The value of the Bitcoin
The value of the Bitcoin
Although no state or central bank promotes and secures confidence in Bitcoin, the tried and tested block chain, which has not been hacked for years and is still in use today, does. Bitcoin receives its current value exclusively through the acceptance and trust of its users. There is always a current market price for the bitcoin compared to other currencies. It is thus in a sense the most freely convertible currency in the world.
Initially, acceptance and trust in the Bitcoin was very low. In 2009, one of the first transactions ever to take place, one had to pay 10,000 bitcoins for a pizza. Today, however, acceptance and trust are significantly higher, so that 10 000 Bitcoins are currently worth more than USD 9 million.
Trading with the crypto currency
Bitcoin is the world's most freely convertible currency, so it is ideal for traders. However, the price development is very volatile due to a comparatively low market depth, so that only experienced traders should venture into the virtual currency. A fundamental analysis of the bitcoin is difficult, because there was nothing comparable up to now. Chart technical analyses, however, sometimes work very well due to the lack of market intervention by central banks. The only difficulty is that the prices on the various Bitcoin stock exchanges differ considerably from each other. For example, during the recent currency reform in India, exchange rate spreads of more than USD 100 were accepted in comparison to the other bitcoin exchanges. Moreover, hardly any chart provider has the corresponding bitcoin data available at all.
In Germany, some CFD brokers such as AvaTrade, eToro, IG or Plus500 offer trading with bitcoin. However, in view of the already high volatility, it is advisable to remain conservative when using CFDs for bitcoin trading and not to use too high leverage. Also, pay attention to which bitcoin exchange the CFD is referring to, as the price on the Bulgarian BTC-e. com is usually a little lower than on the US Coinbase or octopus exchanges.
An alternative would be, for example, an Exchange Traded Note (WKN: A18KCN) on the Bitcoin at Tradegate. 200 pieces correspond to a bitcoin. Since November 2016, the Swiss bank Vontobel has also been offering a participation certificate (WKN: VN5MJG) on the Bitcoin in US dollars, whereby the prices of the US cryptobranches Coinbase and Kraken serve as a reference. Ten such certificates are required for mapping a Bitcoin.
In principle, however, most cryptocurrencies can also be traded directly (against the euro or US dollar) on various cryptocurrency exchanges. In Europe, for example, the Dutch Anycoin Direct (www.anycoindirect.eu/de), the British BitStamp (www.bitstamp.com) or the Bulgarian BTC-e (www.btc-e.com) are to be mentioned. There are also non-European stock exchanges such as the US Coinbase (www.coinbase.com) or Kraken (www.kraken.com). However, you should be aware of the high volatility and high risk involved.
As Bitcoin Trading does not normally incur any transaction costs, spreads are somewhat higher than for established currencies - but as a rule they are within manageable limits. The smaller a Bitcoin exchange, the higher the spreads.
Other cryptocurrencies
Besides the bitcoin, there are now several other cryptocurrencies. These are based in principle mostly on the concept of bitcoin. On the website www.coinmarketcap.com you will find almost all cryptocurrencies that exist. In Table 1 we have summarized the most important ones with their specifications: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, Ripple, Monero, Litecoin, Dash and Dogecoin.
conclusion
Cryptocurrencies are and remain speculative. The more speculative the trading is. Therefore, you should always keep an eye on the risk and follow the prices closely. Never let yourself be influenced by the hysteria of the media.