Although it may feel like Cryptocurrency is stealing headlines and dominating global stock market news and blogs, less than 1% of the world’s population owns crypto or even have a crypto wallet. Most people in fact barely understand the underlying Blockchain technology that cryptocurrencies are built on.
A lot of newcomer investors think that by searching for the ‘next cryptocurrency to explode in 2022’, they can be a part of a get rich quick scheme. Those ‘investors’ soon find themselves very susceptible to the pitfalls of crypto trading.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE), the original meme coin was created as a lighthearted alternative to traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in 2013. This crypto-token gained mainstream popularity after Tesla owner and cryptocurrency influencer Elon Musk called it his favourite cryptocurrency on social media.
Dogecoin found itself as a major player in the 2021 crypto market. The Dogecoin price, its rise and fall, its Elon Musk social media backing, and just general speculation were a frenzy. It took the crypto market by storm. It reached the top 10 cryptos by market cap, no mean feat at a valuation near $40 billion, and brought with it a wave of new investors. The crypto exchanges were seeing volumes hundreds of times larger than usual daily trading would yield.
It inevitably fell in price and its own hype turned out to be its downfall once its bubble burst. Further investigation showed that just five wallets controlled over 40% of the supply. It turned out that over 65% were controlled by under 100 wallets around the world. To quote Akand Sitra who runs cryptocurrency risk management platform TRM Labs, “The scam is simple – hold on to Dogecoin till there is enough traction after it multiplies, dumps all coins and cashes out”.
Blockchain Technology
The beauty of the Dogecoin scandal? Well, first of all, its undoing was the technology it was built upon. A digital ledger that cannot lie. Anybody at all could visit several available websites showing every single transaction since its beginning. It showed exactly how many wallets held how many coins and what they were worth, tracing all the way back to the start.
The Blockchain cannot be altered once the data has been entered. Secondly, there was a very noticeable change in the way businesses viewed cryptocurrency. Many businesses promised ways to accept crypto payments, including Dogecoin, with some businesses even creating their own coin or token. We are very possibly witnessing the early adoption and acceptance of mass cryptocurrency use and most importantly, the use of Blockchain technology in everyday life.
Blockchain Technology in The Food Industry
The first steps have been taken by companies like Walmart to use Blockchain technology in the food industry. Its unalterable ledger and shared data mean that food sources can be traced, food tampering will be deterred, mass contaminated items can easily be recalled, and wastage can be minimised. Walmart has fully digitised their supply chain and has been able to drastically reduce the time it takes to track the source of contaminated foods. The Walmart suppliers now upload all their data onto a Blockchain that tracks the produce straight to its farm of origin. Although it is still relatively early, we can adopt a bit of a different approach to cryptocurrency than what perhaps the approach was towards Dogecoin. Rather than searching for “The best cryptocurrency to invest in”, we should perhaps be searching for ‘how can we use cryptocurrency to our advantage?’.
Conclusion
Finance companies, such as PayEat which are heavily involved in the food industry, are building the foundations for the future. PayEat plan to adopt a multitude of cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin. However, in the same mindset as the Walmart engineers who are pioneering Blockchain Technology in the Food Industry, PayEat is continually looking to use the latest cutting-edge technology for the betterment of the industry and researching how this can be applied.