Bitcoin, Etherium, CryptoCurrency – Oh My!
– By James McFadden –
If you’re like me, you’ve probably stayed far away from the cryptocurrency market, currencies that are often referred to as ‘coins’. For many of us ol’ timmers, it’s a foreign concept that sounds like a scam straight out of the early days of the internet.
Well, as someone who has spent the last few months investigating this ‘ecosystem’ I’m here to tell you, it’s way more complicated than you could ever imagine, but it’s also way more relevant than you might want to believe. The most troublesome aspect of cryptocurrencies is the overwhelming and often daunting barriers to entry but that’s something I’ll cover in another article.
As I have begun this journey to understand and access this new world of finance, I’m left struggling to even know where to begin with this and future articles. So, for the sake of time, sanity, and urgency, I’ll try and do my best to get this conversation started; because it’s a conversation you and your loved ones are going to want to start having. After all, it’s going to be a huge part of the future with or without us…
So, without spending too much time on the history of crypto, there’s already plenty of information out there, we’ll talk a little ‘bit’ about Bitcoin; pun intended. When most of us first started hearing about cryptocurrencies, the term ‘bitcoin’ was the elephant in the room.
According to Wikipedia, Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.
You can think of a ‘coin’ as individual blocks of an encrypted algorithm which are linked together in what’s commonly referred to as a ‘chain’. This chain or sequence of blocks is tracked, cataloged, and managed through a series of digital contracts. For now, that’s as far down the rabbit hole I’m interested in going but I’ll dig into this a little more as we move forward.
What’s important to understand and know right now, is that this ‘cryptocurrency’ ecosystem is real, it’s valid, and for the most part, it’s the most secure financial ecosystem on the planet as long as no one ever turns the lights or internet off. This is precisely why governments and political parties are so concerned. It’s something they have very little control over and we all know, control is what politics is all about.
Here’s where it gets interesting though. While there are many cryptocurrencies out there that are dependent on their blockchain alone, the ownership of investors, or the scarcity of each currency to establish value, what drew me in was learning how many, if not most cryptocurrencies today, are actually tied to real companies, products, and services. Many of which are trying to solve real-world problems.
That being said, today’s cryptocurrency market is becoming more and more relevant as each day passes us by.
Today, the crypto market runs just like our traditional stock market, only it’s a global market so it never closes at the end of the day and it never takes the weekend off which in and of itself can be exhausting for new investors who are looking to participate in this market.
When I say it runs just like our traditional stock market, I mean that in every aspect. It’s incredible, to say the least, and it has become an exciting part of my life which is why I decided to start sharing my thoughts on this subject with you.
So, for now, I think that’s where I’ll leave things. Something to get the conversation started and something to get you thinking. If you find yourself interested, I’m going to make this an ongoing column. In my next column, we’ll take a deeper look at the actual market that drives cryptocurrencies, complete with emerging markets, IDO’s (much like an IPO), and the opportunities that are out there for long-term, real-world, wealth-building investments. Who knows, maybe we’ll talk about the next Netflix and how you can get in on the ground floor!
Cheers!
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