Today I will be talking about something similar to Gold or "Digital Gold" - Cryptocurrency.
So... What is a cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology - Investopedia
Cryptocurrency is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies leverage blockchain technology to gain decentralization, transparency, and immutability. - Blockgeeks
Here are the keywords:
1. Digital/ virtual currency
The concept and implementation of digital currency began in the 1990s, with Flooz, Beenz, Digicash. The transactions were not peer-to-peer (P2P), stored in a centralised data-based. They did not receive the same exposure and success as cryptocurrencies.
2. Cryptographical functions
Cryptography means to take in a set of values, run them through a set of algorithms to produce something that does not look at the original input. Being encrypted would mean that the data would be "protected"
3. Decentralised
As cryptocurrencies' transactions are stored and recorded by each user, there is no central authority that stores it. Furthermore, some of the currencies like bitcoin has a fixed supply (21 million), hence, this property would be similar to precious metals like Gold. Hence, it is not affected by the monetary policies of financial institutions.
So... what is a cryptocurrency?
Erm... Effectively, think of it as online Gold, where it is almost impossible for people to hack into the database. All the transactions are recorded by other computers.
How does it work?
Edit (My friend who was a lot more knowledgeable helped me with this):
Imagine someone wants to send a sum of money to his friend (can be a merchant as well). He will first have to create a "wallet"(also used as an address), which is essentially a private key public key pair (private key creates public key) He would use his private key to sign the "transaction" and send it together with the public key. Upon sending, this "transaction" will be broadcasted to the network and be recorded by all the nodes (miners) in the network.
Edit (My friend who was a lot more knowledgeable helped me with this):
After that, miners (essentially solving an incrementally computational-intensive puzzle. The first miner to solve it first will get to chain the block to the existing chain and earn the reward ) would confirm the transaction (by order of transaction fees) and add them to a block* in the network which is broadcasted to the entire network. This would then be a part of the blockchain. (Essentially, the blockchain is a series of blocks containing transactions linked together by the hash of the parent block )
So.. What is a miner?
I do not fully understand this. Let me try to explain the concept to the best of my abilities. A miner's job is to find a hash, something generated from the cryptographic process which connects the new block to the previous block. Upon finding it, he confirms the transaction, adding it to the blockchain and he receives a set amount of it. This is a finance blog. So I shall focus on the financial aspects.
Here are some of the interesting statistics that I discovered:
1. In Dec 2019, the Market Cap of all Cryptocurrencies was $237.1 billion. (In 2013, it was 10.62 billion)
2. Bitcoin (The first cryptocurrency) accounts for $6 billion of the daily transaction (VISA has $30.3 billion, MasterCard has $16.2 billion, Amex has $3.2 billion)
Advantages of Cryptocurrencies:
1. Security and privacy (Blockchains cannot be hacked)
2. Low transaction fees
3. Portability (compared to physical precious metals)
4. An increasing rate of adoption
5. Not subjected to monetary policies changes (Unlike other physical currencies)
6. A high rate of returns
Disadvantages of Cryptocurrencies:
1. Some countries have outlawed cryptocurrencies (Due to the potential of illegal transactions like terrorist fundings or money laundering)
2. Volatility (This is unlike Gold, which has a relatively stable price)
3. You lose everything if you lose your private key
4. Speculative, blockchain's values are not determined yet.
How to choose a cryptocurrency to invest in:
1. Your risk appetite - Do you want to invest in one that is new or relatively more established?
2. Future outlook of the currency - Do you see the wide adoption of that particular cryptocurrency?
3. USP of the currency - What sets that particular currency apart from other cryptocurrencies?
4. Are you willing to lose that money?
Thoughts and comments:
As cryptocurrencies by itself are like Gold. Its price is speculative in nature. It is unlike stocks of companies that bring values to the market. Furthermore, its volatility is not suitable for my fragile heart. If I have additional cash on hands in the future, a portion of it would be inside as part of my "gamble" hopefully it will pay off.
Do your own research before buying any products.
With that,
Stay vested, stay frugal my friends,
Dionysius
Sources:
Nicholas Chia
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/
https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-for-beginners/what-are-cryptocurrencies
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency.asp
https://leftronic.com/cryptocurrency-statistics/
https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik
http://www.onlinewebfonts.com/icon
http://www.onlinewebfonts.com/icon
https://www.statista.com/statistics/647374/worldwide-blockchain-wallet-users/
http://www.onlinewebfonts.com/icon
https://www.coinwarz.com/mining/bitcoin/difficulty-chart
0 comments:
Post a Comment