What is Crypto Currency ?
To put it quite simple, Crypto is the future, yes I can see the future and it's looking very promising for anyone that is already involved in Crypto Currency.
Crypto is a digital currency but what a lot of people don't know is that all the crypto currencies, bar one, only came about thanks to the invention of Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto, The first and most important cryptocurrency... he never intended to invent a currency, crazy right?
Satoshi introduced the world to a peer to peer electronic cash system in 2008.
“Announcing the first release of Bitcoin, a new electronic cash system that uses a peer-to-peer network to prevent double-spending. It’s completely decentralized with no server or central authority. ”
— Satoshi Nakamoto
There is a lot more to this than you can imagine and im not going to go into great detail and lose you but the main point you need to understand is that Bitcoin was created by satoshi as a means of no double spending meaning there is only so much bitcoin in circulation, 21 million to be precise.
So how do the transactions work ? well....
WARNING - Complicated term overload approaching
Transaction data is permanently recorded in files called blocks. They can be thought of as the individual pages of a city recorder's recordbook (where changes to title to real estate are recorded) or a stock transaction ledger. Blocks are organized into a linear sequence over time (also known as the block chain). New transactions are constantly being processes by miners into new blocks which are added to the end of the chain and can never be changed or removed once accepted by the network (although some software will remove orphaned blocks).
You can thank BitcoinWiki for this one !
So you may have guess it by now, Crypto currency is not a physical form despite all the images of "coins" you see these are just representation of the currency, think of it more as a logo.
BITCOIN PRICE
When Bitcoin was first invented by satoshi the price was only around $0.05 in fact in 2009 a guy named Koch bought 5,000 bitcoins in 2009 for $27... today those 5000 bitcoins are now worth a whopping $12.3 Million ! Talk about bang for your buck! As I am writing this article the price of Bitcoin is $2471 per whole coin (1.0) so 0.5 is around $1235.
To give you an indication on the sort of growth we are talking about here I want you to take a look at this image below and it will certainly make you think twice about wether you should be investing some of your time in Crypto.
Satoshi is the value of a bitcoin, named after the creator Satoshi Nakamoto, Satoshi is currently the smallest unit of the bitcoin currency recorded on the block chain. It is a one hundred millionth of a single bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC) so if you had 0.00012500 BTC then you would have 12.5k Satoshi....Something to get used to as there are many shops in the world that accept Satoshi as a form of payment one of the largest being Lamborghini !
Where do I store my coins?
All crypto currencies will have their own wallet which will carry a unique address just like a complicated email address. Bitcoin has various Bitcoin wallet providers where you can store your coins and access them as you wish, fees will be charged for sending your coins. The main wallet providers such as Coinbase will only have the main crypto, currently they have Bitcoin ( BTC) , Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), Litecoin is one of the first Altcoins and has always been around.
In order to purchase or exchange other coins that dont have a dedicated wallet provider you will use networks such as Poloniex which has most of the Altcoins and gives you your own wallet for each, also here you will be able to exchange between your different Altcoins as prices rise and fall.
Microchip yourself
Believe it or not you can actually have a microchip installed into your hand which will hold your Bitcoin wallet address meaning you can pay for something using your BTC by simply putting your hand up to an Bitcoin processor. The advantages to this are enormous and you can imagine the changes this will bring to our world and how it can even help fight crime reducing robberies looking for cash registers. Microchipping is still very early days but as you can see from the video below...it's happening.
Check out this video -->
The price of 1 Bitcoin in 2010 would have purchased you a washer, where the price in 2017 would get you a very nice diamond ring. Experts predict the price of bitcoin to go up to as high as $10,000 per coin. The are only 21 million BTC that will ever be in circulation so as crypto currencies becomes more popular then the price of BTC can only go up meaning the tiny value of 1 Satoshi will start to become a more realistic price and open doors for more retailers to accept it.
These comparisons will only get bigger and bigger as more and more people get involved.
Altcoin
Bitcoin has opened doors to other digital currency being created and the biggest to emerge is called Ethereum or ETH for short which is quickly gaining traction and catching up with bitcoins growth. Altcoins stands for "alternative coins" they are valued using bitcoin and sold for bitcoin. When the value of any Altcoin drops then you will find a lot of Bitcoin collectors buying up alt coins ready to cash in and sell when price rises and sell for bitcoin, but as this happens the price of bitcoin goes down as people are spending the coin on Alts.
Should I buy Altcoins?
Altcoins are can carry more of a risk for investors than bitcoin because they have such low market caps and also altcoin markets are highly prone to "price manipulation". What happens on a regular basis is Wealthy traders will inject large amounts of capital into a low priced coin to build hype and cause the price to skyrocket. As soon as it seems to have hit its peak price then those wealthy investors will sell for a good profit but this hurts all those small time investors in the process who dont see in time before the price falls, this is called “pump and dump.” my advice is to do your homework, check out Coin Gecko and research an Altcoin market cap and statistics before making a choice on investing.
I can go on all day about Crypto currencies and educate you further but there has recently been an education platform called Icoin Pro that teaches you all about cyrpto currency and also always you to earn Bitcoin in the process. In IcoinPro you will gain access to over $10,000 worth of tools and education and be well on your way to that Microchip and Lamborghini ;)
Head on over to Icoin Pro and check it out for yourself, I would love to hear your experience with Bitcoin and your thoughts, leave your comments below and please do up vote and follow me !
Until next time dudes !