If cryptocurrencies are to gain in adoption, popular coins like Bitcoin may soon need to start solving problems that are currently taken care of by traditional forms of finance. While it is unlikely that one coin will solve and cater to all of the world’s problems, recent developments among the altcoins have shown that the market is more than will to deploy divide the challenges and tackle them one at a time.
Bitcoin advocate – Andreas Antonopoulos in a recent interaction spoke about how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be a relevant game-changer within the e-commerce industry and can help more users migrate to decentralized forms of payments that offer greater security. He noted that for companies that are planning to use crypto for payments can benefit immensely from solutions like extended public keys, he noted,
“If you want to give a fresh address to everybody who visits your website you’ll need something like BDC pay server…these systems do not store your private keys online. In fact, they don’t even need your private keys at all. Instead, what you give these programs is what is called an extended public key or xPUB.”
While it is possible to keep using the same Bitcoin address multiple times, there are privacy concerns involved according to Antonopoulos. Hower the use of extended public keys solves this problem without compromising the safety aspect of one’s funds especially in comparison to the usage of hot-wallets that can pose serious security threats to a business. He noted,
“The only thing on the website is an extended public key. And that’s how we can do e-commerce without using a hot wallet on a server, which is extremely vulnerable, whether you’re doing invoices and just copying a single Bitcoin address you do not have to risk your private keys with a hot wallet.”
Interestingly the crypto market has expanded significantly as more corporate users in the banking, financial services, and insurance [BFSI] sector get on board. A report that was published earlier in the year suggested that blockchain devices such as hardware wallets saw increased demand and is likely to increase in the coming years, as more business transition to crypto. It noted,
“As per the report, in 2019, the global blockchain devices market generated a revenue of $300 million and is projected to reach $23.5 billion by 2030, advancing at a 48.7% CAGR during the forecast period (2020-2030).”
