The is a lot of discussion about what the future of [cryptocurrency](](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency)) holds.  With the bear market upon us, many feel the Crypto-Winter could be the end.

Fortunately, this is not the case.  As is often the case with technology, the market and advancement in terms of innovation.  The former has a way of getting ahead of itself.

With cryptocurrency, this is certainly the situation we saw unfold.  However, with the removal of excess (some might say insanity), we are starting to return to basics.

It was not too long ago that the headlines were all about [Bitcoin](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-bitcoin) going to $100K or Ethereum topping $25K.  These are replaced with those discussing the future from an innovation stand point.  What is this going to do?

That is something we have to focus upon.  They say bears are when the builders come out.  We are now seeing ideas tossed about of what the next generation of things is going to look like.

One of the major things that makes cryptocurrency impenetrable is the fact they cannot be separated from one of the most powerful mechanisms we saw in a long time: [blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain).

# Real World Application

When people ask what real world application cryptocurrency solves, we see the focus in the wrong area.  Instead, we should concentrate upon the underlying [technology](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-technology), blockchain.

This single innovation has the ability to disrupt trillions of dollars worth of existing business.  When looking at a disruptive force, this could be more powerful than the [Internet](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-internet), by orders of magnitude.

Sometimes the greatest advancements come from a simple idea.

One thing that is repeatedly overlooked with blockchain is the ability to send money anywhere in the world without the use of an intermediary.  This can revolutionize the international payment system.

Of course, we saw instances where the options on blockchain were worse than the banking system, at least from the fee perspective.  When [transaction fees](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-transaction-fee) are near $100, that makes the banking system look like a bargain.  This is a major shortcoming of some chains and will really hold them back, at least in this regard.

One chain that doesn't have this issue is [Hive](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-hive-crypto-hive).  We are sitting on a blockchain which has no direct transaction fees.  Due to the [Resource Credit system](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-resource-credits-rc), anyone can send a transaction for zero cost.  Yes, that person needs some [$HIVE](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/hive) staked but that is all.  After that, one can send money to as many places as desired.

While this might not seem like much, we are now entering a multi-trillion dollar industry.

How big is it?


![crossborderpayments.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taskmaster4450/23tmjWH7oGFnZQdRci22qdRyAxQUaLDBBfCX6BKfrbPYuLzuuBbJoA8bdpKB5DWFPcKya.png)



That is a large chunk of change.  We are looking, by the middle of this decade, near $40 trillion in cross-border payments.  Can you imagine how much that generates in fees considering the costs for providers such as Western Union, Moneygram and the entire [banking](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-bank) industry?

Blockchain can handle that easily.

There is a major advancement to those entities that service this market.  When using cryptocurrency, the need to pre-fund accounts in different countries is eliminated.  In fact, there is no need to fund anything.  The blockchain handles all settlements.

In fact, this is being recognized by the industry:

>New, emerging trends in payment technologies, such as Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can improve the transaction cost and transfer time, and generate real-time data focused on key aspects (e.g., customer behavior). DLT can solve cross-border transaction and settlement problems by verifying the origin and authenticity of a product as it moves across the value chain.

<center>[Source](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-cross-border-payments-and-remittance-services-markets-to-2026-as-transaction-value-is-expected-to-grow-from-37-15-trillion-in-2020-to-39-9-trillion-by-2026--301369086.html)</center>

Notice how we were discussing [Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-distributed-ledger-technology-dlt) of late?

Can anyone see where this is going?

# Hive Offers The Best Solution

Hive is already far ahead of everyone else in this area.  However, it is about to expand upon its lead.  We are getting something called [One Block Irreversibility in the next hard fork](https://leofinance.io/@taskmaster4450/one-block-irreversibility-in-next-hard-fork-hive-in-the-lead).

This is going to take an already rapid system and make if even faster.

Let us step back for a second and look at this market.  

What we have is an expensive way to send [money](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-money) internationally, having to use intermediaries to facilitate the transactions.  Not only is this costly to the user, the companies have to pre-fund accounts in each country.  At the same time, the process is slow, often taking hours to complete.

Now, with that backdrop, let us look at what Hive is doing.

For those unaware of OBI, here is an article [One-Block Irreversibility for Delegated Proof-Of-Stake (DPOS)](https://peakd.com/hive-139531/@blocktrades/one-block-irreversibility-for-delegated-proof-of-stake-dpos) that explains it completely.

At present, the system is very quick compared to the traditional money transfer system.

>Since the current irreversibility algorithm requires 15 blocks to be built off a block before that block becomes irreversible, the fastest time a block can become irreversible in Hive now is 45 seconds (15 blocks * 3 seconds /block).

We are looking at 45 seconds for a block to be irreversible; in other words for the [transaction](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-transaction) to be fully settled.

But wait, it gets better.

>In a normally well-connected Hive p2p network, **this should result in most blocks becoming irreversible on a node within a second or less after they are produced**. The exact time required depends on the message latency between nodes and number of network hops between the node and the block producers. *-(Emphasis mine)*

So now we are looking at a system that makes blocks irreversible in roughly a second.  If we combine that with the 3 second transfer (block production) time, we are looking at a total of 4 seconds.

Think about that compared to any other system out there.  We know [Ethereum](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) and Bitcoin can take hours to settle.  Plus their fees are high.  Of course, the traditional system is even worse.  Even the EVMs can be much slower and have fees.

Therefore, after the next hard fork, **Hive will be a 4 second settlement network with zero transaction costs**.  

Keep in mind, this is the basis of an industry that is expected to move around $40 trillion dollars in the next few years.

Is that an opportunity for the Hive blockchain?

Let us know in the comment section below.


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