According to the website coinmarketcap.com2, the total market capitalisation of more than 800 different virtual currencies is about $ billion, of which Bitcoin makes up approximately 47%, followed by Etherium, Ripple, and Litecoin3. This is still significantly lower than the current value of all money (approximately $ trillion) or physical money (approximately $ trillion).
Although much lower in value, virtual currencies are emerging as a new form of money and/or a new ‘store of value’ that is ‘held’ within a network of computers. The underlying technology, such as the distributed ledger technology (DLT), although immature and still needing to be fully proven, could serve as a means to possibly reshaping financial services.