Risks and Opportunities in the Cryptocurrency Market

Abstract

The financial industry is subject to a new technological age through the evolution of the cryptocurrencies, people exploring a continuous rise of interest in investing on alternative basis mechanisms. This paper aims to give an overview of the blockchain technology and its potential, with its applicability on the cryptocurrency market. We illustrate the main challenges that the cryptocurrencis must overcome in order to achieve the customers’ approval, which is strongly related to trust and cybersecurity issues. A comparative analysis of the two major cryptocurrencies emphasizes the risks and the opportunities offered by the cryptocurrency market, but also the main threats that must be addressed. Moreover, the consequences of the cryptocurrencies development for both national and international financial systems are evaluated, leading to the idea of a freedom-associated concept, where the lack of a third-party financial authority requires a significant change of perceptions and has the premises to fundamentally transform the traditional payment methods.