Nowadays, the cryptocurrency market tends to get more and more attention from the grand public. And the Bitcoin cryptocurrency was helpful with the all-time high price achieved in this 2021 year beginning. Many crypto enthusiasts claim that this is only the inception of Bitcoin, and in a few years we will have all-time highs between $100,000 to $400,000. This sounds great, maybe it is a little bit optimistic, but I hope they will be right.
This blog post will be a learning article about cryptocurrency. And I hope to reach out to everyone to see what a brilliant innovation Satoshi Nakamoto created. Therefore, let’s start with the basics.
What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital money, which does not exist in a physical form. Crypto-coins are created from code using an encrypted string of data blocks.
Cryptocurrency is the next step in the financial evolution. And is an innovation that will bring financial freedom to the global population.
The cryptocurrency transactions are made peer-to-peer, person-to-person. No centralized third parties are involved in these transactions.
Consider that a very long time ago, the people used rocks, seashells, beads, salt as money to make payments.
Nowadays, we use paper as money, which is not very different from how our ancestors tend to do business back then. We didn’t progress very far away since their time. The only thing different these days is that papers are controlled by different centralized institutions. Not a great improvement!
This, until 2008 when a brilliant person, or group of persons, still nobody knows for sure! When under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, developed the source code for Bitcoin.
Back then, nobody knew the possibilities of what Satoshi Nakamoto created. Only a few cryptographic enthusiasts, which saw the potential in the Bitcoin source code.
Many of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency holders, lost or threw away their hardware devices on which they have Bitcoins because they did not realize what a valuable asset is going to be in the future. Above all, in 2010, a person paid 10.000 Bitcoins for two pizzas. Imagine that now! But, let’s take it this way, the man helped the Bitcoin network grow, being the first physical product paid in crypto.
You can even follow a twitter account to see everyday prices for Bitcoin Pizza.
Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that started the evolution or the revolution against paper money.
Live Bitcoin cryptocurrency price
| Name | Price | 24H (%) |
|---|---|---|
Bitcoin
(BTC)
| $27,431.00
| 1.35% |
Yes, today, we can also transfer our valuable papers in electronic ways. But only with the help of a centralized institution and by paying significant amounts of fees. For some people might not be so significant, but for many people of the world, continues to be.
So, what is a cryptocurrency? As I see it, cryptocurrency is the next step in human financial evolution.
A time before Bitcoin’s source code
Cryptography existed before Bitcoin’s Blockchain went live in January 2009. The components of a blockchain were developed many years before this. Also, the components are:
- Public-key cryptography;
- Distributed databases;
- Open databases;
- Tokens;
- Proof of work.
What Satoshi Nakamoto did by developing the Bitcoin blockchain, is that all of these components were combined. The combination was made in a creative and intelligent way, to bring the first possibly sovereign computer platform. Therefore, a blockchain only obeys its own rules and no other third party can impose its rules on the network.
In other words, the blockchain is a decentralized network, that can not be controlled by any person, institution, or government, being distributed on worldwide computers.
How do cryptocurrencies work?
Cryptocurrencies run on a blockchain, which expands to many worldwide internet-connected computers to manage and record crypto transactions. The devices connected to the blockchain solve mathematical problems, and by doing so, new blocks are added to the network.
In the Proof of Work blockchains case, for example, Bitcoin, the users are called miners. Which gain rewards in Bitcoin by supporting the network. Validating the transactions and adding the newly produced blocks.
There is also Proof of Stake blockchains, which are more environmentally friendly, and easier to use. Proof of Stake consensus uses less energy to work.
Generally, cryptocurrencies are not issued by any government or bank institution. They are mined or minted with the help of computers when adding the produced blocks to the blockchain.
Live top 10 crypto-assets by market cap
| Name | Price | 24H (%) |
|---|---|---|
EvidenZ
(BCDT)
| $0.122918
| -4.28% |
B-cube.ai
(BCUBE)
| $0.183336
| -4.61% |
Shard Coin
(SHARD)
| $0.216756
| -21.17% |
Finance Vote
(FVT)
| $0.007875
| -2.41% |
YAM v2
(YAMV2)
| $4.70
| -1.41% |
Value DeFi
(VALUE)
| $0.55
| 4.96% |
PolkaBridge
(PBR)
| $0.439876
| -7.02% |
Adventure Token
(TWA)
| $0.037877
| 0.00% |
Cornichon
(CORN)
| $0.073096
| -0.86% |
B20
(B20)
| $0.450792
| 5.62% |
Cryptocurrency market
In the early years of Bitcoin’s inception, other cryptocurrencies were developed and surfaced on the crypto market, which are called Altcoins. As an alternative for Bitcoin.
In 2011 the Litecoin network went live, which is a fork of Bitcoin, with a faster block genesis and a bigger number of coins produced. Litecoin went into the top 5 crypto coins by the year 2017 and still remains in the top marketplace by its capital.
The total coins that the Bitcoin blockchain will create are 21.000.000, and the last Satoshi, which is the smallest part of a Bitcoin, will be created sometime in the year 2140. Litecoin network, on the other hand, will create 84.000.000 coins.
Litecoin live price
| Name | Price | 24H (%) |
|---|---|---|
Litecoin
(LTC)
| $89.92
| 3.22% |
Also, the first fork of Bitcoin, as well in the year 2011 was the cryptocurrency called Namecoin, which now is in the top 500 by market cap.
Today, the number of cryptocurrencies on the market is continuously growing. At the time I was writing this article, according to CoinMarketCap, a crypto research website, there are over 8300 cryptocurrencies.
Also according to CoinMarketCap, the total capital of the cryptocurrency market is above $900 billion, with a daily trading volume of nearly $150 billion. And Bitcoin dominates the crypto market in a percentage of over 62%.
Cryptocurrencies as an investment
Cryptocurrencies prices are highly unpredictable, but many people become rich after investing in crypto, especially with Bitcoin. By trading, mining, staking, or simply buying and keeping them until the price goes to the moon.
The crypto coin prices are given by market demand, the cryptocurrency buyers. Therefore, if there is no interest in buying a crypto coin and the sellers want to get rid of it, the price will drop in value.
Before investing in this plenitude of cryptocurrencies, always do your research. Read the whitepaper of the project, find out about the team behind it, what is there to offer with its development. Also, very important if there are any interested people to buy that coin.
Many traders use cryptocurrencies to speculate their prices. They buy low and sell at higher prices to gain some money, as a short term buying and selling.
For traders who need a fast trading experience, trading bots are a top choice. To trade fast on the go, and not missing an opportunity to gain some money from trading.
An article with the best trading bots will come shortly. Therefore, subscribe to CryptoFiveo blog to stay updated.
How to stay protected with cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are safeguarded by cryptography, complex cryptographic techniques. This making them practically impossible to counterfeit or double spend.
The database of a blockchain is distributed and maintained on every worldwide computer. Therefore, every transaction made in crypto is securely stored, validated, and approved on every device. As a result, it is impossible to counterfeit the database on all these computers.
Every cryptocurrency comes with two things. Firstly, a public address which is the crypto-coins wallet address, and any person can send you cryptocurrencies to this address. Secondly, you will get the wallet’s private keys, with which you will be able to manage the crypto-assets from that specific crypto-wallet.
Keep your private keys most securely. No private keys, no access to your crypto-assets.
A digital asset is a new form of money, and not many people understand how they work, especially newcomers in the cryptocurrency market.
They don’t work like regular currencies where you can call the bank for a forgotten password. If you lose your private keys, you will no longer be able to manage your funds from that crypto wallet.
As well, if somebody knows your private keys they can send your crypto-assets from your wallet. Therefore, it is very important to keep your private keys in the safest way possible.
The best method in securing your digital assets is to keep them in a hardware wallet, away from the internet connection. As a result, hackers will not be able to steal your private keys.
Scammers
Be very aware of scammers. There are so many in the crypto-world. They will promise enormous gains in crypto. And in exchange, they will ask you to pay them upfront or to manage your funds in your name. As well, they will ask you for your private keys. Therefore, stay safe! The private keys are private, and only you should know them and keep them safe.
There are also a lot of scamming platforms working on the same principles. With promises for their users, to make big amounts of money out of anything. In the end, they will ask you to pay some fees to access your gains. It is a scam, don’t waste your time and money.
Do your research of every platform you tend to invest in. As in the real world, the crypto-world is full of scamming methods.
As a crypto beginner, I also got scammed a couple of times. Especially with platforms. Therefore, on the CryptoFiveo website, you will find only trusted platforms from the crypto-world.
As long, as I am in cryptocurrency, I tend to guide myself by these strong words. “What sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.
Keep in mind that without work, nobody can make money. In the cryptocurrency case, it may be just some good research, to stay protected.
Where and how to buy cryptocurrencies?
There are multiple crypto platforms where you can easily buy, sell, and start trading crypto-assets.
Coinmama is a world-leading crypto platform since 2013. Where you can easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies with a credit card, debit card, bank account, or Apple Pay.
Buy, earn and trade with the world-leading trading platform, Binance. On Binance, you can buy cryptocurrencies with a credit card in multiple currencies. Also, Binance offers different earning methods, for example, staking pools and trading.
Another platform where you can easily buy cryptocurrencies is Changelly. The platform is relatively new on the market but trusted by many people, and offers a good user experience. The buy orders are made with a credit card with no custodial funds. Meaning that you buy using Changelly, and your funds are sent to your desired crypto-wallet.
Also, when you set the buy order, Changelly connects to multiple trading platforms to deliver the best price for that crypto-coin.
Binance and Changelly platforms also have mobile apps, supporting both IOS and Android.
Final thoughts
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is the best innovation since the internet went live. I am a huge supporter and I want that this technology to succeed and bring as many people to the crypto-world. To see what a brilliant innovation, Satoshi Nakamoto started.
Be aware of scammers! Stay safe and protected. Do your research before investing.
CryptoFiveo disclaimer
This article is intended for informational purposes only. Therefore, the views expressed in this document are not, and should not, be construed as investment advice or recommendations. Readers of this document should do their own research, taking into account their specific financial circumstances. Also, the investment objectives and risk tolerance before investing. This document is not an offer, nor the solicitation of an offer, to invest, buy or sell any of the assets mentioned herein.
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