UNITED STATES – Andreas Antonopoulos, Bitcoin evangelist, educator, and influencer, discussed in his latest Q&A last March 24, 2018, about what’s next for Bitcoin and what is needed in the cryptocurrency industry.
He said that Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees (MAST) is ready for testing, and they are hoping to implement it early in 2018. The implementation of MAST can greatly help cryptocurrency users as it can reduce transaction size. It also increases privacy, and smart contract will be possible too. This has been approved by the Bitcoin development team already.
Antonopoulos added that after MAST, Schnorr signatures and signature aggregation are most likely to be the next upgrade because of its optimization capabilities.
He also discussed in his Q&A about what the cryptocurrency industry needs. He said that the cryptocurrency industry needs basic infrastructures like more exchanges, continued wallet improvement, usable ATMs, and education systems.
When discussing further about the need for more exchanges, he said that more exchanges can sustain the liquidity and activity of the cryptocurrency market, and this will make the competition healthier.
Antonopoulos said that the cryptocurrency industry is not yet self-sustaining since it cannot operate yet with its own domain. But he said he is hopeful that someday it will be self-sustaining.
He also emphasized the importance of improving the interface of the cryptocurrency wallet. He said that the easy navigation and understanding of the wallet is a big help in onboarding newcomers in cryptocurrency. Improving this feature can help lessen the difficulty in using cryptocurrency, thus giving a better experience for the users.
Another basic infrastructure he wishes to improve is the use of ATMs. As of the moment, there are reports of users not being able to use the ATM because it’s not working, and the premiums are too high. Antonopoulos hopes that in the future, cryptocurrency users will be able to withdraw from ATMs with reasonable fees. This can help cryptocurrency users have easier access to their money.
Education is also important, Andreas Antonopoulos said. He is currently teaching MSc Digital Currencies at the University of Nicosia. Since cryptocurrency is quite a new industry, he believes that there is a need to educate the world about the cryptocurrency industry and the technology behind it.