims, which has left the industry and consumers somewhat in the dark as to what that actually means.

The definitions for 3G and 4G were created by standards bodies including the 3G Patent Partnership (3GPP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). They have taken a much more measured tack toward creating their definitions.

The ITU plans to come up with its own name for 5G mobile technology at some point in October. The prediction has also been that the name will be International Mobile Telecommunications system 2020, as that is the year in which it has predicted that the first equipment for 5G will hit the market. That said, an actual technical standard for the tech likely won’t occur until February of that year.