For Bitcoin, 2014 was not a good year. The virtual currency’s value slumped as scandal after scandal struck, resulting in many people losing significant amounts of money.
Over recent months the “cryptocurrency” has stabilised, however it is still worth less than a quarter of its peak value against the dollar.
But while Bitcoin’s long-term prospects may remain in doubt, some are suggesting that its underlying technology – the Blockchain – has a bright future.
What’s their business model?
Blockchain businesses take the technology that underpins Bitcoin – the Blockchain – and use it for things the virtual currency’s unidentified creator, “Satoshi Nakamoto”, never envisaged when he first published his system for a “truly peer-to-peer electronic cash system”.