After posting the latest Bitcoin's $10,000 Price on my Facebook account, I suddenly got a lot of personal messages about it. Some of them even sent me nothing but "How?", maybe because they think I am doing some sort of Networking.

_{Made Via Qoutes Creator App}

In connection, I made this post to educate some of my friends who are having difficulties in absorbing the concept of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. As much as possible, I will avoid using technical terms in order to convey the thoughts in a much simpler way, for I am assuming to perceive my readers as Non-Bitcoiners.

Let me Start with Cryptocurrency.

_{Disclaimer: The following contents are based on my personal understanding about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. If you think something is mistakenly conveyed, don't hesitate to drop it on the comment section. It will be much appreciated.}

What is Cryptocurrency?

Have you tried online banking? Putting your money in the bank, and in return, the bank will reflect it to your online bank account? Have you tried using your reflected digital money in order to pay bills, transfer funds, or even shop online without the hassle of going to the bank to encash your funds?

Cryptocurrency is just like online banking. You are simply having a virtual or digital representation of your actual money online.

What is the difference between Online Banking and Cryptocurrency?

Though digitalized, Online Banking is still backed up by Fiat Currency or the Physical Money that you are keeping in your wallet right now. It is still under the Provision of Centralized entities such as Banks and Governments.

On the other hand, Cryptocurrency is a general term for digital assets. It serves as a medium of exchange without the supervision of any Centralized entities. It is therefore created to unify the world with one currency through online money transactions regardless of our Race and Nationality.

What is the Advantage of Cryptocurrency?

If you have PhP (Philippine Peso) in your wallet and you want to buy that signature bag during your USA vacation, you need to convert Php to USD first, simply because Php is not compatible with the country's existing currency. Thus, you have to find an exchanger to convert your PhP relative to USD's exchange rate.

In Cryptocurrency, you are able to have a peer-to-peer transfer of your digital assets without relying on third parties since you are already having a currency which is globally acceptable in the form of digital money, provided that the particular recipient accepts Cryptocurrency payments.

No. You need not to have an ATM for this. You just have to do an online transfer from your online wallet account, directly to your desired recipient's account.

You Still Don't Get It? Fine. Let's Proceed with Your Much Awaited Bitcoin Instead

If Philippines has PhP, America has USD, and Japan has Yen, the Internet also has Btc (Bitcoin). Bitcoin is simply a form of Cryptocurrency in the virtual world.

Currently, Bitcoin conquers the number one spot in Cryptocurrency, having approximately $10,000 USD value per Bitcoin at this time of writing.

Okay, I just said that it's the number one. So logically, there are still numbers 2, 3, 4, 5,... Cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, which are also called as Altcoins or Alternative Coins or Alts.

Hence, any Cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin are called Altcoins

Bitcoin happens to be the most famous one for it is the very first Cryptocurrency ever created way back year 2009, which mindblowingly had an exponential Price Appreciation in less than a decade. Ever heard of Ether, Litecoin, and Ripple? Yep. They are all Cryptocurrencies. And there are thousands of them.

If the idea of Cryptocurrency is to Unify the world with one currency, then why do Altcoins or Alternative Coins exist? Isn't Bitcoin enough?

Cryptocurrencies are created for different purposes. For instance, Bitcoin was invented to create a peer-to-peer online payments in a much convenient way. You can use it to pay bills, transfer fund, and shop online. You can even use it to acquire other forms of Cryptocurrency or the so-called "Altcoins or Alternative Coins".

Altcoins can also be comparable to the stocks offered on Stock Market Exchanges.When you invest in stocks, you are buying a portion of the established companies of different industries. You are lending your money to fund whatever that certain company whishes to attain commercially. In return, you are expecting to earn through price appreciation of the shares of stocks you have bought.

Altcoins are just like stocks. Virtual Projects are offered (i.e. Cloud Storage, Online Trading Platform, Blogging Site), hoping to be funded by people who believe they have a valuable platform worthy to grow in the future.

Such virtual platforms uses Altcoins as a form of Currency. If Stock Market is to share of stocks, Cryptocurrency is to Altcoins.

Good thing is Altcoins aren't expensive as Bitcoin. Some of them even worth less than a dollar per coin.

How to Acquire Bitcoin or Altcoins?

There are online wallet apps which serve as an exchanger to convert your Fiat Currency to Bitcoin.

If you're from the Philippines, you can use Coins.ph. You can do cash-ins and cashouts via bank transfers (i.e. BDO, BPI, Security Bank), or via Remittances (i.e. M-Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan). You can also cash-in to any 7-eleven Outlets Nationwide.

If you are after Altcoins, you have to have Bitcoin first, then you can use your Bitcoin to Purchase Altcoins on the online trading platforms like Bittrex.com and Poloniex.com.

In other words, just use your fiat money to buy Bitcoin, and use your Bitcoin to buy Altcoins.

Physical Money ---> Bitcoin ---> Altcoins

Bitcoin is already $10,000 USD. How am I supposed to afford that? I barely even have a single dollar in my f*cket rn!

Buying Bitcoin doesn't necessarily mean you have to buy it for $10,000. In fact, you can have a portion of it.

Here, we will do a simple Math. But don't fret, I will make it easy for you to calculate.

If Bitcoin's value per coin is approximately $10,000, that is roughly 500,000 Pesos.

If you have 500 Pesos in your Coins.ph wallet, converting it into Bitcoin will give you 0.001 Btc. This is done by dividing 500 Pesos by 500,000 Pesos. The units will be in Btc (Bitcoin).

Reversely, if you have 0.001 Btc in your Coins.ph, you can convert it back to Peso, then you'll have 500 Pesos. This is done by multiplying your possessed 0.001 Btc to Bitcoin's 500,000-Peso equivalent. The units will be back in Peso

After that, you can already encash your proceeds to your bank accounts or Remittances.

Friendly Reminder: Brace yourselves for the transaction fees.

What must be the reason behind Bitcoin's drastic Price Appreciation?

I already gave my views about this on my previous blog post. You can read it here.

"I personally believe that Bitcoin's fame all over the Social Media made more and more people dive into it. Those breaking News declaring Bitcoin's Price Forecasts and Achievements just brought more FOMO's (Fear of Missing Out) to raise its value even more higher."

I would like to stress this out once again:

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Bitcoin's value highly increased because people perceived it to be valuable.

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The higher the demand, the higher the Bitcoin's Price would be, considering it has a limited circulating supply of nearly 21 Million Bitcoins.

Okay. I already have a Bitcoin. How am I supposed to earn from it?

• By simply holding it for days, weeks, months, or even years. Bitcoin's value will eventually rise even more in the upcoming years. If you have 0.001 Btc right now, and Bitcoin's price will increase to 2,000,000 Php at the end of 2018, then your 500 Php will turn to 2,000 Php without doing anything. (Refer to Btc ---> PhP Conversion above)

• By investing in Altcoins. As what I've mentioned earlier, you can use Bitcoin in order to buy other Cryptocurrencies or Altcoins. Just like how Stock Market works, you can buy and sell Altcoins on Bittrex.com or Poloniex.com.

I only highlighted two essential ways to earn using Bitcoin for you not to be overloaded with so much info.

What are the Advantages of Using Cryptocurrency?

• It is the future of Money. One day, almost all of us won't have to rely on cold cash while having Financial Transactions. Time will come, the physical stores will start accepting Bitcoin in exchange for the goods and services they offer. In fact, some are already doing this right now.

• It could be the answer in beating our Fiat Currency's inflation. If you let your money rot in the bank, it will just deplete in value over the years due to inflation. But if you convert it into a Cryptocurrency, there is a great chance to earn great amounts through price appreciation. As the time advances, Cryptocurrency's value also accelerates, just like what happened to Bitcoin. From less than a dollar on its first release in year 2009 to its current five-digit USD Price.

• It is highly accessible online. You need not to be far from home to do some financial transactions.

• It is not limited to the purpose of having Financial transactions alone. You can actually Trade it just like what you do to Stock Market Exchanges.

• Cryptocurrencies are very volatile. You can use this as an advantage to Buy Low and Sell High.

How about its Disadvantages?

• Unlike our fiat currencies which are backed up by existing commodity like Gold and Silver, Bitcoin's origin is still vague to most of us. Because it is decentralized (No Governments involved), no one is taking responsibility over it. In fact, its creator under an Alias Satoshi Nakamoto haven't disclosed anything about his real identity yet.

• If you are after Cryptocurrency Trading, you can lose all of your Money over it if you fail to incorporate effective Trading Strategies

• If you aren't careful enough, you could lose your online wallet accounts through Phishing Sites. Welcome to the world of opportunity-seekers.

• Cryptocurrency is too risky especially for Beginners. If you think buying Bitcoin or Altcoins will make you a Millionare by just investing 500 Pesos on it, _You are wrong. _ There is so much more to Cryptocurrency than meets the eye. If you're a very emotional person, Cryptocurrency may not be suitable for you especially if you are after Cryptocurrency Trading.

• Cryptocurrencies are very volatile. You can see it increase 100% today, and expect a 200% decrease the next day. Huge increase could be overwhelming, huge decrease could be suicidal. Forgive me for using such word, but it is just the real deal. Incorporating your emotions can be fatal in Cryptocurrency

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To summarize:

• Cryptocurrency is a form of virtual exchange without relying on Centralized entities such as banks and governments.

• Bitcoin and Altcoins are all forms of Cryptocurrency.

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Photo Sources:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Admit it or not, we also have undergone the same difficulties in understanding Bitcoin when we first encountered it. Some of us here on Steemit may not even have a full grasp of Cryptocurrency yet. So if you find this article helpful, please spread it to your friends, families, and colleagues. Help me spread the Cryptocurrency Awareness.

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_{This blog post's aim is solely to discuss the idea of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in a layman's point of view. Signing up to Coins.ph, Bittrex, or Poloniex is entirely up to you.}

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_{Because I strongly believe you should never invest in something you do not know, I am taking this initiative to help you simplify the complexity of Cryptocurrency as a whole. That's what Engineers do. We simplify.}

_{If there's something you wish to know about Cryptocurrency, you can comment directly on this post or message me on my Facebook account. It would be a pleasure to answer your queries in my future blog posts.}

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Tip: Steemit.com is a Virtual Platform which aims to reward bloggers in the form of Cryptocurrency (Steem and Steem Dollars)

If you're an aspiring blogger, Steemit is a great venue to share your talents and thoughts in a very rewarding approach.

Nope, Steemit is not limited to Cryptocurrency topics alone. You can write anything you want, may it be about that mole in your upper lips, that poem about your unrequitted love, or even that cockroach you've been slapping a while ago.

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For more interesting topics about Cryptocurrency, Finances, and Arts, Follow me, @smaeunabs

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