STEPHEN CRANSTON: To coin a phrase: it’s a bitfad
I am not sure bitcoin is contributing that much to civilisation in the long run: but it is a fad rather than a fraud
The opportunities presented by blockchain and bitcoin could be significant for investors, and in fact in everyday life. I have usually heard youngsters in sneakers and with a pony tail discussing these topics, trying to look super cool, so it was interesting to hear a more sober, less hyperbolic view from a man from Mercer, which after all started as a firm of actuaries. Don’t confuse this Mercer with the hospital superbug of the same name — it is a global firm that forms part of the Marsh & McLennan professional services group. Michael Forestner, who runs Mercer’s global alternative assets, says there are undoubtedly benefits to the bitcoin system. Through blockchain, online payments can be sent directly from one party to the other without a financial institution claiming its cut. The network timestamps transactions and forms a record that cannot be changed by redoing the proof-of-work.I have never understood why blockchain isn’t called unblockchain; its purpose, after all, is to f...
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