Cryptocurrency investments : You Might Want To Think About It Before Embracing Cryptocurrencies

Yes, I know you have probably read up all the good stuff about Cryptocurrency from the internet. Why it is the new money, why everyone wants to have a coin or the other. Why some have decided to create their own coins. The numerous advantages attached to it and the list is so endless we cannot exhaust.

But have you ever stop to think about the numerous disadvantages that might be attached to it?

Here are things you might want to think about before deciding to venture into cryptocurrency:

Advantages / pros

1.       No fraud: it is almost next to impossible to have your coin back after it has been transferred.

2.       It is quite secure as it allows users to be in control of their transactions, payments which reduces the existence of fraud also. The use of Military grade cryptography gives users this advantage.

3.       Fast Payment: you can easily make payments or transfers without having to use your credit card or go to the bank

4.        You can make payment without using your credit card or sign any document. You just need to know the wallet address of person or organization to whom you want to transfer money, payment transfer processing is very fast and can affect in a matter of seconds.

5.       No Information is hidden. With the use of the block chain, all transactions can be viewed.Still your personal information is not attached to it. Bitcoin protocol cannot be manipulated by any person, organization or government. This is due to Bitcoin being cryptographically secure

Disadvantages / cons

1)      You do not know about it? Then you may be making a big mistake.

You might have been hearing about “Bitcoin” and probably still do not know what it is about. Being educated about digital currencies is very important before its application. Of what benefit will digital currencies be to you without a good knowledge of it. There is a whole lot of information to garner concerning cryptocurrency. Carry out your research before deciding, still the decision is up to you.

2)      Irreversible mode of payment:

Because digital currencies are not answerable to any bank or government, i.e. there is no central point that controls the process of payment and transfer, if you transfer to the wrong person by mistake, there is no guarantee you would get it back. Except in cases where you ask the person for a refund in which it is then granted. Once a payment is sent, it cannot be reversed.

3)      Do you know how risky it is?

Recently the price of a BTC has shot up so high that a particular price cannot be specified.it is expected that as digital currencies advances, its volatility in terms of price (increase or decrease) will advance. Bitcoin is quite volatile also in cases of its amount as the demand for coins increase daily which has resulted in an increase in the price.

4)       Can I get it back if lost?

If you stored your digital currencies in your system or mobile and it probably gets stolen or you lose it, there is definitely no way you are getting it back. However, there are other methods you can apply in keeping your currencies safe.

Whatever decision you are likely to take next depends on you and your ability to take risks. But whatever it happens to be the decision, we are here to deliver the best information you can ever get.

Cryptocurrencies and bitcoin - all you need to know

The new face of Money, Cryptocurrency.

The year 2009 was the beginning of it all; the era of Cryptocurrency. When the first coin was announced, it seemed like it was nothing nobody wanted to get involved with. I mean, why would anyone need a coin? And for what purpose? They would have asked. But ever since the use of Bitcoin became pronounced, there has been a creation of numerous cryptocurrencies. As of September 2017, over a thousand cryptocurrency specifications has been created.

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital assest designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency)

For the purpose of understanding what crypto currency really is, here are some few important terms and pointers you need to know.

1.   Altcoin:

this is a collective name given to other coins that are not Bitcoin. There are over 700 cryptocurrencies which include Golem, Monero, Etherum, Ripple, Reddcoin and many others

2.      BTC:  

A unit equivalent to one Bitcoin.

3.      Bitcoin:  

Bitcoin is a digital payment system (you can also see it a digital currency) operating independently of a central bank or government. Although it is not an official form of money, it is easily tradable and used for online transactions. However, it is the first decentralized cryptocurrency introduced on the third of January in the year 2009.

4.      Blockchain: or block chain,

(developed specially for Bitcoin) is a list of records, ledger books which acts a storage to transactions. It is in chronological order i.e. relating to or arranged according to temporal order, which is easy to navigate transactions if the need be.

5.      Cryptography:

The process of using codes to decrypt or encrypt sensitive data and information.

6.      Double Spending:

This is a fraudulent act of spending the same Bitcoin more than once.

7.      Fork:

This results from the process of updating a new software causing a spilt in the version of the cryptocurrency.

8.      Wallet:

This is a software / program that allows you to store, save and spend your coins. There are basically four types of wallets:

a.      Mobile Wallet:

These are applications you can have installed on your phones, tablets or computers. They usually include QR CODE scanning and phone-to-phone transfers for on-the-go transactions.

b.      Software Wallet.

These are programs you load onto your desktop or laptop computer.

c.       Paper Wallet: These are hard copies of your currencies, usually in forms of QR codes, which allows you to keep your currencies in hard copies.

d.      Web Wallet: These are usually gotten through exchanges, and stored on third-party servers via cloud computing. They can be accessed by any computing device.

e.       Brain Wallet

9.      Mining: is a process of adding and verifying of transactions records in the ledger books known as the block chain. It is an important part of the cryptocurrency not only because it verifies transactions but also creates new cryptocurrencies.

10.  Minting: The process of making new coins as a reward for verifying transactions in a block.

11.  Miners: they verify transactions and create new coins. Principally anybody can be a miner. A miner builds a block and adds it to the blockchain. As a form of incentive, a miner gets Bitcoins after solving a cryptographic puzzle.

12.  Node: A node is a computer connected to the Bitcoin network. It performs the function of validating and relaying of transactions.

13.  Virgin Bitcoin: This has never been spent before and is received by a miner as a block reward.

  

How cryptocurrency works

Is Cryptocurrency in the Future?

A year ago was when I started hearing about Cryptocurrency. I had no inkling of what it was. Cryptocurrency was associated with “Yahoo Yahoo”, “yahoo gamblers money” and it had a bad ring to it. That was what everybody around me knew about it, who knew there was anything like data currency?

Most people never thought about the possibility of buying stuff with crypto. The thought of there ever being a time when we would transact stuff with data coin, i bet never crossed anybody’s mind. Up till now, i would bet my last kobo in my account that most people who knew about cryptocurrency do not know how much cryptocurrencies there are..Cryptocurrency is here, but then, is it in the future?

So what is really cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.

Cryptocurrency is constantly on the rise

with the rise of information associated with it. Many individuals and startups are constantly associating themselves with it sometimes, more often than banks do and the future of Cryptocurrency depends on how fast our financial institutions and our government allow themselves realize opportunities aligned with cryptocurrency.

Cryptos are safer than our traditional currencies

One of the reasons why cryptos are incredibly popular, is the fact that they are safer than our traditional currencies. They are stored in digital wallets and the transactions are pseudonymous which reduces the possibility of counterfeits, because of the code system that encrypts each transfer, and ensure complete safety to every user. The wave is heated and most people would only but indulge in this data currency, which keep bringing it on the increase.

Cryptocurrency is decentralized

Another reason is that cryptocurrency is decentralized. Inflation is impossible because there is no government to print more of it. As time goes on, cryptocurrency decreases with huge demand of it. Cryptocurrency settles transaction in the blockchain and are generated through a process called mining.

Satoshi and David Chaum

David Chaum’s Blinding formula is the foundation on which all types of modern cryptocurrency rests upon. U 2008 with the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto who invented what we know as bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto could be a ‘she’, or a ‘he’ or a ‘they.’ For all we know, Satoshi is a pseudonym for one of the biggest ideas in crypto technology. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as an open source software, and slowly, it made steady progress as more people began to know more about it. It provided many financial opportunities for people in countries with fluctuating currencies to protect their wealth and it gives people the charge to be their own financial institutions. Since bitcoin is decentralized, its flow completely follows the rules of the free market. Because of this, there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins to keep the value of bitcoin intact. Then, there is altcoin; an abbreviation for bitcoin’s alternative. Altcoin is where all other cryptocurrency fall into. At least they hope to replace every bit of bitcoin’s component. Ethereum, litecoin, Zdash, Next, QORA, and others.

Is cryptocurrency on the rise?

Cryptocurrency is covering grounds and is gaining significance with the increase of new coins in the market. Bitcoin is already here to stay because top-notch companies are based on digital platforms and some of our educational institutions are already hosting classes on bitcoin as part of their curriculum. Some companies are already considering investing genuinely in bitcoin which begs the question of how long it will take before other crypto that are not built on what bitcoin stands for begins to fall. Eight years ago, bitcoin was bornborne, and we are still counting. It is too soon to tell what will happen after 2017

What is cryptocurrency and how does it work?

Cryptocurrency is digital currency. It is a medium of exchange which is designed specially for digital information and which is made possible through cryptography. This is where “Cryptocurrency” got its name from - crypto - “concealed” “secret.”  

There are people who believe that cryptocurrency will take over our normal currency and replace it with one currency - Data currency. If these people are right about this, only time will tell. But there is a fact about Cryptocurrency…  It is here to stay.

Cryptocurrency did not start with bitcoin. Infact, long before bitcoin, there have been digital currencies. But these digital currencies, in one way or the other were all short lived. For example, Digicash. Digicash was founded in 1983, 25 years before bitcoin, by an American cryptographer, David Chaum, who believed that in order to do safe commerce, we would need a token money that will emulate physical coins and paper notes. He eventually invented the blinding formula, an extension of the RSA algorithm. It was called the blinding formula because his Digicash required user software in order to withdraw notes from the bank and designate specific encrypted keys before it could be sent to a recipient. However, he fell out when Digicash ran out of money.

Then, the second wave hit, which was the noise on web based money. Virtual, and then, PayPal, and e-Gold.

Satoshi Nakamoto wrote, on releasing the code:> You know, I think there are a lot more people interested in the 90’s,> but after more than a decade of failed Trusted Third Party based systems> (Digicash, etc), they see it as a lost cause. I hope they can make the > distinction that this is the first time i know of what we’re trying a> non-trust-based system.”

Bitcoin is history’s result. Nakamoto may have been the mother of Bitcoin, but it is a child of many fathers...

FACTS ON CRYPTOCURRENCY

1. Cryptocurrencies are not normal currencies
2. Cryptocurrencies are data currencies.
3. Cryptocurrencies uses a branch of math called public key cryptography
4. There is no official sanction on cryptography
5. Cryptocurrency is better than normal currency because the need to move money from place to place and the cost to do it can be bothersome.
6. There are over 900 number of Cryptocurrency available on the internet and still counting.
7. 99% of Cryptocurrencies are scams.
8. Bitcoin is leading in the blockchain network with its value at $5.653 for 1btc