Category Archives: Blog Posts

24K-Production/Shutterstock Sankar Sivarajah, University of Bradford and Kamran Mahroof, University of Bradford The cryptocurrency bitcoin now uses up more electricity a year than the whole of Argentina, according to recent estimates from the University of Cambridge. That’s because the creation of a bitcoin, in a process called mining, is achieved by powerful computers that workContinue reading “Bitcoin alternatives could provide a green solution to energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies”

Don’t end up like this person. fizkes/Shutterstock.com Nir Kshetri, University of North Carolina – Greensboro Millions of cryptocurrency investors have been scammed out of massive sums of real money. In 2018, losses from cryptocurrency-related crimes amounted to US$1.7 billion. The criminals use both old-fashioned and new-technology tactics to swindle their marks in schemes based onContinue reading “How cryptocurrency scams work”

Using blockchain technology can feel like falling and hoping someone will catch you. Nicoleta Raftu/Shutterstock.com Kevin Werbach, University of Pennsylvania Blockchain technology isn’t as widely used as it could be, largely because blockchain users don’t trust each other, as research shows. Business leaders and regular people are also slow to adopt blockchain-based systems because theyContinue reading “People don’t trust blockchain systems – is regulation a way to help?”

The high seas are getting lower. dianemeise Iwa Salami, University of East London The 21st-century revolutionaries who have dominated cryptocurrencies are having to move over. Mainstream financial institutions are adopting these assets and the blockchain technology that enables them, in what is perhaps the most profound development since the birth of cryptocurrencies through the launchContinue reading “Cryptocurrencies are finally going mainstream – the battle is on to bring them under global control”

Is someone else making money on your computer? WICHAI WONGJONGJAIHAN/Shutterstock.com Pranshu Bajpai, Michigan State University and Richard Enbody, Michigan State University Right now, your computer might be using its memory and processor power – and your electricity – to generate money for someone else, without you ever knowing. It’s called “cryptojacking,” and it is anContinue reading “Cryptojacking spreads across the web”

Sweden is studying the possibility of an “e-krona”, an electronic form of the country’s currency. Shutterstock Sergio Focardi, Pôle Léonard de Vinci – UGEI While private digital currencies such as the bitcoin are in the news daily, countries including China and Sweden are studying the creation a new form of money – a central-bank digitalContinue reading “Central-bank digital currencies: toward a cashless society?”

A helping hand in the fight against malaria. Patrick Meinhardt/Getty Images Miriam K. Laufer, University of Maryland School of Medicine The World Health Organization recommended its first malaria vaccine for children on Oct. 6, 2021 – a breakthrough hailed by the U.N. agency as a “historic moment.” Approval of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which goes byContinue reading “WHO approved a malaria vaccine for children – a global health expert explains why that is a big deal”

Shutterstock Anwar Halari, The Open University If you haven’t already heard of Bitcoin, you either haven’t been paying attention or you’re a time traveller who just touched down in 2018. Because by now, most of us will have heard of Bitcoin and some of us have even jumped on the bandwagon, investing in cryptocurrencies. ButContinue reading “Why accountants of the future will need to speak blockchain and cryptocurrency if they want your money”

Daniele Bianchi, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick Venezuela is suffering one of the worst economic crises of modern times. President Nicolás Maduro’s beleaguered government is overseeing scarcities of food and medicine, soaring crime rates and the collapse of public services and the health system. But when it launched a new cryptocurrency, the Petro, inContinue reading “Don’t be fooled – Venezuela’s Petro is not really a cryptocurrency”

Shutterstock Michel Rauchs, Cambridge Judge Business School The enormous use of energy needed to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is proving to be very contentious, but alternative methods pose far too much of a security risk. The recent warning that electricity use at bitcoin mining facilities in Iceland may exceed that consumed annually by theContinue reading “Why energy-sapping bitcoin mining is here to stay”