Whether you see the world of cryptocurrencies as a volatile speculator’s market or the new model for a decentralised economy, brands from Kodak and Burger King to startups in the loyalty and betting categories are all exploring the possibilities they offer.

Cryptocurrencies and the technology that enables them to exist, blockchain, are described at one extreme as gimmicks that simply make good fodder for PR stunts, and at the other as a new economic paradigm. So which is it?

Bitcoin has been hitting headlines since December, when its value surged to $18,700 (£13,386) per coin following the opening of the first Bitcoin futures market on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. To put this into context, Bitcoin was valued at just $966 (£619) at the start of 2017. The price has now slipped back to $6,602 (£4, 714), leaving the market open to accusations of dangerous volatility.

Cryptocurrencies plug into the power of blockchain, which enables organisations and supply chains to record data in a highly secure and fully verifiable fashion, without any one party being in control. Blockchain tech is based on the concept of an open ledger, which allows anyone in a community to validate the transactions taking place within it, explains Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, CMO at internet company Mozilla.

It also has many more – and potentially much more useful – applications than just cryptocurrency, which is the one gaining most attention.

“If we built an ad network that used blockchain as the tool that could validate that the ads were shown to people, you could effectively try to eliminate ad fraud.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.marketingweek.com