Digital currency, commonly referred to as “cryptocurrency”, is a type of money that exists only in electronic format. It is a series of data that uses a technology called Block Chain which acts as a ledger and keeps the history of what the cryptocurrency has been used for. Like coins or paper money, digital currency is stored in a digital wallet and can be used as a traditional method for buyers and sellers to pay for the exchange of goods and/or services. The transfer of ownership of a digital currency is stored as a record on the blockchain that can be tracked from user to user. There are obvious benefits to tracking the activity of any currency, with the most significant benefits being proof of ownership and fraud prevention and mitigation.
The recent growth in popularity of cryptocurrency has given way to a new era of wealth in the tech industry. While traditional means of generating income or accumulating wealth usually involve exchanging a product or service for money or compensation, digital currency is generated entirely differently. Much like gold or silver is dug out of the ground, Digital Currency uses “miners” to process thousands and thousands of calculations every minute, effectively digging through a mountain of digital rocks and dirt to find what eventually turns out to be a solution to an extremely complex mathematical problem.
Until recently, a technologist’s ability to generate a salary was based on building digital applications or providing technical skills to businesses. However, with the birth of cryptocurrency, a technologist (or even a novice user with some basic computer programming skills) can bypass the groundwork and get directly involved in the production of this new currency by building a team of super-powerful computers whose sole purpose is to “mine” cryptocurrency.
The corporate world relies heavily on the skills and abilities of computer and IT professionals. However, as the popularity of virtual money continues to grow and become more popular, coupled with the natural skills possessed by even some of the most basic computer programmers, the corporate world may begin to see cryptocurrency as a threat to their business operations. Compared to the answer of a boss at a tech firm, digital currency mining can be a very attractive job opportunity, leading to a potential shortage of skilled computer programmers in the tech industry.