Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8317
Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency on a hot streak—plenty of alternative currencies have enjoyed rallies alongside the Epic Bitcoin Bull Run of 2017. One of the most intriguing examples is also among the most obscure in the cryptocurrency world. Called IOTA, it has jumped in total value from just over $4 billion to more than $10 billion in a little over two weeks. But that isn't what makes it interesting. What makes it interesting is that it isn't based on a blockchain at all; it's something else entirely.
[...] Instead of a blockchain, IOTA uses a "tangle," which is based on a mathematical concept called a directed acyclic graph. Sønstebø says his team pursued an alternative approach after deciding that blockchains are too costly—it has recently cost as much as $20 per Bitcoin transaction because of high demand—and inefficient to operate at the scale required for the Internet of things.
[...] So IOTA has dispensed with the miners. Instead, when a user issues a transaction, that individual also validates two randomly selected previous transactions, each of which refer to two other previous transactions, and so on. As new transactions mount, a "tangled web of confirmation" grows, says Sønstebø.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @11:29PM (1 child)
Ron Paul has been talking about this recemtly in his "Market Updates" over at http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com [ronpaullibertyreport.com] . His basic idea is that traditional inflation sinks, such as the bond market, are so saturated that money is being poured into anything that might hold it.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday December 18 2017, @09:48AM
The financial establishment isn't entirely hands-off when it comes to bullion, there is the massive shorting that JPM and others are doing to manipulate the market, of course, keeping it low.
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