Category: Sector

As blockchain technology percolates deeper into almost every sector of our economies — from finance to supply chain to real estate, there is more to this revolutionary technology than algorithms, regulation, and code. The more blockchain use cases transform our life financial markets, the more sources of information regarding this technology appear on the internet. In order to help you navigate the crypto industry, we have prepared a list of the top blockchain blogs out there.

If you are tired of the constant price speculation in sources, such as Reddit, Telegram groups, and the more mainstream crypto websites, here are some of the best sources for coverage of blockchain news and crypto markets authored by those with their fingers on the pulse of the decentralization movement.
 

 

CoinDesk

CoinDesk is one of the most popular news platforms for such crypto currencies as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins today. In fact, other crypto websites cite it as a source of their information. However it is a very insightful content, so that Cryptocurrency newbies may encounter difficulties understanding some of the terminologies used in their blog posts.
It is run by CoinDesk Inc., which carries out one of the most popular events of the crypto space — the Consensus Summit, and daily publishes analytical content touching all blockchain uses cases. Generally, CoinDesk is one of the most popular and best crypto blog handling cryptocurrency news and anything affecting the blockchain industry.

Cointelegraph

Cointelegraph launched more than seven years ago and is entirely autonomous. The platform publishes a lot of insightful content regarding crypto markets, world blockchain events, collections of altcoins, and general information of mining activities. They cover four primary topics: cryptocurrency trading, blockchain, mining activities, and crypto and blockchain news.
Remarkably, they discuss digital currencies from all angles, comparing them to the standard for payment transactions, the value measure, and the medium of exchange. Cointelegraph looks for use cases of blockchain in the real-world and analyzes everything that happens in the crypto world. This includes a clear structure, a news feed, crypto rating, regulation, and information regarding upcoming coin offerings.

Vitalik Buterin’s Blog

It is hard to condense all of Vitalik Buterin’s contributions to the blockchain space into a single blog. He successfully managed to create the Ethereum blockchain, its native currency, and its native programming language. Because of the success of the Ethereum network, especially opening the way for the creation of decentralized applications, Vitalik is one of the crucial personalities in the evolution of blockchain.
In his crypto blog, Vitalik discusses everything from the history and challenges of the Ethereum blockchain to the development of theories on levels of fault-tolerant consensus and even how the blockchain industry should be regulated. If there is any crypto news website that you should consider reading as an investor looking for insightful content that will help you to gain a more technical understanding of blockchain technology, this should be among your priorities.

CCN

Launched in 2013 as Cryptonews.com, CCN provides not only news about cryptocurrencies and crypto markets, but also detailed analysis. The content is supported with clear graphs and figures, offering valuable information about trade volume, exchange rates, and changing market trends. Focused initially on Bitcoin, the blog has broadened its content offering to cover the current, expansive coin offerings in the crypto space.
The brand has established itself as a source of reliable cryptocurrency information. The crypto community likes their way of presenting information- structured, briefly, and mostly, not forgetting their provision of a broad selection of references to extra materials. Readers can subscribe to their newsletter to receive the latest news directly in their emails.

BitMEX Research

BitMEX is among the top crypto exchanges, but what many do not know is that their research blog is also one of the most in-depth in the crypto space. The BitMEX journalists flame their posts in a financial journal style, covering everything related to blockchain technology and crypto markets.
The BitMEX team strives to offer deep insights into why and how one or more current happenings are influencing the crypto world in a certain way. A good example of this would be their efforts in covering stablecoins, which ends with what current stablecoin projects are trustworthy and why, with the support of financial indicators. Because of these factors and many more, it is easy to group their blog among the top crypto blogs.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Magazine is the world’s first magazine and one of the most established sources of Bitcoin news,  information, market analysis and expert commentary on Bitcoin, its underlying technology, and the entire industry that has evolved around it. The magazine is owned by BTC Media LLC, the media and publishing subsidiary of BTC Inc. Since 2012, it has offered detailed analysis, research, education, and thought leadership at the intersection of finance and technology.
The publication strives to offer accurate, timely, and relevant content to the crypto community.
Specifically, Bitcoin Magazine is passionate about Bitcoin and is keen to share news about individuals, businesses, and technological advancements that are transforming the world. Whether you are blockchain newcomer, savvy developer, investor, or entrepreneur, the platform aims to inform and educate you with quality content that meets the international editorial and journalistic standards, featuring both the highs and the lows of the crypto industry.

BitcoinTechWeekly

BitcoinTechWeekly differs a lot from the rest of this pack of websites for one main reason. It is categorically geared toward those who are not only seeking Bitcoin news but already have a technical understanding of blockchain technology.
Most of their posts focus on the latest software development tools, technical analysis and network updates in the industry, making it the best choice for technically savvy blockchain individuals.
Since they purposely style themselves as covering “weekly bitcoin tech news,” it is likely that their opinions will be subject to the Bitcoin maximalist school of thought.

A16z Blog

Marc Andreessen is one of the founders of Mosaic and Netscape, which ended up being the world’s first widely adopted web browsers. Then, in 2009 together with Horowitz, he established the Andreessen Horowitz Venture Capital Company, which runs the A16z Blog.
While this venture capital firm invests in both early-stage start-ups and established companies, its cryptocurrency blog is unique in two main ways.
First, as one of the Bitcoin large scale investor pioneers, they speak well from the institutional angle of the crypto industry. Second, the A16z Blog does not shy to share market insights including critical information related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, to truly offer one of the most balanced crypto blogs in existence.

Jimmy Song Blog

Like Vitalik Buterin, Jimmy Song was one of the pioneers of all things blockchain. Categorically, he was one of the first developers to work on the Bitcoin blockchain. In his Medium blog, he draws on his opinions and the knowledge gained from his involvement in blockchain projects, to provide a professional analysis on topics related to the blockchain space.
In some of the articles, his explanations are specifically meant for developers, to connect a blockchain idea to something related to programming. In other guides, he concentrates on explaining concepts, such as the real potential of Asset-Backed Tokens (ABTs) to the general audience. Generally, Song’s publications attain the right balance regarding the audience it caters to and the content they cover.

Multicoin Capital

For those who are searching for crypto hedge funds, then look no further. The Multicoin Capital blog regularly curates what it terms as the essential podcast about the blockchain industry crypto markets.
They mainly cover how to excel as a cryptocurrency investor using more traditional investing approaches, such as achieving the ideal alpha. In other words, they strive to inform both new and experienced cryptocurrency investors on how to beat the crypto waves. Due to this, it is considered as one of the best crypto blogs available.

Conclusion on the list of the best crypto blogs

By including these blogs in your bookmark, you will always be updated with blockchain, financial markets and cryptocurrency news from all over the world. These blogs and personalities were critically chosen since they have already established themselves as reliable and respected sources of information.
Remember, public sources can guide you only by analyzing data from different sources, questioning everything, and suspecting manipulation under every analysis of “unique” information and statistical facts.

Blockchain micropayments are opening up new revenue streams for industries you wouldn’t normally expect. Advertisers, web browsers, and automotive companies are finding new ways to motivate, reward, and ultimately empower consumers. Blockchain technology reviving small payments. 

 

Early Micropayments

Micropayment as a term is maddeningly hard to pin down. How small a payment has to be to qualify depends on who you ask. For some payments providers it’s under $1 for others it’s under $10. This threshold hinges on the fees the provider charges which make these small sums less worth it.

Interestingly, micropayments are nothing new. The idea emerged in the 1960s and offered an alternative to advertising-based revenue. By the 1990s, this idea extended to the early internet as a way to fund pages. In theory, people could pay fractions of cents for individual content rather than buy a subscription or look at ads. However, none of the proposals really took off. It was too expensive to use traditional payment processors.

Some existing micropayments providers such as Swedish firm Swish don’t charge fees for individuals, but still charge stiff fees for organizations. Others have been absorbed into larger payments giants. EBay acquired Zong in 2011, for example, which was later merged with PayPal.  

Most of the services we use today on the internet rely on advertising and the user data they collect to operate. Blockchain technology has brought the idea of micropayments back from the dead and offers a new way to make these tiny payments work.

Centralized payment processors such as Visa charge 0.05% plus $0.21 per transaction. PayPal charges 2.9% plus $0.30. These are too high for a micropayment revenue model. Blockchain tech, though, drives the price of transactions down. Some, such as IOTA Foundation charge nothing. 

Blockchain micropayments rise

Part of what might make blockchain micropayments work is that it’s much cheaper to send funds — especially across borders. Fewer middlemen involved in settlement means lower transaction costs across the board. Pair that with smart contracts, and you could have a fully automated and much cheaper payment system. Or so the theory goes.

Such low-fee or no-fee transactions enable users to send and receive tiny fractions of cents. This has revived micropayments as a revenue model and could change the way we consume and interact with one another. Blockchain micropayments are the missing link.    

 

How will it work? 

Many people wonder where micropayments will appear and for what, exactly. Currently, there are a few proof-of-concept projects in the world exploring blockchain micropayments. 

German carmaker Volkswagen, for example, has partnered with IOTA and has launched a pilot where their vehicles act as IoT devices. Where micropayments come in is that drivers could automatically pay for parking after crossing a barrier, or pay more accurate tolls.

Extend this a bit further and you could have a system that rewards drivers with IOTA tokens for good behavior and even shares this data with insurance companies.  

Privacy-minded web browser Brave aims to let users choose to view advertisements, or not, and pays them their fair share of the revenue. These tokens act as a rewards program and such low blockchain micropayments make this model possible.

Blockchain micropayments optimism

We’re optimistic about the micropayments and the opportunities in a new monetary system. As a blockchain development company, we are involved in many blockchain projects using token transfer or swap the funds.  

Recently we explored a very similar solution based on the Stellar blockchain. Our solution brings the most benefits to unbanked users. It’s helpful, especially in the regions where there is a lack of banks or some other remote locations. Low fees can enable blockchain micropayments in places without sufficient banking.

Let’s imagine a mobile app where we can pay everywhere each amount fast, safety and cheap than others.

From a technical standpoint, this is how the application will work.

• Central Bank — this is a virtual place to communicate with others. It’s also the entity that controls the supply of coins in the ecosystem

• Issuer — this is a point of sale where users can swap cash to coin

• User — this is the end-user, which uses the mobile app, central bank technology, and Stellar blockchain to manage his wallet and execute payments

User path

In the first step, a user can request an issuer to swap fiat currency to coins. Each transaction accepted by the issuer sends the request to the Central Bank.

Next, the issuer and user receive a response with a status of the transaction from the Central Bank. Each transaction on the blockchain will start when the Central Bank verifies the request

The Central Bank can transfer coins from the wallet to other wallets in the ecosystem at any time. The same process is available for users and issuers. 

Our solution is based on traditional IT architecture using blockchain technology that enables us to achieve high scalability, data dispersion and customer ownership to the accumulated good on your own portfolio.

The Stellar protocol in combination with blockchain micropayments eliminates third parties from transactions making them faster, cheaper, and safer. This solution is suitable for everyone in the ecosystem who has active wallets (has coins). We can transfer coins or payments to others fast and easily. 

All information about transactions is saved on Stellar blockchain and visible for Central Bank. Each user can view the status of his transaction in our Payments Explorer’s user interface. This solution gives each user the possibility of low-value transactions and with the lack of access to banks or some other remote locations.

Conclusion

Distributed ledger technology is driving down the cost to send a receive money. As a result, this is opening up new revenue models for enterprises. As more and more people seek better payment methods than traditional, expensive card payments, the growth of this industry will continue to adapt.

For sure new technologies are particularly valuable for new payments method nowadays so that we should ensure the conditions for development.

Contact us for a free 15-minute consultation on blockchain micropayments and find out how put blockchain to work for you. 

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