if cryptos fall back to zero (they have already lost 80% of their value, or $750 billion), their mining will have represented one of the most fantastic waste of energy in modern history. The only "objective" value associated with them is the energy cost of their extraction... Cryptomos will not leave any material traces in the world heritage (because even an abandoned industrial wasteland is a testimony to our past, structural metal can be recycled, etc.).

Cryptos could have just increased the pollution of the planet without ever having been used for anything to protect it.

But taxing crypto-miners is impossible...

Bitcoin is a financial UFO. Launched in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, its designer's objective was to create a digital currency whose operation would be dematerialized and independent of banks and governments. Bitcoin is in fact only one of the modalities of the blockchain that refers to a decentralized computer protocol that records each transaction (amount, sender, recipient) in a theoretically tamper-proof and unforgeable manner on a digital ledger. One of the major advantages of Bitcoin is the savings in transaction costs without the intermediary of banks. Bitcoins are issued during the transaction validation process by so-called "miners". They provide the computing power of their computers and receive bitcoins in return.

Like all financial instruments, its price is determined by the match between supply and demand. But as the market authorities point out, Bitcoin is not legal tender, because it is not strictly speaking a currency. The value of a bitcoin also comes from the fact that its quantity is in principle limited to 21 million units.

Bitcoin doesn't pay off. Only the increase in the price can enrich its holders. And this price is particularly volatile. This is reflected in its steep fall this year: since January, its value has fallen by 60%. In 2017, its value exploded by more than 2,000% to nearly 16,000 euros. By way of comparison, the price of an ounce of gold has fallen by 1.2% since 1 January 2018 when the CAC 40 granted a 6.23% discount (as at 23 November 2018).

But this volatility that characterizes Bitcoin is precisely what attracts many speculators. Since its creation - and despite the recent very large correction - its value has risen from a few cents to nearly 3,500 euros today. Those who bet on Bitcoin are also betting on its democratization and the associated upside potential.

In addition to those related to price volatility and the very relative reliability of certain platforms, it should be recalled that the purchaser of this type of asset has no recourse in the event of a problem. The purchase or sale of bitcoins and the investment in bitcoins are currently carried out outside any regulated market.  Bitcoin is one of the assets, sometimes wrongly referred to as virtual currencies' or'cryptomones', that currently exist in the world. It can be exchanged online and is not materialized by any part or note.  It is not legal tender unlike currencies issued by central banks. There are risks of piracy of bitcoin portfolios. Warnings not to be overlooked.

No one can say whether Bitcoin, in its current form, will survive in the long term.

At 900 € at the beginning of 2017, 16 700 € at the end of the year, fallen back to 4 000 € in recent days, not a week goes by without the price of Bitcoin making headlines. Describing it as a speculative bubble, many Nobel Prize winners, central bankers and politicians regularly predict the bursting of a cryptocurrencies that would not be based on any tangible assets.

It must be noted that the latter has fluctuated considerably since its creation in 2009. But it does resist the premonitions of these experts. In fact, a technological revolution is underway behind this new kind of virtual asset.

Due to its volatility, bitcoin is not currently very advantageous in more stable countries using the euro or the dollar for example. These currencies have the bonus of seniority and liquidity. Of course, Bitcoin in its current form could sink, but nothing prevents us from imagining that it would stabilize and become a tangible alternative to the extortion of funds organized by central banks.

A certain disillusionment is affecting the crypto-active markets, while Bitcoin prices are flirting dangerously around $4,000. Since the record set in December 2017, its value has fallen by 78%, causing the American economist Nouriel Roubini, Bitcoin's well-known opponent, to say that "the mother of all bubbles has now burst". To say that he is going through a difficult period is a euphemism: it is no secret that a crypto winter has been installed. Nevertheless, Bitcoin's history has shown that every time he was promised death, it emerged stronger.

In traditional finance, a crash is generally defined as a fall of at least 10% in a single session. For Bitcoin, the volatility is such that it is not interesting to count them as it is customary to observe such variations.It is preferable to focus on correction periods, named after these more or less sudden downward movements, stopping a general upward trend, affecting assets that are probably overvalued. They may lack fundamental reasons or simply obey a profit-taking by investors. Here are all those that have exceeded 30%.

The worst correction observed occurred between November 2013 and January 2015, causing Bitcoin to lose 87% of its value in 411 days. This collapse is similar to the one currently underway, but 2014 was also marked by the bankruptcy of MtGox, at the time the world's leading trading platform (nearly 80% of flows). Many users had lost access to their Bitcoins, throwing a great wave of pessimism into the area. Nothing to do with 2018, as favorable news from Wall Street is accumulating.

The question now is how far will the 2018 correction go? Can it go to zero?

In the case of a company, even if it is bankrupt, the value of its walls or machinery prevents it from reaching this threshold. For Bitcoin, you have to ask yourself what its core value is.  What value can this have in Europe? Almost nothing, given that our banking system works relatively well. But the question must be asked differently in other parts of the world, such as Venezuela, where Bitcoin is increasingly being used to escape hyperinflation in the bolivar (the IMF expects +1,000,000% over the year). In Caracas, it is perceived as a store of value and a way out of an authoritarian state.

Bitcoin's weakness lies in the effectiveness of its protocol, which allows you to send value online without the need of a trusted third party. The level of his course is ultimately of enormous importance.

Virie is the first public product of the Virternity project. It is a financial instrument (payment system) designed to become the economic foundation of the shared, mixed reality of the Virternity space.

The crowdfunding for the whole project is based on Virie.

Virie is ready to go public and will be available to download right after the crowdfunding.
https://virternity.com/virie

Exactly ! All the more because wherever there is an intermediary - even a platform - or otherwise a trusted third party who controls or certifies a transaction between people, the blockchain can change the deal.

A virtual revolution for the banking, insurance, notary public and especially logistics sectors, considered as the "first candidate". "As a register that memorizes all operations performed without the possibility of falsification, the blockchain could prove to be a revolutionary logistics tool. It is the entire life cycle of a product that can be certified in this way," the report says.

Blockchain technology promises programmable transactions without the intervention of a trusted third party. The disruptive potential of such innovation calls for a public strategy that combines regulation and support for innovation... without delay.

Some see it as a disruptive innovation that heralds "the entry into an era of efficiency and shared trust", others as a technology reserved for geeks that could feed the next speculative bubble. One thing is certain, the blockchain is now on the agenda of all decision-makers. Because this digital technology, which allows data to be transmitted in a decentralized, secure, transparent and uninterrupted manner, can virtually revolutionize entire sectors of the "old economy", starting with logistics. Some even think it could "uberize Uber"!