The cryptocurrencies advance at a firm pace

Digital currencies have outstripped some well-known companies, fundamentally changing trade for all companies.

Cryptocurrencies have just reached an important milestone, and entrepreneurs should not ignore it

If you have not heard or paid attention to the phenomenon that cryptocurrencies are, then it's time to start

First of all, if it's still a strange concept for you, cryptocurrencies are one of a series of digital currencies that can be used for online transactions without intermediaries like banks. Without banks, the cryptocurrency can be exchanged and used for trading between two or more people without the supervision and expense of those intermediaries.

The underlying power behind the cryptocurrency is blockchain technology, which is as difficult to understand as it is to explain. There are certainly detailed descriptions of how block chains work, but in general, it is summarized in a publicly distributed digital book designed to ensure the security and transparency of the transaction for all involved.

The cryptocurrency was launched for the first time in 2009 as an experiment limited to a handful of users. However, it has become a legitimate and credible global currency and payment option, as countries such as Singapore, India, China and Russia have adopted their own digital versions of their currencies.

This adoption, and recognition by the world's leading governments of the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies, is driving their general adoption. In Japan alone, which has a population of 127 million, cryptocurrencies are considered a legal payment method, and purchases are currently not subject to taxes.

In general, the most popular and widely used cryptocurrency example is Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Recently, Bitcoin's market capitalization eclipsed that of Paypal, when the price of Bitcoin was around $ 3,000.

More impressive is the fact that Bitcoin represents 60 percent of the total digital currency market and only about 1 percent of the current total market capitalization of gold. These scenarios illustrate the kind of potential that this market actually has.

Why should small businesses prepare now?

As long as cryptocurrency remains a legitimate and accepted form of payment, companies will have no choice but to adopt methods to accept it. In addition, new digital currencies are being created all the time: there are currently more than 1,000 in circulation, so understanding and managing them can be an even greater challenge.

While small businesses, of course, will be slow to adopt, large corporations are joining. IBM, Wall-Mart, Nestl? They have made investments in blockchain technologies to help optimize their existing processes and meet the growing demand. Even the online retail giant Overstock is adopting the technology.

And the support companies are also taking advantage. One company that has been benefiting from the increased demand is NVIDIA, which said its sales rose 54 percent this year due to increased demand for its graphics cards used in cryptocurrency mining.

Another development is that companies that adopt blockchain technology are finding ways to capitalize on this trend. Kik, a chat application that was tremendously successful when it was launched, but then battled industry giants like Facebook, recently raised $ 125 million through the initial coin offer (ICO).

This represented the introduction and launch of a new cryptocurrency that has the possibility of being exchanged, and therefore has value, outside the application's ecosystem.

What are your thoughts on digital currencies and their commercial applications? Have you used them? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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