The driving force behind breakthrough innovations is often less about technology and more about delivering what the customer wants. Bitcoin, the world’s first digital currency, is one such advancement.

Customers want instantaneous, low-cost, secure financial transactions, which is precisely the features that are driving global users to bitcoin. As a cryptocurrency, bitcoin uses encryption techniques to regulate the creation and transfer of funds. We have yet to fully realise how bitcoin will impact business, government, and society.

But, as the novelist William Gibson observed, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” What tools do we need to be looking at now to empower this technology and ensure we are poised to benefit from this cyber finance of the future?

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Consumers are tired of switching apps just to pay for a cup of coffee. They want instantaneous transactions, they want a seamless interaction, and they’re tired of re-logging in their credentials. App fatigue is clearly portrayed in Harmon.ie’s report, which found that 34% say they have to switch between too many apps just to get essential work done.

As app love fades, chatbot adoption is growing

What consumers want, instead, is to have a conversation. Instead of scrolling through countless apps, or conducting a clunky web-browser search, consumers want a seamless way to ask, receive and pay.

Amazon’s Echo and Google Home have primed users for these types of intuitive exchanges, and there’s good reason for their attraction – chatbots can carry on a conversation that not only understands what the speaker wants but also what the speaker needs. Instead, consumers are falling for mobile messengers as their preferred means of communication.

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Worldwide users of Facebook Messenger has grown to 2.07 billion users. According to the latest reports, WhatsApp had 300 million daily active Status users worldwide, up from 250 million in the previous quarter.

Consumers want to extend this same type of spontaneous conversations to their wallet, using the messaging apps they are already using. The command, “Pay Joe for the concert tickets,” should happen as seamlessly as entering a text message.

When will it get there?

Bots are powered by machine learning to learn, answer and perform actions, and they have the potential to simplify our lives. When you combine chatbot’s intuitive assistance with bitcoin’s blockchain open ledger, you have a powerful combination that benefits consumers and businesses in some significant ways. Chatbots simplify the complex processes to access personal financial information, while bitcoin provides security and transparency.

1. In ‘Bots We Trust’: Smarter payments

Bitcoin created the blockchain system, which is a public database and ledger where all transaction records are stored concurrently across the entire network. Blockchain provides trust and security, with a digital record of asset ownership.

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All bitcoin transactions are stored in a distributed ledger, which cannot be altered without generating a traceable change log. This transparency provides the assurance, for both sides of the transaction, that money is delivered to the correct person.

As a virtual helper, the chatbot’s primary goal is to make these processes much more convenient and straightforward for the user. Instead of entering key codes and bank account information for each transaction, all financial information can be entered one time through a layered verification process, that is sealed with voice recognition technology or with a pin number to decrypt the bitcoin wallet.

The real power, however, lies within the bot’s artificial intelligence capabilities. As it absorbs and gathers data from every transaction, it is continuously learning and understanding patterns, habits, and routines.

Aberrations trigger a validation check. Their functionality can also be extended to check balances, handle recurring monthly payments, transfer funds from one account to the next, and order and pay for that cup of coffee.

2. Free the cash and lower the fees

Blockchain removes the need for a centralised regulatory entity. No middleman means that debit and credit card fees are eliminated, which creates significant cost savings – especially for businesses handling high volumes of transactions.

Chatbots can be dedicated to simplifying this process, which is especially beneficial for international transactions. Often complicated by exchange rates and high cross-border fees, bitcoin cuts out the middleman.

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Multiple financial institutions are no longer involved, so there is no need for any back-office reconciliation processes. Deposits are released immediately, freeing working capital.

The global bank, Santander, found that blockchain could reduce the costs associated with infrastructure, cross-border payments, securities trading and regulatory compliance by $15–20 billion a year.

3. Bitcoin chatbot: Your virtual personal trader

As bitcoin’s crash of November of 2017 reveals, fortunes can be lost and gained with bitcoin. As a currency that can be spent, invested, traded and saved, bitcoin is an essential source of income for some and a hobby for others.

Bitcoin digital currency trades are becoming more prevalent, worldwide. As with any speculative trading, there are risks, which makes using a chatbot as an assistant, a valuable asset.

Changes happen quickly. If traders are not collecting and analysing the right information, they could lose a great deal of money. November’s surprise was actually predicted by many analysts in July.

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Chatbots can be employed to help bitcoin traders amass this information to make smarter, more informed trades. Unlike their human counterparts, chatbots can stay focused on and monitor the market 24×7. They not only can track marketing prices, spot market trends and analyze historical data, but bots have extensive analytical power to help make market predictions.

They also have direct market access (DMA), which means they can see the electronic order books, so they have visibility into who is buying and selling and when. DMA access also allows Bots to be programmed to make smarter, more informed buy/sell decisions. They stop short of making the trades for you, but chatbots can be programmed to act when the price moves beyond a certain threshold.

Chatbots empower cryptocurrency

Chatbots can help move users into the next stage of cryptocurrency, by delivering more informed, more straightforward with its smarter interface. Powered by machine learning, chatbots are continuously learning and improving data and interactions. This knowledge will activate more intelligent interfaces and exchanges that deliver precisely what the customer wants.

Sourced from Jordi Torras, CEO and Founder, Inbenta