Flexion Token – The Great Vision

In 2008, after the financial crisis, an article titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was published detailing the concepts of a payment system. Bitcoin was born. Bitcoin caught the world’s attention with its use of blockchain technology and as an alternative to fiat currencies and commodities. Dubbed the next best technology after the Internet, blockchain offers solutions to problems that we have failed to address or neglected over the past few decades. I won’t go into the technical side of this, but here are some articles and videos I recommend:

How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood

A gentle introduction to blockchain technology

Have you ever wondered how Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) actually work?

Fast forward to today, February 5th to be exact, authorities in China have just unveiled a new set of regulations to ban cryptocurrency. The Chinese government already did it last year, but many have bypassed through foreign exchanges. It has now enlisted the all-powerful “Great Firewall of China” to block access to foreign exchanges in an attempt to prevent its citizens from transacting with cryptocurrency.

To learn more about the Chinese government’s position, let’s go back a few years to 2013, when Bitcoin was gaining popularity among Chinese citizens and prices were skyrocketing. Concerned about price volatility and speculation, the People’s Bank of China and five other government ministries published an official notice in December 2013 titled “Bitcoin Financial Risk Prevention Notice” (link is in Mandarin). Several points were highlighted:

1. Due to various factors such as limited supply, anonymity and lack of a centralized issuer, Bitcoin is not an official currency but a virtual commodity that cannot be used in the open market.

2. All banks and financial organizations are not permitted to offer Bitcoin-related financial services or engage in Bitcoin-related commercial activity.

3. All companies and websites that offer Bitcoin-related services must register with the necessary government ministries.

4. Due to the anonymity and cross-border characteristics of Bitcoin, organizations providing Bitcoin-related services must implement preventive measures such as KYC to prevent money laundering. Any suspicious activity, including fraud, gambling and money laundering, should be reported to the authorities.

5. Organizations providing Bitcoin-related services must educate the public about Bitcoin and the technology behind it and not mislead the public with misinformation.

In layman’s terms, Bitcoin is categorized as a virtual commodity (eg in-game credits) that can be bought or sold in its original form and must not be exchanged for fiat currency. It cannot be defined as money – something that serves as a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

Although the notice is from 2013, it is still relevant in terms of the Chinese government’s stance on Bitcoin, and as mentioned, there is no indication of a ban on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Rather, regulation and education about Bitcoin and blockchain will play a role in China’s crypto market.

A similar notice was issued in January 2017, reiterating that Bitcoin is a virtual commodity and not a currency. In September 2017, the initial coin offering (ICO) boom led to the publication of a separate notice entitled “Notice to Prevent Financial Risk from Issued Tokens”. Soon after, ICOs were banned and Chinese exchanges were investigated and eventually shut down. (Hindsight is 20/20, they made the right decision to ban ICOs and stop mindless gambling). Another blow was dealt to the cryptocurrency community in China in January 2018 when mining operations faced severe crackdowns citing excessive electricity consumption.

While there is no official explanation for the cryptocurrency crackdown, capital controls, illegal activities, and protecting citizens from financial risk are some of the main reasons cited by experts. Indeed, Chinese regulators have introduced tighter controls, such as a cap on overseas withdrawals and regulation of foreign direct investment, to curb capital flight and secure domestic investment. The anonymity and ease of cross-border transactions have also made cryptocurrency a favorite vehicle for money laundering and fraudulent activities.

Since 2011, China has played a crucial role in Bitcoin’s meteoric rise and fall. At its peak, China accounted for over 95% of global bitcoin trading volume and three-quarters of mining operations. With regulators stepping in to control trade and mining operations, China’s dominance has shrunk significantly in exchange for stability.

With countries like Korea and India following suit in cracking down, a shadow has now been cast over the future of cryptocurrency. (I’ll repeat my point here: countries regulate cryptocurrency, not ban it). We will no doubt see more nations joining in the coming months to tame the tumultuous crypto market. Indeed, some order was long overdue. Over the past year, cryptocurrencies have experienced unheard of price volatility and ICOs happen literally every other day. In 2017, total market capitalization rose from $18 billion in January to an all-time high of $828 billion.

However, the Chinese community is in surprisingly good spirits despite the crackdown. Online and offline communities are thriving (I personally attended quite a few events and visited some of the firms) and blockchain startups are popping up all over China.

Major blockchain firms such as NEO, QTUM and VeChain are attracting huge attention in the country. Startups like Nebulas, High Performance Blockchain (HPB) and Bibox are also gaining quite a bit of traction. Even giants like Alibaba and Tencent are also exploring the possibilities of blockchain to improve their platform. The list goes on and on, but you get my point; it will be HUGIE!

The Chinese government is also embracing blockchain technology and has stepped up efforts to support the creation of a blockchain ecosystem in recent years.

In China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), it calls for the development of promising technologies, including blockchain and artificial intelligence. It also plans to boost research on the application of fintech in regulation, cloud computing and big data. Even the People’s Bank of China is also testing a prototype blockchain-based digital currency; however, as it will likely be a centralized digital currency equipped with some encryption technology, its acceptance by Chinese citizens remains to be seen.

The launch of the Trusted Blockchain Open Lab as well as the China Blockchain Technology and Industry Development Forum by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are some of the other initiatives by the Chinese government to support blockchain development in China.

A recent report titled “China Blockchain Development Report 2018” (English version in the link) by the China Blockchain Research Center details the development of China’s blockchain industry in 2017, including the various measures taken to regulate cryptocurrency in the mainland . In a separate section, the report highlighted the optimistic outlook of the blockchain industry and the huge attention it received from venture capital firms and the Chinese government in 2017.

In summary, the Chinese government has shown a positive attitude towards blockchain technology despite its enforcement of cryptocurrency and mining. China wants to control cryptocurrency and China will get control. Repeated measures by regulators aimed to protect their citizens from the financial risk of cryptocurrencies and limit capital flight. Currently, it is legal for Chinese citizens to hold cryptocurrencies, but they are not allowed to make any form of transaction; hence the ban on exchanges. As the market stabilizes in the coming months (or years), we will undoubtedly see a revival in the Chinese crypto market. Blockchain and cryptocurrency come hand in hand (except in the private chain where the token is not needed). Because of this, countries cannot ban cryptocurrency without banning blockchain, the great technology!

One thing we can all agree on is that blockchain is still in its infancy. There are many exciting developments ahead, and right now is definitely the best time to lay the foundations for a blockchain-enabled world.

Last but not least, HODL!

I have been closely watching the performance of cryptocurrencies for some time to get a feel for where the market is headed. The routine that my elementary school teacher taught me – when you wake up, pray, brush your teeth and eat breakfast has shifted a bit to waking up, praying and then going online (starting with coinmarketcap) just to know which cryptos assets are in the red.

The start of 2018 has not been great for altcoins and related assets. Their performance was crippled by bankers’ frequent opinions that the crypto bubble was about to burst. However, ardent followers of cryptocurrency are still HODLing and frankly, they are reaping big profits.

Bitcoin recently bounced back to almost $5,000; Bitcoin Cash approached $500, while Ethereum found peace at $300. Virtually every coin was struck except for the newcomers who were still in the excitement stage. As of this writing, Bitcoin is back on track and trading at $8,900. Many other cryptocurrencies have doubled since the start of the uptrend, and the market cap is $400 billion from a recent peak of $250 billion.

If you are slowly warming up to cryptocurrencies and want to become a successful trader, the tips below will help you.

Practical tips on how to trade cryptocurrencies

• Start modestly

You’ve heard that cryptocurrency prices are skyrocketing. You’ve also probably gotten the news that this uptrend may not last long. Some skeptics, mostly respected bankers and economists, generally label them as get-rich-quick schemes with no solid foundation.

Such news can cause you to invest hastily and fail to apply moderation. A little analysis of market trends and currencies to invest in can guarantee you good returns. Whatever you do, don’t invest all of your hard earned money in these assets.

• Understand how stock markets work

I recently saw a friend of mine post a feed on Facebook about one of his friends who went on to trade a stock market that he had no idea how it worked. This is a dangerous move. Always review the site you intend to use before you sign up or at least before you start trading. If they provide a dummy account for you to play with, then take this opportunity to learn what the dashboard looks like.

• Don’t insist on trading everything

There are over 1400 cryptocurrencies to trade, but it is impossible to handle them all. Spreading your portfolio across a huge number of cryptocurrencies than you can effectively manage will reduce your profits. Just select a few of them, read more about them and how to get their trading signals.

• Stay sober

Cryptocurrencies are volatile. This is both their curse and their blessing. As a trader, you must understand that wild price fluctuations are inevitable. Not knowing when to make a move makes one an ineffective trader. Use hard data and other research methods to be sure when to execute a trade.

Successful traders participate in various online forums where cryptocurrency discussions are held regarding market trends and signals. Of course, your knowledge may be sufficient, but you must rely on other traders for more relevant data.

• Diversify meaningfully

Virtually everyone will tell you to expand your portfolio, but no one will remind you to work with real-world currencies. There are some crappy coins you can deal with for some quick cash, but the best cryptocurrencies to work with are the ones that solve existing problems. Real-world coins tend to be less volatile.

Don’t diversify too early or too late. And before you make a move to buy a crypto-asset, make sure you know its market capitalization, price changes, and daily trading volumes. Maintaining a healthy portfolio is the way to reap big profits from these digital assets.

Here’s a question that often comes up: How do I choose which cryptocurrency to invest in – aren’t they all the same?

There is no doubt that Bitcoin has captured the lion’s share of the cryptocurrency (CC) market, and this is largely due to its GLORY. This phenomenon is very similar to what happens in national politics around the world, where a candidate captures the majority of the vote based on GLORY rather than proven ability or qualifications to rule a nation. Bitcoin is the pioneer in this market space and continues to garner almost all the market headlines. This FAME doesn’t mean it’s perfect for the job, and it’s pretty well known that Bitcoin has limitations and issues that need to be addressed, but there is disagreement in the Bitcoin world about the best way to resolve the issues. As issues grow, there is a constant opportunity for developers to initiate new coins that address specific situations and thus differentiate themselves from the approximately 1,300 other coins in this market space. Let’s take a look at two Bitcoin rivals and how they differ from Bitcoin and from each other:

Ethereum (ETH) – The Ethereum coin is known as ETHER. The main difference from Bitcoin is that Ethereum uses “smart contracts”, which are entities to maintain accounts on the Ethereum blockchain. Smart contracts are defined by their creators and they can interact with other contracts, make decisions, store data and send ETHER to others. The performance and services they offer are provided by the Ethereum network, all of which is beyond what Bitcoin or any other blockchain network can do. Smart contracts can act as your autonomous agent, obeying your instructions and rules to spend currency and initiate other transactions on the Ethereum network.

Ripple (XRP) – This coin and the Ripple network also have unique features that make it much more than just a digital currency like Bitcoin. Ripple has developed the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP), a powerful financial tool that allows exchanges on the Ripple network to transfer funds quickly and efficiently. The basic idea is to put money into “ports” where only those who know the password can unlock the funds. For financial institutions, this opens up huge opportunities as it simplifies cross-border payments, reduces costs and provides transparency and security. All this is done with creative and intelligent use of blockchain technology.

The mainstream media covers this market with breaking news almost every day, but there is little depth to their stories… they are mostly just dramatic headlines.

The Wild West show continues…

The selected 5 crypto/blockchain stocks are up on average with 109% from December 11/17. The wild swings continue with daily gyrating movements. Yesterday, South Korea and China were the latest to try to bring down the cryptocurrency boom.

On Thursday, South Korea’s justice minister, Park Sang-ki, sent global bitcoin prices temporarily crashing and virtual coin markets into turmoil when he reportedly said regulators were preparing legislation to ban trading in the cryptocurrency. Later that day, South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance, one of the main member agencies of the South Korean government’s cryptocurrency regulatory task force, came out and said that their department he does not agree with the Department of Justice’s premature announcement of a potential ban on cryptocurrency trading.

While the South Korean government says that cryptocurrency trading is nothing more than gambling and worries that the industry will leave many citizens in the poor house, their real concern is the loss of tax revenue. This is the same concern that every government has.

China has become one of the largest sources of cryptocurrency mining in the world, but now the government is rumored to be trying to regulate the electricity used by mining computers. Over 80% of Bitcoin mining electricity today comes from China. By shutting down miners, the government will make it harder for Bitcoin users to verify transactions. Mining operations will move elsewhere, but China is particularly attractive because of very low electricity and land costs. If China follows through on this threat, there will be a temporary loss of mining capacity, resulting in Bitcoin users seeing longer timers and higher transaction verification costs.

This wild ride will continue and like the internet boom, we will see some big winners and eventually some big losers. Also, like the Internet boom or the uranium boom, it’s those who get in early who will prosper, while mainstream investors always show up at the end, buying at the top.

Stay on the line!

Introduction: To Invest in Cryptocurrencies

The first cryptocurrency to emerge was Bitcoin, which was built on Blockchain technology and was probably launched in 2009 by a mysterious person, Satoshi Nakamoto. At the time of writing this blog, 17 million bitcoins have been mined and it is estimated that a total of 21 million bitcoins can be mined. The other most popular cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Golem, Civic and hard forks of Bitcoin such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.

Users are advised not to put all their money into one cryptocurrency and try to avoid investing at the peak of the cryptocurrency bubble. It has been observed that the price suddenly dropped when it was at the top of the crypto bubble. Since cryptocurrency is a volatile market, users should invest the amount they can afford to lose as there is no government control over cryptocurrency as it is a decentralized cryptocurrency.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple predicted that Bitcoin is real gold and will dominate all currencies like USD, EUR, INR and ASD in the future and become the world currency in the coming years.

Why and why not invest in cryptocurrencies?

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to emerge and after that around 1600+ cryptocurrencies were launched with some unique features for each coin.

Some of the reasons I experienced and would like to share, cryptocurrencies are built on the decentralized platform – so users don’t require a third party to transfer cryptocurrency from one destination to another, unlike fiat currency where the user needs a platform like a bank to transferring money from one account to another. Cryptocurrency built on very safe blockchain technology and almost zero chance of hacking and stealing your cryptocurrencies as long as you don’t share your important information.

You should always avoid buying cryptocurrencies at the highest point of a cryptocurrency bubble. Many of us buy cryptocurrencies at their peak hoping to make a quick buck and fall prey to the hype of the bubble and lose our money. It is better for users to do a lot of research before investing the money. It is always good to put your money in several cryptocurrencies instead of one as few cryptocurrencies have been observed to grow more, some on average, if other cryptocurrencies go into the red zone.

Cryptocurrencies in focus

In 2014, Bitcoin held 90% of the market and other cryptocurrencies held the remaining 10%. In 2017, Bitcoin still dominated the crypto market, but its share fell sharply from 90% to 38%, and altcoins such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple grew rapidly and took most of the market.

Bitcoin still dominates the cryptocurrency market, but it is not the only cryptocurrency to consider while investing in cryptocurrency. Some of the main cryptocurrencies to consider:

Bitcoin

Litecoin

pulsations

Ethereum

Throne

Civil

A big one

Monero

Where and how to buy cryptocurrencies?

While it was not easy to buy cryptocurrencies a few years ago, now users have many platforms available.

In 2015, India has two main bitcoin platforms Unocoin wallet and Zebpay wallet where users can buy and sell only bitcoins. Users should only buy Bitcoin from the wallet and not from another person. There was a price difference in the buying and selling rate and users had to pay some nominal fee to make their transactions.

In 2017, the cryptocurrency industry grew tremendously and the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed, especially in the last six months of 2017, which forced users to look for alternatives to Bitcoin and crossed 14 lakhs in the Indian market.

As Unodax and Zebpay are the two major platforms in India that dominated the market with 90% of the market share – which only dealt with Bitcoin. This enables other organization to grow with other altcoins and even forced Unocoin and others to add more currencies to their platform.

Unocoin, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, has launched an exclusive UnoDAX Exchange platform for its users to trade multiple cryptocurrencies apart from trading Bitcoins on Unocoin. The difference between the two platforms was – Unocion provided instant buying and selling of Bitcoin only, while in UnoDAX, users can place an order in any available cryptocurrency and if it matches the recipient, the order will be fulfilled.

Other major exchanges available for cryptocurrency trading in India are Koinex, Coinsecure, Bitbns, WazirX.

Users have to open an account with any exchange by registering with an email address and submitting the KYC details. Once their account is verified, one can start trading coins of their choice.

Users should do their research before investing in coins and avoid falling into the cryptocurrency bubble trap. Users should explore the exchange’s reliability, transparency, security features, and more.

All exchanges charge some nominal fee for each transaction. There are two types of fees – creation fee and claim fee. Apart from the transaction fee, one has to pay the transfer fee if you want to transfer your cryptocurrencies to another exchange or your personal wallet. The fees depend solely on the coins and the exchange as different exchange has a price difference module to transfer the coins.

Major altcoins other than Bitcoin

As mentioned above, Bitcoin dominates the market with 38% market share, followed by Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash. Exchanges like UnoDAX, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitstamp have listed many other coins like Golem, Civic, Raiden Network, Kyber Network, Basic Attention, 0X, Augur, Monero, Tron and many more. If any of the coins matches your portfolio, you should buy it.

But you should invest the money in the market that you can afford to lose because the cryptocurrency market is very volatile and no government has control over it.

When should I buy?

There is no hard and fast rule when to buy your favorite cryptocurrency. But the stability of the market must be examined. You shouldn’t, except at the peak of a cryptocurrency bubble or when the price is constantly crashing. Always the best time is considered when the price is stable at a relatively low level for some time.

A method of storing cryptocurrencies

Before buying any cryptocurrency, you need to understand how to keep your cryptocurrency safe.

Generally, all exchanges provide storage facilities where you can store your coins safely. One should not share one’s username, password, 2FA when holding cryptocurrency on exchanges.

Paper wallet, hardware wallet, software wallet are some of the channels where one can store his cryptocurrency.

Paper Wallet: A paper wallet is an offline cold storage method to keep your cryptocurrency. It prints your private and public key on a piece of paper where a QR code is also printed. One has to simply scan the QR code for their future transactions. Why is it safe? No need to worry about your account being hacked or being attacked by malicious malware. You just need to keep your piece of paper in a safe place in a locker and, if possible, keep two to three pieces of paper in the wallet, all under your complete control.

Hardware Wallet: A hardware wallet is a physical device where you store cryptocurrency safely. There are many forms of hardware wallet, but a commonly used hardware wallet is USB. When you keep your cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet, you just have to keep in mind that you should not lose your hardware wallet because once it is lost, you cannot recover your cryptocurrency.

One famous incident where a person mined over 7000 bitcoins and stored it in his hardware wallet and stored it in another hardware wallet. One day he dropped the hardware wallet in which he stored his cryptocurrency instead of damaged hardware and lost all his bitcoins.

What can be bought from cryptocurrencies in India?

Most people assume that buying and selling any cryptocurrency is only for investment and getting high returns in the long and short term. Bitcoin influencers and investors believe that in the coming years, Bitcoin will dominate all fiat currencies and be accepted as an international currency.

Dell is one of the largest e-commerce businesses accepting Bitcoin as payment. Expedia and UNICEF are other examples.

In India, Sapna Book Mall accepts Bitcoin as payment using the Unocoin merchant service. People booked movie tickets through BookMyShow or recharged their mobile phone through the Unocoin platform. According to the report, they have stopped the service but plan to start it again in the near future.

Conclusion:

Cryptocurrency is one of the growing investment sectors and has given good returns from real estate, gold, stock markets, etc. in the past. You can buy the cryptocurrency and hold it long term to get good profits or go short term for a quick profit as we have seen many coins grow 1000%+ in the past. Because cryptocurrency is a volatile market and there is no government control over the industry. One should invest the amount in any cryptocurrency that one can afford to lose.

You can store your cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet, paper wallet, software wallet if you don’t want to hold on the exchange you trade from.

Cryptocurrency vs. fiat currency

Are you familiar with fiat currencies and crypto currencies? Both are currencies in one form or another and are open to public use worldwide. But both are different and different in their own way. There is always one group that favors the use of cryptocurrencies while the other has a soft corner for fiat currencies.

In the cashless society, crypto money plays a huge role

If you look at the market of the 1970s and 1980s, you will find that cash played a dominant role. But with the change in technology, electronic transactions have become a common norm. Today, more and more people are influenced to become a cashless society. With the move towards a cashless society, cryptocurrencies play a big role.

Cryptocurrency and fiat currency are always in conflict

Cryptocurrency and fiat currency are popular types of digital currency, especially when it comes to online transaction. Both are currently used currencies in the market but have some differences in them. There are a hell of a lot of ads you will hear every day comparing crypto money and fiat money. This article will highlight the difference between the two in a more comprehensive and clear manner.

Distinguishing what currencies mean

Before you can understand the difference between the two, you need to understand what they are and how they are defined.

A fiat currency is a legal tender that has the backing of a central government and operates in physical form. For example US Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, etc. On the other hand, cryptocurrency is not legal tender and has no central government or bank backup.

Therefore, the difference between crypto currency and fiat currency is noted as follows:

• Cryptocurrencies are decentralized and global in nature. There is no legal entity or government that controls the currency with its laws and regulations. Fiat currency is centralized, under the control of bank and government laws and regulations.

• Cryptocurrencies exist only in the digital realm. On the other hand, you will find that fiat currencies have a tangible and physical existence.

• There is a limited supply of cryptocurrencies with a maximum range of them available in the market. Whereas fiat money has an unlimited supply as the government and bank have the right to produce coins and paper money when the situation calls for it.

• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are created by computers, while fiat currencies are issued by local government and banks.

• Cryptocurrencies are presented as public and private pieces of code. On the other hand, fiat currencies are presented in the form of coins and paper money.

• The value of crypto currencies is not recognized by market supply and demand. Whereas the value of fiat currency is determined by market regulations of supply and demand.

The different types of crypto and fiat currencies

Over the last decade, the popularity of cryptocurrencies has become a huge success. It was in 2009 when Bitcoin was first introduced and years after several other types of cryptocurrencies emerged. Starting with Litecoin. Dogecoin, Ripple to Dcash and Zcash, there are tons of them. On the other hand, fiat currency has rich and ancient roots, with the Great British Pound dating back to 775 AD. It is considered the world’s oldest currency still in use.

The differences in anonymity between the two currencies

When using fiat currencies, you must go through a user identification or verification process. You are requested to upload your recent photograph and some of the required documents to be issued as per the public authorities. You don’t need to go through any of the necessary processes with cryptocurrencies. Although your personal information and confidential data do not become public, but all your transactions are recorded and tracked in both fiat and crypto currency.

Fiat Currency vs. Cryptocurrency: Level of Transparency

• The level of transparency with crypto-type currencies is considered higher. This is because revenue streams are displayed on a public chain. Everyone can witness their own and other people’s transactions.

• The decree or the government. currencies are not transparent as there are no public chains to see people’s income streams.

Relatively historical roots

If you compare crypto money with that of its counterpart, fiat or government currency, you will find that its existence and creation makes the difference. Fiat or government currency dates back to 775 AD with the introduction of the Great British Pound. This is why fiat currency is easily accepted by people everywhere.

On the other hand, the crypto coin was perhaps first introduced only a decade ago, with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. The challenge facing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is to match the massive popularity and growing fan base of fiat currency. Cryptocurrency is undoubtedly gaining more and more importance and popularity in the economic market, but it is still not widely accepted in society as a fiat currency.

Comparative history of the two currencies:

• It was in the 11th century that China’s Song Dynasty was perhaps the first to issue paper money. They were not allowed to be exchanged for valuables such as gold, silver or silk.

• There were tally sticks which were introduced as fiat or government currency. 1100 Tally sticks were introduced as a battle for the scarcity of gold.

• 1971 was the year fiat currency gained worldwide recognition. President Nixon introduced it to eliminate the system of tying the dollar to gold.

• It was in 1998 when the idea of ​​an anonymous e-money system came from Wei Dai. Bitgold – the first cryptocurrency was created by Nick Szabo, but it did not receive as much attention as Bitcoin.

• In 2009, Bitcoin was introduced to the market, which became the first cryptocurrency to be accepted worldwide. A series of several other cryptocurrencies were introduced in 2011 and thereafter. Some of the popular ones include Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Zcash, Dash and so on.

The characteristics of the two currencies

The potential of cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, access to their features is important. You will find that in some of the criteria Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies outperform fiat or government currency, and in some cases the latter outperforms. It is absolutely your decision to choose the type of currency (cryptocurrency or fiat currency) based on your personal needs and requirements.

Let’s compare their traits in terms of certain factors.

• Both crypto coins and fiat currencies are interchangeable in nature.

• As far as portability is concerned, both currencies provide more or less equal position.

• Regarding non-consumable criteria, crypto-currency and fiat-type currency have the same status.

• Crypto-type currencies have high durability compared to fiat currencies which have a moderate level of durability.

• Both crypto or virtual currencies and fiat or government currencies provide safe and secure transactions and exchanges.

• Crypto or digital currencies are highly divisible in nature. On the other hand, fiat-type currencies are moderately divisible.

• In terms of transaction process, cryptocurrencies are easy and hassle-free. While on the other hand the traction process associated with fiat currencies is easy but not like crypto.

• Crypto-based currencies are decentralized and global in nature, unlike fiat currencies, which are centralized and operate under government laws and regulations.

• Crypto-based currencies are highly scarce, while fiat currencies are unlimited because the government can issue coins and paper money whenever it needs to.

• Cryptocurrencies are based on mathematical algorithms and are programmable. Fiat currencies are not programmable at all.

• Fiat currencies are sovereign in nature while crypto currencies are not.

The process of functioning of currencies

You can find the significant differences between crypto or digital currencies and fiat currencies in the way they both work and the transaction process that takes place. They are contrasting in nature. Transferring money using Bitcoin is very fast and you absolutely do not need a third party association.

On the other hand, if you are involved in the exchange of money using fiat type currency, a mobile wallet is used. You can exchange an amount of electronic money that is transferred to an amount of equal electronic value. Both fiat and crypto currency allow you to buy anything you want. But the processes involved are absolutely different from each other.

Depending on the things you buy, you will find that one form of currency is better than the other. It’s absolutely your choice.

Is Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, better than fiat currency?

The long-term benefits and possibilities of Bitcoin are yet to be established. But cryptocurrency gurus and experts have predicted that they will go a long way, especially by revolutionizing the way online transactions are done. In the current market, Bitcoin is mainly included in online casinos and gambling, but it is not limited to it.

Also, when comparing fiat currencies, Bitcoin allows you to wrest power and authority from banks and government because it is not controlled. Cryptography-based currency has the ability to create or offer free market capital. Fiat currencies are affected by inflation and market changes, unlike crypto-based currencies. Such aspects lead people to believe that crypto-based currencies will soon take over mainstream currencies and bring about a transformation in the way money is used.

Why is Bitcoin considered a better aspect than fiat currencies?

• Bitcoin enables you to recreate free market capitalism.

• The power to control money rests entirely with individuals, not banks, as with fiat currencies.

• When there is inflation, Bitcoin is not affected. But fiat type currency will be easier to lose and will be affected by it.

• Bitcoin currency is simple and easier to exchange and transfer than fiat or government currencies.

• Transaction fees associated with Bitcoins are much cheaper and easily available.

Cryptocurrencies seem to be a favorable option among people

Fiat currencies are the centralized and legal way to exchange money. But cryptocurrencies have gained immense popularity in the past few years. There will never be anyone to act as an intermediary as in the case of banks. Moreover, cryptocurrencies are much cheaper and cheaper than conventional fiat currencies.

Send money anywhere directly without waiting for bank approval

You can send money directly to anyone in the world and it’s super fast. The money is cleared within minutes. You don’t have to wait for the traditional clearing and verification processes of banking systems, which can take up to several days to get permission. Since it is decentralized and does not fall under government laws and regulations, no one has the power to do anything with your account.

Blockchain technology has a very big role to play

Thanks to cryptocurrencies, it gives us the power and authority to become our own bank and take control of our finances. This is due to blockchain technology, which offers a higher level of sophistication when dealing with finances. In fact, there are some major financial industries that have started to incorporate the idea of ​​technology.

Bitcoin has led the crypto world for so long and so dominantly that the terms crypto and bitcoin are often used interchangeably. However, the truth is that digital currency does not consist only of Bitcoins. There are many other crypto currencies that are part of the crypto world. The purpose of this post is to educate our readers about cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin to provide them with a wide range of choices – if they intend to make crypto-investments.

So, let’s start with the first name on our list, namely:

Litecoin:

Launched in 2011, Litecoin is often referred to as “the silver to Bitcoin’s gold.” Charlie Lee – an MIT graduate and former Google engineer – is the founder of Litecoin.

Like Bitcoin, Litecoin is an open source decentralized payment network that operates without a central authority.

Litecoin is similar to Bitcoin in many ways and often makes people think, “Why not go with Bitcoin? Both are similar!”. Here’s a catch: Litecoin’s block generation is much faster than Bitcoin’s! and this is the main reason why merchants around the world are becoming more and more open to accepting Litecoin.

Ethereum:

Another decentralized open source software platform. The currency was launched in 2015 and allows smart contracts and distributed applications to be built and run without any interruptions.

Applications on the Ethereum platform require a specific cryptographic token – Ether. According to Ethereum’s core developers, the token can be used to trade, secure and decentralize almost anything.

Ethereum suffered an attack in 2016 where the currency split into two parts: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

In the race of leading cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is in second place in popularity and is just behind Bitcoin.

Zcash:

Zcash appeared in the later part of 2016. The currency is defined as: “if Bitcoin is like http to money, Zcash is https”.

Zcash promises to provide transparency, security and privacy of transactions. The currency also offers a “shielded” transaction option so that users can transfer data in the form of an encrypted code.

Dash:

Dash is originally a secret version of Bitcoin. It is also known as “Darkcoin” due to its secretive nature.

Dash is popular for offering advanced anonymity that allows users to make transactions untraceable.

The currency first appeared on the canvas of the digital market in 2014. Since then, it has enjoyed a huge following in a very short period of time.

waves:

With a market cap of over $1 billion, Ripple is the last name on our list. The currency was launched in 2012 and offers instant, secure and cheap payments.

Ripple’s consensus ledger requires no mining, a feature that makes it different from Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.

No mining reduces computing power, which ultimately minimizes latency and makes transactions faster.

Complete:

Although Bitcoin continues to lead the crypto pack, rivals are picking up the pace. Currencies like Ethereum and Ripple have surpassed Bitcoin in enterprise solutions and are growing in popularity every day. Following the trend, other cryptocurrencies are here to stay and will soon give Bitcoin a really tough time to maintain its status.

The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2017. Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the spike in interest. However, Coinbase is not interested in taking its crypto profits for granted. To stay ahead in a much larger cryptocurrency market, the company is investing money back into its master plan. By 2017, the company’s revenue was reported at $1 billion and over $150 billion in assets were traded among 20 million clients.

Coinbase, a San Francisco-based company, is known as the leading cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States, and with its consistent success, it landed at number 10 on CNBC’s 2018 Disruptor list after failing to make the list in the previous two years.

On its way to success, Coinbase left no stone unturned in poaching key executives from the New York Stock Exchange, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. In the current year, the size of its full-time engineering team has nearly doubled.

Earn.com was bought by Coinbase this April for $100 million. This platform allows users to send and receive digital currency while responding to mass market emails and completing micro tasks. The company is currently planning to appoint former Andreessen Horowitz venture capitalist, founder and CEO of Earns as its first chief technology officer.

According to the current valuation, Coinbase is valued at around $8 billion when it decides to buy Earn.Com. That value is much higher than the $1.6 billion valuation it was valued at in the last round of venture capital funding in the summer of 2017.

Coinbase declined to comment on its valuation despite the fact that it has more than $225 million in funding from top venture capital firms, including Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and the New York Stock Exchange.

To meet the needs of institutional investors, the New York Stock Exchange plans to launch its own cryptocurrency exchange. Nasdaq, a rival of the NYSE, is also considering a similar move.

• Competition is coming

As rival organizations look to take a bite out of Coinbase’s business, Coinbase is looking to other venture capital opportunities in an effort to build a moat around the company.

Dan Dolev, an instant analyst at Nomura, said Square, a company run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, could absorb Coinbase’s exchange business as it began trading cryptocurrency on its Square Cash app in January.

According to Dolev’s estimates, Coinbase’s average trading fees were roughly 1.8 percent in 2017. Fees that high could drive users to other cheaper exchanges.

Coinbase aims to become a one-stop shop for institutional investors while hedging its exchange business. To attract this class of white-glove investors, the company announced a range of new products. This class of investors was especially cautious when diving into the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Coinbase Prime, The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group, Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Markets are the products launched by the company.

Coinbase believes there are billions of dollars of institutional money that could be invested in the digital currency. It already holds $9 billion in client assets.

Institutional investors are concerned about security, even though they know Coinbase has never been hacked like some other global cryptocurrency exchanges. Coinbase’s president and COO said the impetus for launching Coinbase Custody last November was the lack of a trusted custodian to protect their crypto assets.

• Wall Street is currently moving from Bashing Bit to Cryptocurrency Backer

According to the latest data available from Autonomous Next Wall Street’s, interest in the cryptocurrency appears to be growing. There are currently 287 crypto hedge funds, while in 2016 there were only 20 cryptocurrency hedge funds. Goldman Sachs even opened a cryptocurrency trading desk.

Coinbase also introduced Coinbase Ventures, which is an incubator fund for early-stage startups working in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. Coinbase Ventures has already raised $15 billion for further investment. His first investment was announced in a startup called Compound, which allows one to borrow or lend cryptocurrency while earning an interest rate.

In early 2018, the company launched Coinbase Commerce, which allows merchants to accept major cryptocurrencies for payment. Another Bitcoin startup was BitPlay, which recently raised $40 million in venture money. Last year, BitPlay processed more than $1 billion in bitcoin payments.

Proponents of blockchain technology believe that in the future, cryptocurrency will be able to eliminate the need for central banking authorities. In the process, it will reduce costs and create a decentralized financial solution.

• Regulatory certainty remains intense

For keeping access limited to four cryptocurrencies, Coinbase has drawn a lot of criticism. But they must tread carefully as US regulators consider how to control certain uses of the technology.

For cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, the issue is whether cryptocurrencies are securities that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Coinbase has been really slow to add new coins since the SEC announced in March that it would apply security laws to all cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Coinbase has met with SEC officials to register as a licensed intermediary and electronic trading venue. In such a scenario, it will become easier for Coinbase to support more coins and also comply with security regulations.

The wave of banks banning the purchase of cryptocurrency using their credit cards is growing, with Wells Fargo now joining this type of ban. A number of other banks, such as Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and others, are also part of this new trend that restricts the purchase of crypto.

It seems that debit cards can still be used to buy cryptocurrency (check with your bank to be sure of their policy), but the use of credit cards to buy cryptocurrency has turned around with these banks leading the way with these bans on purchasing, and it probably won’t be long before this ban becomes standard.

Seemingly overnight, purchases started to reverse when credit cards were used to buy crypto, and people who had never had a problem before buying crypto with their credit cards began to notice that they were no longer allowed to these purchases. The volatility of the cryptocurrency market is the culprit here, and banks don’t want people to spend a lot of money that will turn out to be difficult to pay back if a major cryptocurrency crash happens, as it did at the beginning of the year.

Of course, these banks will also miss out on the money that can be made when people buy cryptocurrency and the market goes up, but they’ve clearly decided that the bad outweighs the good when it comes to this gamble with their credit cards. This also protects the consumer as it limits their ability to get into financial trouble by using credit to buy something that could leave them cash and credit poor.

Most investors who used credit cards for cryptocurrency purchases were probably looking for short-term gains and had no plans to stick around for the long term. They were hoping to get in and out quickly, then pay off the credit cards before the high interest rate hit. But with the constant volatility of the cryptocurrency market, many who had bought with this plan in mind found themselves losing a huge amount of assets as the market went down. Now they are paying interest on the lost money, and that is never a good thing. This, of course, was bad news for banks and caused the current and growing trend of banning crypto purchases with credit cards.

The lesson here is that you should never max out a line of credit to invest in crypto, and only use a percentage of your hard assets to make crypto purchases. These funds should be funds that you can lock in for a long time without hurting your budget.

So, don’t get caught putting money into a cryptocurrency you’ll need soon, only to find that the downturn has taken the money out of your pocket. There’s an old saying that goes, “Don’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose,” and that’s the lesson banks want people to learn as they venture into this new investment frontier.

If you follow the market, crypto trading can be profitable for you. However, you may find it difficult at times. Fortunately, if you need help, you can go to crypto signal services. The signals they offer can be used to make the right decision, at the right time. You can choose from many service providers. Below are some tips that can help you choose the right one. Read on to learn more.

Quality of service

When choosing a service, quality is the number one factor to consider. Ideally, a trading platform should have a great success rate when it comes to predictions. Also, it should provide relevant impulses so that you can get better insight into market trends and trades.

Also, you need to be able to get the signal immediately so that you can make the right moves. The service provider must be able to generate alerts as quickly as possible.

Reliability

Note that the service must be reliable as you will be making your trading decisions based on their guidelines. Therefore, you may want to choose a service that you can rely on. This is the only way to make the right choice and be safe.

What you need to do is hire the services of a legitimate provider. You will be consulting expert traders, not an automated software program.

Free trial period

How can you tell if a supplier is genuine? The best way is to indulge in their services. Many providers offer a free trial service. This is true even if you are going to hire any service, not just crypto trading.

The trial service will let you know if the service is reliable. Once you’ve tested the service, you can go ahead and pay for it in the long run.

Pricing

After the trial period ends, you will have to pay for the service. It is important to note here that providers who offer crypto signals for free may not be trustworthy. Likewise, you may not want to pay a lot of money for the trial period. In truth, the price of the packages should be fair so that you can enjoy the service without breaking the bank. So you might want to do your homework to get the right service without spending a lot of money.

supports

While it’s great if their support is available 24/7, the important thing is to get the right information at the right time. They should be able to answer your questions until you are satisfied.

Without reliable customer support, you cannot benefit from the crypto signal service the way you should.

In short, if you are going to hire the service of a crypto signal service, we suggest you follow the advice given in this article. This way you can make the right choice.

When it comes to cryptocurrency trading, you have to speculate whether the market you have chosen will go up or down in value. And the interesting thing is that you never own the digital asset. In fact, trading is done with derivative products such as CFDs. Let’s take a look at the benefits of trading cryptocurrencies. Read on to learn more.

Volatility

Although cryptocurrency is a new market, it is quite volatile due to short-term speculative interest. Bitcoin price fell to $5,851 from $19,378 in 2018 in just one year. However, the value of other digital currencies is quite stable, which is good news.

What makes this world so exciting is the volatility of cryptocurrency value. Price movements offer many opportunities for traders. However, this is also associated with great risk. Therefore, if you decide to research the market, just make sure you do your research and put together a risk management strategy.

Work time

The market is usually open for trading 24/7 as it is not regulated by any government. In addition, transactions take place between buyers and sellers around the world. There may be brief outages when infrastructure updates are performed.

Improved liquidity

Liquidity refers to how quickly a digital currency can be sold for money. This feature is important as it enables faster transactions, better accuracy and better pricing. In general, the market is somewhat liquid, as financial transactions take place on different exchanges. Therefore, small trades can lead to large price changes.

Leverage exposure

As CFD trading is considered a leveraged product, you can open a position on what we call ‘margin’. In this case, the value of the deposit is part of the trade value. So you can enjoy great market performance without investing much money.

The loss or gain will reflect the value of the position at the time it was closed. Therefore, if you trade on margin, you can earn huge profits by investing a small amount of money. However, it also increases losses that may exceed your deposit on a trade. So make sure you consider the total value of the position before investing in CFDs.

It is also important to ensure that you follow a solid risk management strategy, which should include appropriate limits and stops.

Fast account opening

If you want to buy crypto currencies, make sure you do it through an exchange. All you have to do is register an exchange account and keep the currency in your wallet. Note that this process can be restrictive and take a lot of time and effort. However, once the account is created, the rest of the process will be quite smooth and hassle-free.

In short, these are some of the most notable advantages of cryptocurrency trading here and now. We hope you find this article quite useful.