US think-tank to create a better Bitcoin

Brightest minds from seven US colleges joined forces to create  Unit-e, a cryptocurrency better than Bitcoin. They hope that the new network will deliver unprecedented transaction speed without compromising the level of decentralization. The virtual coin is the first initiative of Distributed Technology Research (DTR). This is a non-profit organization formed by academics and supported by Pantera Capital Management LP. Its primary aim is to research and develop decentralized technologies. 

Bitcoin, the first digital currency gained popularity among tech guys, investors, and speculators. However, it struggles to increase mass adoption due to certain innate limitations that impede its scalability and performance. 

The academicians from DTR are working on a protocol that will become faster than visa when it comes to transaction speed.

“The mainstream public is aware that these networks don’t scale. We are on the cusp of something where if this doesn’t scale relatively soon, it may be relegated to ideas that were nice but didn’t work in practice: more like 3D printing than the internet,’’ according to Joey Krug, co-chief investment officer at Pantera Capital. 

The team plans to launch Unit-e in the second half of the year. It will be able to process 10,000 per second against 3-7 transactions for Bitcoin and 10-30 transactions for Ethereum. Meanwhile, Visa currently handles about 1,700 transactions per second.