But still, there’s more on the horizon for Bitcoin. Coinbase, a new method of use for Bitcoin, will allow Bitcoin shoppers and merchants a way to access one another.
Essentially, the Coinbase system makes it possible to convert from one currency to another, rather than the previous Bitcoin method that allowed for one currency to be converted into Bitcoins for use between buyer and seller. In addition, Coinbase will help Bitcoin reach its goal of regulation faster, as it allows completely legitimate buying and selling of goods and services so those who use Bitcoin online will no longer be forced to hide in the shadows. As it provides this service, Coinbase documents these transactions, which will make it possible for both buyers and sellers–as well as those in charge of regulation of Coinbase and Bitcoin–to collect data about buyer and seller behavior, trends in sales, and trends in the amounts of currencies being converted and how much currency is being translated purely to Bitcoin, and how much of it is being converted to other currencies, back and forth, and with what level of frequency.
For the future, it seems that Bitcoin has definite and enormous potential in terms of both collection of big data regarding how people spend, when, and why, and how merchants sell, when, and where they are the most successful by way of Bitcoin via Coinbase. But that is not the end of it, that’s just the beginning. In essence, this stems from the fact that Bitcoin, regardless of its less than stellar reputation in the past, has many techies and Internet professionals looking at this form of currency as what’s up and coming. Why? Because until the advent of Bitcoin, the Internet had been in need of a currency exchange method since day one.
For the purposes of online economic exchanges, especially those that require the quick transfer of money–regardless of its currency or what part of the world it comes from–a system like Coinbase using Bitcoin as its method for exchange has actually been a long time coming. You might say that the “framers” of the Internet wanted to include something like Bitcoin from the onset, but simply couldn’t find a plausible way to make it happen or work well. We have to consider that in the early days of the Internet, there was no online banking, no PayPal, and essentially, no other way to swap money from place to place globally across the Internet Superhighway (remember that phrase?!)
It makes perfect sense that a currency exchanger and methodology to buy and sell goods and services without the use of a middleman who doesn’t take currency exchange rates into consideration would eventually come on to the scene. We now know Bitcoin has been doing this for some time, but by lending it credibility through a system like Coinbase, and by regulating it as we would any other types of financial exchanges, the future looks bright for the financial success of global vendors, especially small to medium-sized businesses, and their clientele. And what’s more, the aggregation, assimilation, and organization of the big data that Coinbase will invariably reveal over time will allow us to view online transactions in a whole new light.
For merchants, it will likely mean online dashboards that allow them to see their own small data about sales, returns, and more. For consumers, also via some kind of online dashboard, they will be able to track their own buying habits, how much and how frequently they are exchanging to Bitcoin, and for what purposes. And for those at the helm of Bitcoin regulation and Coinbase, the big data is likely to start rolling in by the terabyte and beyond.
Related Reading:
What is Bitcoin? | The Marketing Robot
