Debunqed

Tag: Digitalcurrency

  • Tech Game Changers

    Tech Game Changers

    The pandemic has thrown us into a state of flux and some tech entrepreneurs have found opportunities in the funk. One major trend involves playing with blockchain technology.

    Even though most people you come across pretend to understand blockchain, many don’t actually understand its full capabilities. Some clever Trevors, however, are making it work for them.

    DeFi (Decentralised Finance)

    For centuries, our money has been controlled by central banks. But this has given too much power to certain authorities. Now cryptocurrencies are set to help us shake the game up.

    Enter DeFi or Decentralised Finance – an umbrella term that refers to a variety of financial applications in cryptocurrency. These DApps are geared toward changing the roles of financial intermediaries or removing them altogether.

    Essentially, DeFi is a financial system built on public blockchains such as Binance Chain, PolkaDot, and Ethereum.

    It is a relatively new project which started later than Bitcoin in 2014. It was brought into the limelight in 2020 by a little-known South African called Andre Cronje. Cronje created the now almost billion-dollar DeFi-protocol called Yearn Finance (YFI).

    DeFi is an alternative to what people feel is an outdated, clunky financial system that is inefficient and prone to abuse. The idea is that DeFi will be a new digital-only and fully automated financial system which exists separately from our enormous, interlinked financial system.

    When you swipe your card, the institution has control over your transaction and retains the authority to record it in its private ledger, stop or pause it.

    Advert

    They also control financial all matters like insurance, loans, and alternative investments like derivatives, crowdfunding, and gambling. All this while literally owning all your data. They can use or share them with their stakeholders as they wish.

    Functionality

    DeFi aims to create an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial service system. The yields you get from borrowing and lending digital assets on these platforms also put those offered by traditional banks to shame. This system is also relatively safe because lenders are certain to get their assets back because you need collateral (other cryptos) to borrow in the first place.

    You even, in DeFi, have mechanisms to maintain liquidity – just like Central Bank’s liquidity swaps. Some of them have ridiculous names like SushiSwap or PancakeSwap and perform these functions surprisingly well. this is possible because of their underlying computer-backed algorithmic technology.

    The current centralized nature of the global financial system means wealth is only amassed by those that have access to financial services. This has created further inequalities in our societies.

    Nevertheless, DeFi is a rapid technological innovation that is helping us to decentralize financial systems and foster financial inclusion. Cutting out the middleman also involves the use of Smart Contracts. Naturally prone to attach it is evolving but quickly gaining the acceptance of those ‘in the know’.

    Smarter Contracts

    According to Blockgeeks, a smart contract is a computer protocol intended digitally to facilitate, verify or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. They allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties.

    For example, ordinarily, you would go to a lawyer or a notary, pay them, and wait while you get the document. With smart contracts, you simply drop Crypto into a vending machine-type structure (digital ledger), and your escrow, driver’s license, or whatever, drops into your account.

    Courtesy: Law and Forensics.


    Smart contracts define the rules and penalties around an agreement just like a traditional contract does. Additionally, they also automatically help you enforce those obligations.

    Ethereum is the industry-leading Crypto company/platform that provides that functionality. It is, however, receiving strong competition from newcomer platforms such as Binance Smart Chain – which is actually a revised clone of Ethereum.

    Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

    This is a technology that has been around for a few years but is enjoying new popularity. Fungibility refers to something that is easily interchangeable, such as the exchanging of a $50 note for five $10 notes.

    But non-fungible tokens have been created with the opposite goal.

    These are unique or scarce digital objects represented as tokens that cannot be replicated.

    They are literally anything that can be digitalized to form a collectible item – just like your paintings, collectible cards, or stamps.

    This is why they are infiltrating the auctioneering world. Digital content is tokenized through a process called minting.

    Minting involves assigning a coin on a blockchain to any given work and you can assign as many copies as you so desire.

    A key difference from authenticating other objects is that instead of a physical certificate of authentication, NFTs use blockchain technology as a verifiable digital ledger.

    The NFTs created on Ethereum’s blockchain are immutable, so they cannot be altered. No one can undo your ownership of the NFT.

    Some of the notable tradable (native) NFT tokens include Enjin Coin (gaming), Chiliz (entertainment) and Terra Virtua Kolect (VR artwork).

    Coloured coined NFTs

    In 2017, a game called CryptoKitties was invented. This was a blockchain game that allowed players to adopt, raise, and trade virtual cats.

    At one point, CryptoKitties were selling hundreds for thousands of euros. Since then, people have been pumping money into the NFT market which has more than quadrupled in value since the pandemic.

    Investors saw the value of investing in a verified item of art that no one else possesses. As a result, many new digital (NFT) marketplaces such as OpenSea and SuperRare were established – and thriving. The NBA has also gotten in on the action. NBA Top Shot is a first-of-its-kind collectible website that allows you to collect, trade, and sell your favorite NBA highlights as digital tokens. One of the highest-selling NFTs there (only 2 minted) is one of a reverse dunk by LeBron James – which fetches a cool $210 000.

    Rock band, Kings of Leon earlier in March 2021 became the first musical artist to sell its album as an NFT. Their eighth studio album, When You See Yourself, is being sold in standard digital and physical formats but also has an NFT.

    Within a week, the album had made more than $2m. This includes around $500 000 which was donated to Live Nation’s Crew Nation, designed to support live music crews during the pandemic.

    Enter the Dogecoin

    The year 2021 wanted to add a bit of humor to the world whilst making some people rich. You may call them clever or maybe reckless – or both, but some people traded an invisible investment called Dogecoin and significantly pushed up its price.

    Dogecoin was like a parody of Bitcoin symbolized by its face, the Doge meme. Entrepreneur Elon Musk punted the coin which was actually started as a joke in 2013. The price of dogecoin has exploded by more than 1,100% this year.

    The cryptocurrency has gained increased attention from endorsements by Musk, who at one point was the world’s richest man on paper. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, rapper Snoop Dogg, and musician Gene Simmons are also backers of the Crypto-coin.

    Now Musk wants you to be able to trade Dogecoin using the Coinbase platform.

    Musk’s Tesla motor car company had allegedly used the Cryptocurrency exchange to buy $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin in February.

    The Gamestop effect

    Also this year, online traders caused chaos among financial systems, showing big institutions that they can beat them at their own game.

    A bunch of people got together on Reddit and discussed how they would pump up the price of Gamestop, a US rental games company. Gamestop saw its fortunes wane as people turned away from buying or renting disc versions of games in favor of downloads. The Reddit ‘movement’ was aided and abetted by a group called WallStreetbets.

    The group has since pledged millions of dollars from the proceeds towards saving Gorillas – epic!

    Its founder, Jaime Rogozinski, has also signed a deal in Hollywood to make a film about the incident.

    The price went through the roof as Gamestop became a gambling tool, with little underlying value in the company.

    A number of people won big but others who got in late weren’t as lucky. The price later crashed, costing gamblers a lot.

    It has since fluctuated wildly and is now on a downtrend. For every new multimillionaire, there has been someone who has lost their life savings.

    Tread carefully with new technologies

    It will take time for the use of these new technologies to settle in our society. You must, however, be skeptical even when Musk, who recently changed his designation from CEO of Tesla to ‘Technoking’ posts such things on a social platform.

    Whenever he tweets something, people react. Musk convinced scores of people to buy Dogecoin and now he is quite excited about NFTs.

    The Billionaire recently actually turned down a $1.1m offer to buy one of his tweets as an NFT after putting it up for sale, quoted saying: “it doesn’t feel quite right.”

    Musk said that he was going to sell a tweet of a song about NFTs as an NFT. This was days after an NFT had sold for a record $69m. But it turned out he was joking around when he tweeted: “Actually, doesn’t feel quite right selling this. Will pass.”

    Elon’s $1m NFT

    Musk’s tweet was listed on the blockchain-backed auction platform valuables and has attracted a bid of $1.12m from a user called @sinaEstavi.

    The tweet is of a techno song about NFTs, with the lyrics: “NFT, for your vanity, computers never sleep, it’s verified, it’s guaranteed.”

    If you don’t believe how volatile these currencies are, just check out how Bitcoin lost more than 80% of its value from December 2017 to May 2018. It is currently hovering just below $60,000 after a low of around $3,500 only in March 2020.

    If you decide to invest, do so knowing that rapid price fluctuations come with the territory.

    Remember these new blockchain assets are highly volatile investments. Their values can swing literally like a yoyo, based on the jokes made by a multi-billionaire who wants to live in space.







  • Banking on Crypto

    Banking on Crypto

    The world is slowly realizing that it needs to rely less on old systems in order to manage its way out of financial crises. One of the oldest systems which saw the US dollar as the vehicular currency of the world may be slowly coming to an end.

    Enter the Bitcoin: the brainchild of cryptocurrency, a means of exchange that is less regulated and which is built on the Blockchain, a technology that is supposedly difficult to hack into.

    A quick recap for those of you not familiar with the tech: A Bitcoin is a computer file that can be stored in a ‘digital wallet’ app on your smartphone or computer. With this technology, every single transaction you make is recorded in a public list or publicly distributed ledger.

    This makes it easier for authorities to track and record your transactions but not you personally. We will not, however, get into the potential abuse of such anonymity in this article.

    Adoption

    We have been very slow to adopt new financial technologies for two reasons. First, there are many regulations that help maintain the US dollar as the vehicular currency, used by central banks and other financial institutions to secure assets. Second, many developers of the technology are hesitant to throw it upon us – yet.

    But this will change as the robustness and reliability of cryptocurrencies is proved study by study and case by case. One method is by using cryptology.

    Cryptology is used to protect your information from hackers. In fact, the protection of your data is more important than ever before. We have made our lives more public thanks to social media.

    While you may not mind so much if hackers get unauthorized access to your pictures and social media profiles, some information is actually valuable. This includes your banking details, birth certificate, licenses, and intellectual property.

    The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us all to work from home. Those employees of numerous companies are accessing commercial information using personal computers instead of office computers. But personal computers might lack anti-virus software, firewalls, and other security measures.

    Right now, cybercrime is costing companies at least $45bn a year worldwide.

    This is why now is cryptology’s time to shine. It will also be used to protect your online purchases made using cryptocurrencies instead of traditional money. It will help ensure that funds go from your bank account to a retailer’s quickly but securely.

    Using Crypto for daily activities

    Digital Cash

    Let’s face it, we are going to use Blockchain for shopping: Lamborghini already accepts purchases in Bitcoin. The concept might still be difficult for you to grasp, but they are still being developed and soon it will be near impossible to live without them.

    Read more about Distributed Applications ‘DApps’ here

    Gaming companies are already embracing cryptocurrencies. Fortnite, a popular online game, with more than 250-million players, allows you to buy in-game products using cryptocurrencies.

    Beyond regular shopping, you could soon buy a house using a cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology and the underlying distributed ledger technology is being used to increase transparency in real estate transactions using smart contracts.

    To reiterate the use case for Crypto, many countries like Germany are relaxing laws and giving licenses to allow ‘Crypto Banks’ to operate. This is one effort to ensure that your Cryptos are properly taxed when used for investment purposes.

    One such bank, Bitwala, allows you to purchase Bitcoins or Etheruem securely and quickly from a charges-free bank account which they provide.

    Your transactions are then documented so that you can seamlessly submit reports of the purchases to the local tax authorities (Finazamt) to avoid penalties. You can do this all directly from the Bitwala App.

    The blockchain and cryptocurrency are even being explored on national levels: China is allegedly creating its own national digital currency.

    The way forward

    Monetary systems will continue to be tested every day. Banks the world over are spending big bucks to protect themselves from hacks. But one day, a hacker could throw them into turmoil.

    When that happens, you might be unable to withdraw your money. A central bank’s database could be hacked making it difficult for it to work with other banks. In the meantime, alternatives to classic monetary systems need to be developed.

    Cryptocurrencies backed by cryptology could be a very strong alternative. There are also some valid cases for using Bitcoin as a global currency. This, however, will only become a reality if it shakes off its high trading volatility to become more stable.

    We live in a world where we need to be cognisant of our health and how viruses can spread easily and quickly like wildfire. It equally is imperative to realize that cyber attackers could get and infect our data just as swiftly. Using modern technologies can help prevent these intruders from creating a ‘digital security collapse’ pandemic.

  • Digital Fundraising

    Digital Fundraising

    The latest abbreviation in the finance and crypto-world is ‘ICO’. This word, however, gives global financial authorities like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nightmares for several reasons.

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    Not to be confused with Initial Public Offering (IPO) which is used by firms to raise cash through the issuing of shares to the public. An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) works like crowdfunding, but for digital currency and tokens.


    We recently covered a feature on raising funds and capital for a business but missed out on one relatively new method. Many companies are using ICOs to raise capital for their businesses.

    Why ICOs?


    The concept of an ICO works similarly to how a company raises capital through shares in that it is all based on contrived value.


    Funding raising in effect boils down to sales! If your actual product or service has nothing substantial or intrinsic to offer a client base, then it is nothing more than a scam.


    Launching an ICO is quite easy, and to an extent, many tech companies are now catching onto it.

    An ICO is the cryptocurrency space’s rough equivalent to an IPO in the investment world. ICOs act as fundraisers of sorts; a company looking to create a new coin, app, or service launches an ICO.

    Investopedia

    If you still do not believe it is possible, just listen to this testament from someone who did it after unsuccessfully knocking on the doors of conventional funders.


    The alarming spurt rate of ICOs often brings with it a scourge of potential scammers. The SEC and other institutions have to step in to monitor and regulate them.

    Social media platforms like Facebook and Google – which house a bounty of users (potential investors) have banned ICOs ads due to possible prey on unsuspecting investors; exposing them to con artists.

    Basically, the scammers use fancy websites, laden with impressive figures and terminology to con users into buying into their coins or tokens.

    Though the tokens barely even cost a cent, it adds up if they have millions of people buying in.  Once they have reached a certain amount in funding – they close shop and disappear!

    To create a new digital coin:

    Create a product concept or Business Plan for the coin or what is called a Whitepaper. This describes in great detail what the coin or token aims to do; the core technologies behind it; the team and their qualifications; the product’s lifecycle/growth path etc.

    Once completed and water-tight, the whitepaper would be submitted along with an application to one of the best Cryptocurrency Exchanges for review.

    Naturally, you would need some initial working capital for liquidity. Some of this is raised through your savings and others through institutions (via loans etc).

    You must then assure your investors of a solid return on investment (ROI) and deliver – which goes back to sales. Unless your offering is a scam, you actually need to do some work!

    This assurance comes via regular updates (marketing campaigns can have a tremendous or adverse impact on the uptake and price) on milestones reached.

    The updates are also necessary to keep your investors abreast with progress and might convince them to increase funding.

    Growing interest and the addition of more funds create demand for the coin/ token which, in turn, drives up the price and market capitalization.

    Most successful ICOs of all time

    NEO:

    Known as “China’s Ethereum”, and backed by Microsoft, Alibaba and the Chinese government, NEO uses smart contract applications. It does so, however, with the addition of decentralized commerce, digitized assets and identification.
    It enjoyed a considerable hike in token value from $0.03 to $88.20, NEO has big things coming with a 294,000% ROI.

    Ethereum:

    Unlike Bitcoin, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency in the world has more functionality than just being a coin. Its ledger technology is used to build and deploy decentralized applications a.k.a. “smart contract” technology.
    Ethereum’s ROI has been nothing short of jaw-dropping at 230,000%. Having sold its tokens at $0.31, an Ether token now sits at a whopping $713, second in value only to Bitcoin.

    Spectrecoin:

    The “premier privacy-focused cryptocurrency” enables users to send and receive currency worldwide with total anonymity. It is currencies like SpectreCoin that have most government tax offices quaking in their boots.
    If you had repurchased a token in November 2016, that puny $0.001 would be worth $0.64 today, or an ROI of 64,000%.

    Ark:

    With Ark, collaboration is the name of the game. The platform’s SmartBridge is a lightning-fast ecosystem designed to integrate other cryptocurrencies into its blockchain.
    Investors were eager as any to buy in, and they have made a 35,400% gain given today’s token price of $3.54.

    DigixDAO:

    DGD, which stands for Digix Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is a self-governing community. It gives out grants to different projects which will promote the growth of the DGX network.
    At a current value of $346.88 per token, this gives them a return of 10,722%.

    Quantum (QTUM):

    QTUM is an open-source value transfer platform which focuses on mobile decentralized apps or Dapps. QTUM is the world’s first proof-of-stake smart contracts platform.
    They hosted a highly successful ICO in March 2017, and since that time has seen an ROI of 6,400%.

    Source: investinblockchain.com

    In conclusion

    The prospect can be daunting for a cryptocurrency investor looking to make money off new investment opportunities while remaining cushioned from fraudulent ICOs and dodgy coins and tokens.


    As there is no guarantee that any cryptocurrency or blockchain-related start-up will be genuine or successful.

    You simply need to be vigilant and take steps such as getting to know the core team, poring over the whitepaper with a big magnifying glass. Naturally, you should be monitoring the progress of the token sales.


    Most importantly, you must just use common sense to gauge just how feasible the project is to ensure that you’re not falling for a scam.

    Remember, if it’s too good to be true, then it isn’t true!

  • A peer-to-peer Crypto marketplace

    A peer-to-peer Crypto marketplace

    250x250You can still tap into the pool of 17-odd million Bitcoins that is now in circulation. You can even purchase them in the fiat currency equivalents.
    But where do you get them then? After all, Cryptocurrency is this dark and mysterious transaction system used only by criminals and drug addicts.
    So you acquiring them would naturally be in a shady place like the dark web – where it is used to acquire illicit things – right?
    Not quite and there are publicly accessible marketplaces where one can securely purchase Bitcoins.
    Find out more via A peer-to-peer Crypto marketplace

  • Forex on steroids!

    Forex on steroids!

    With all the negative and positive commotion surrounding the Crypto market – it still begs the question, for those still curious. What does it take to engage in the trading of Cryptocurrency?

    And by trading, we are not referring to the price speculation in a portfolio as one would with the price of a company’s shares or even CFDs. 

    We are rather referring to trading it as a commodity against other ‘Cryptos’ in a properly regulated online market setting. Similar to how a Foreign Exchange (Forex) market operates.

    As with trading traditional fiat currencies, the price is purely determined by good old supply and demand for the currency and monitored by the availability versus volume traded.

    It is therefore just a medium between traders where they can set limit orders to buy/sell Bitcoins for a certain price.

    So, in the true approach of Debunqed, we will decipher crypto-exchange trading by looking at what you need to do to get into it, and what you stand to gain.

    Here are the quick steps:

    The first step would be to open a secure Crypto wallet to physically purchase (own) some altcoins. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin are the main coins offered by Crypto wallet providers.

    They hold the most value and can thus be broken down into smaller denominations (Altcoins). The same way the dollar is used as the main exchange for other fiat currencies. This example helps to put things into perspective.

    Make sure you do your research into which wallet you will use. Obviously, if you are mining a certain Cryptocurrency you would naturally purchase them directly from that software provider of the Altcoin.

    Using Ripple mining as an example, the platform is supplied by RippleNet and naturally, it follows that the Ripple company mines all the volume and controls its supply.
    Getting the digital currency into a wallet can be a quick exercise.

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    It can take as quickly as between 5 – 20 minutes via a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace connecting buyers with sellers like at Paxful.

    Make sure you deal with reputable sellers.  This wallet provider rates suppliers based on how reliable they are so only deal with sellers of the highest ratings.


    The actual purchase (mostly conducted via online chat) can be made via a Credit/Debit Card, online banking or convenient money transfer facilities like (Europe-based) N26 Bank, Skrill or PayPal.

    You can even purchase and send gift cards from Amazon for instance, to the seller (to the value of the currency being purchased) for the seller to release the Altcoins.

    Security and storage

    The actual coins are stored as an alpha-numeric key code – with the currency value in the wallet once acquired.

    This after the wallet-broker takes a small fee for the transaction. This code/key needs to be kept secure – backed up online and offline (highly recommended). This is possible on special flash-drive (Crypto wallet) like the Trezor or a Ledger Nano. The device would hold the deposit key if you were transferring it to another wallet or to an exchange to trade.

    Time to go shopping!
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    Finding a good exchange

    The next step would be then to source a robust and user-friendly platform to trade your newly acquired currency on.

    The best cryptocurrency exchanges would allow you to swap fiat currency such as dollar/euro for the digital currency directly. Naturally, you can trade one digital currency for another as well.

    Binance

    There are quite a few to choose from so it is good to read the reviews. You should then select one based on the number of deposit/withdrawal methods, the fee structure level, number of countries served, availability of security tools and features.
    The last aspect is a huge determining factor: exchanges can be prone to hacking, or loss from outages. Lastly, their margins and exchange trading functions are good to observe too.

    For serious and equally secure trading, you will likely need to use an exchange like Binance that requires the user to verify their ID before being opening an account. Make sure you have all your documents ready and up to date!

    Trading

    When it comes to the actual trading, let’s take a scenario where two people want to sell an altcoin but not for the market price. One sets a limit order for lower and the other for a slightly higher price. So, the best price to purchase Bitcoins, in this case, would be the median of the two prices.

    If the buyer wants to purchase more than one altcoin, they will continually take the lowest price available. By doing this, the “price” of the altcoin will increase as the lower-price sell orders are no longer available.

    You will then, as with Forex, purchase pairs of where you think your digital currency will be stronger against another e.g. BTC (Bitcoin) vs XRP (Ripple).
    This combo would look like this on the exchange: BTC/ XRP – 0.00011960. What this means is that one Ripple coin is worth that much Bitcoin for instance.

    The little details

    This type of trading, like commodities or forex, requires constant attention and the monitoring of prices. But there are tools that can also help you set prices and have the trades auto-execute.

    So, a platform which provides such tools conveniently allows you the time to do other important things. Like paying attention to your spouse, formal job or family and friends. That would be ideal.
    If you have the cash, time, expertise and financial clout, it is even possible to run your own Crypto Exchange!

    This is another benefit of a decentralized currency system that will allow you to earn some cash by charging for the usage of your robust platform.
    Well, this may be until the fiscal authorities’ crackdown on all of the platforms with restrictive legislation.

    Finally, like many platforms that provide opportunities to purchase something, the software must be stable and be cost-effective to use.

    ADVERT

  • The Big ‘Crypture’

    The Big ‘Crypture’

    I’m not quite sure if anyone has given some careful thought – in the heat of this ‘Crypto mania’. More specifically, have you ever considered the ramifications of the blockchain and its impact on the global economy?

    This is an attempt to perform a calculated prophecy, based on the conversations we’ve had with like-minded visionaries.


    An introspection into this ‘much-talked-about technology’ has led to endless possibilities.

    Presently, every Tom, Anastasia, and Patel are pursuing short-term gains. You are all probably investigating ways in which they too can “cash in” by investing in new digital currencies.

    This frenzy is mainly driven by how some of the altcoins are performing in value. Some digital coins are rising as much as 1000% in a ‘Crypto bull-run’. But the real appeal for digital “currencies” comes from the security, speed, and cost of transactions they facilitate.

    A case for Cryptos

    Most of you are understandably looking at it solely from an investment point of view – after all,  greed never sleeps.

    Also, let’s not forget the anonymity it affords one – great for criminals and money launderers. Because of the increased risk, monetary authorities and regulatory bodies will make a case for tighter controls.

    They may even push for the outright banning of this new currency altogether.


    Retail banks, are currently entrusted with the movement of your funds (electronic transfers) and are governed by economic monetary policy. This happens under the watchful eye of big brother – the Reserve Bank.

    These commercial banks are the “primary targets” so to say of the blockchain. They were, therefore, the first to react by investing or attempting to start up their own blockchains.


    Such projects, however, prove to be expensive and still risky ventures given that no-one knows the source and destination of the blockchain.

    Banks are nevertheless having to either make quick decisions about whether they get on board or partner with developers of Cryptos such as Ripple).

    We also look at other financial institutions such as credit lending facilities and money transfer institutions. They are also are naturally in partnerships with the banks. They, however, stand to get wiped out by the blockchain if you think about it.

    Really, who would want to cough up a 10% commission or a transfer fee for money sent abroad to your family? You could simply use something like IOTA which, by the way, is as a Crypto hovering around 3-5 USD (at time of publishing) per unit.

    It is capable of transacting very quickly and securely with no transaction fees!

    And how so you may ask? Those details are listed clearly on their respective websites.

    Peer review functionality

    It is the belief that the plan for Cryptos’ was to enable anyone to have access to a shared (decentralized) peer-to-peer type service that enables the secure transacting of literally – anything!

    You can look at the blockchain working in the same manner as BitTorrent or E-Mule (for those who remember that far back). In the way, that data, albeit mostly bootlegged music, videos, and software, was distributed and downloaded on the web.

    “Blockchain is essentially a quick peer-to-peer transaction of digital currency”

    The value of Cryptocurrencies is now driven by how well it works as a system. You must look more closely at the added value it can offer society from a functional, practical, convenient, and of course, cost-saving perspective.

    A real threat?

    So, what does that then mean for companies like Visa, Mastercard, or even a digital banking app like PayPal?

    You can also imagine the implications for investment banks and their traders. That is if markets such as the very volatile foreign exchange (Forex) are completely abandoned and substituted by Cryptos.


    There are now many an exchange for Cryptos in the appearing monthly.
    You will be able to switch or trade Bitcoin for Ethereum, Litecoin, IOTA, or Ripple.

    Handy if you need them quickly for a specific transaction, country, or product that accepts digital currency.

    More practical uses of Crypto

    The purpose of ‘Cryptos’ running on the blockchain is, therefore, to change the way we transact and pay for goods and services.


    The aim was to make it a ‘form of exchange’ but also to provide the resources for you to “mine” and own them.  This can be an alternative income generator alleviating the need for job creation. It can also be a substitute vocation for those you who were perhaps made redundant by automation and AI.

    So, once you mine the currency (provided you have the infrastructure and pay the overheads), you can use it to get the things you need or must pay for.
    Your electricity bill, for example, can then be processed and paid for directly from an IOTA-holding wallet.


    Speaking of electricity, we came across a very insightful article (referenced in the resource section) focusing on the impact of energy consumption that global rampant mining will cause the price of electricity and the environment.

    Coupled with the switch to electric cars this could surely force you to invest in better ways to generate electricity. That is if we are to maintain sensible levels of sustainability.

    Whether the price of electricity goes up or down will be determined by how quickly energy providers globally will be able to meet this surging demand.

    We can surely be in a position to observe the upcoming impact on electricity consumption from next year.

    More and more of the global population are beginning to mine altcoins for themselves.

    As we head into the festive season and bonuses are being paid out, be responsible for how you splash out. Do your research first – even if it means waiting a year to see how it all plays out.

  • The not-so mysterious world of cryptocurrency

    The not-so mysterious world of cryptocurrency

    Warren Buffett once referred to financial derivatives as “weapons of mass destruction” . He warned that they are detrimental to the global economy and financial markets.

    Cryptos have a way of creating something supposedly of intrinsic value out of nothing. This is as dangerous as propaganda that leads to conflict or promotes struggle.

    They are backed up by a cloud of non-regulatory policies by states who themselves, still traditional monetary policy measures.


    And this is despite their full understanding of the instruments of financial wizardry.

    In economics, the term creative destruction, however, has a paradoxically positive meaning. It is perfectly suited to the new form of “crypto”- currency (Bitcoin) that is not as mystic as it seems.

    A brief history

    Money is a concept that probably also met up with resilience when it was first supposedly introduced by the Chinese. They started carrying folding money during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907).

    The instability generated by uncontrolled usage and denomination, however, soon led to rapid inflation. This prompted the Chinese to drop it, only for it to be taken up again later when it got stabilized by the adoption and use by the West.

    They developed paper money as an offshoot of the invention of block printing. Block printing is like stamping.

    Ironically that very same term ‘block’ is the foundation behind the Bitcoin – which is generated using blockchains (digital public ledger).

    We won’t get into the mechanics of Bitcoins.  We will, however, attempt to increase awareness on why and how this new payment method could cause positive ripples in the financial global system.

    What is Bitcoin?

    As per Wikipedia, and as simple as it can get in terms of a description: Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a digital payment system.

    It was supposedly invented by an unknown programmer, or a group of programmers, under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.

    Though the anonymity creates an element of distrust about the agenda of its creators, it is surprisingly more transparent than derivatives.

    Cryptocurrency uses a system of cryptography (encryption) to control the creation of digital ‘coins’ and to verify millions of transactions.

    These transactions include are a basic movement of funds between two digital wallets and get submitted to a public ledger and await confirmation through encryption.

    This video is a great and simple way for you to understand the above because it is best understood when explained as a larger picture. Check out this useful and basic video on Bitcoins.

    That is quite a feat worth acknowledging because 11 years of existence is nothing compared to gold’s multiple century reigns.

    Now 2009 was not long ago considering the Bitcoin is now ‘worth’ well over $20 000 each (updated to 2021 levels).

    For centuries, gold has been our standard of trade or backing of all types of currency until it was ‘uncoupled’ by Nixon in 1971.

    The future of trade and commerce is in the digital sphere – are you in the know?

     Potential currency?

    For something to become the standard measure or mode of trade it, however, needs to be stable. So, while the technology behind Bitcoin (the Blockchain) is relatively sound, its actual price needs to find its firm nesting.

    Established currencies trade on markets via exchange rates with relatively minuscule increments of change in price and value. In comparison, Bitcoin can jump in value by $1000 within (minutes or seconds) – prompting skepticism about its stability.

    Google Engineer Ray Kurzweil, who is revered as a “prophet” for his mysterious predictions, such inconsistency undermines the cryptocurrency’s value as a currency.

    The aim is nevertheless to relieve our dependency on money or more so, the iron grip and often abusive control that some banking institutions have over consumers.

    You could even argue that the recent surge in its price is being fuelled by agents of the traditional banking industry. They naturally feel threatened by the fact that they may not fully understand it and its inherent potential. So they (cash-flush) could inflate it for an inevitable ‘burst’.

    But the currency though very volatile in its movement has remained buoyant. It has now held for well above $10 000 for sustained periods since its inception. Gold is now approx. $1,900.

    Bitcoins provide more guarantee than financial derivatives especially because of their open-source approach to its existence and use.

    Complexity

    The tricky part is simply getting to grips with the vastly abundant information about it and how you could even generate it.

    It is still a great backup ‘of a backup’. We rely on technology and more specifically the Internet for transactions and the associated traffic for our daily lives.

    A simultaneous crash of a few major servers, however, could send it all tumbling back into the digital abyss. But as with money and other forms of currencies, only time will tell.

    Bitcoin will just have to further prove its resilience and stability in the long run.

    Getting attention

    It is certainly not a ‘fly by night’ thing because it has sparked the interests of both public and private institutions globally. China even made a bold move to block the Bitcoin market from trading within its borders at some stage.

    China is notorious for blocking things that stem from the ‘West’ only to later introduce it under their own control to protect their financial sector.

    So, we can be rest assured that the creator is not Chinese! Sweden has allegedly passed legislature to make it an accepted form of currency.

    Currently, banks and governments are frantically creating their own sets of blockchains to ensure they are not caught off-guard.

    Read more about the implications of Cryptocurrency on the financial sector.

    Bitcoin also gets its collective strength (intrinsic value) from its limited quantity in circulation (19 million out of a finite 21 million).

    Spillover effects

    Bitcoin has also paved the way for others such as Ethereum, (mostly used for smart contracts and by developers) which is also seeing good growth.
    Then there is Litecoin, which was formed as part of a controversial yet civil split from the originators of Bitcoin to use ‘variant technologies’.


    All these platforms (companies) now use the blockchain to create all types of cryptocurrencies to capitalize on the spoils of this digital revolution.

    There are also several institutions that are offering late-comers a chance to benefit from the spoils of using and investing in digital currency.

    Naturally, all these schemes with their investment packages would require a ‘buy-in’ and marketing to attract more takers.

    Such Crypto ‘companies’ are likened to a pyramid scheme and subject to many investigations by fiscal and criminal authorities.
    But that is how Bitcoin, its promoters, and the market were initially treated.

    Interested? Check out the following useful links to their official websites to help you get started.
    You can learn more about them, about mining them, or simply buy some Bitcoin here.
    RISK WARNING: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK WHEN INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES.
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