WHAT IS A CRYPTOCURRENCY? Think of a cryptocurrency as a digital version of fiat currency such as the USD or GBP. Cryptography is used to secure the transaction as well as control the creation of new coins. In layman’s terms, it is a digital currency that is mined instead of printed. HOWDOESONEACQUIREA CRYPTOCURRENCY? A cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin is acquired by purchasing the coin via a wallet in typical fiat currency (this can be done via a credit card or wire transfer) and the wallet then allows you to buy various different cryptocurrencies using your fiat currency. WHATIS ABLOCKCHAIN? To begin with, a block is where the data for the transactions are stored, the linked decentralised series of the blocks is what is named a blockchain. Blockchain is the structure of relational data storage that provides the ledger and backbone of the coin.
HOWDOESONEINVEST IN CRYPTO? There are numerous ways of investing in cryptocurrencies, these range from simply buying and holding the coins on an exchange. This can be perceived as risky, as Exchanges have been hacked and coins stolen, for example, Mt. Geox: https://goo.gl/JBhSvL. Trading on one of the cryptocurrency exchanges (still risky as the funds are held on the exchanges’ hot wallet, and many of these exchanges are unregulated) storing on a computer wallet and the risk of being hacked, paper storage (which can be tedious and troublesome) or a hardware wallet which is a combination of software and hardware (and most popular at present) are some of the options to trade these cryptocurrencies. ENTERING THE MARKET The first thing you’ll need to do is decide which cryptocurrency you wish to purchase. There are hundreds to choose from, and each is slightly different from the other. Rather than researching the multitude of cryptocurrencies currently in existence and diving headlong, especially for first-time investors, it may be a better idea to spend some time following the trends and getting to know the basic and most prevalent currencies, and then begin to branch out once the basics of a few tokens are fully understood. The following is a list of the most popular by trading volume as of 4th September 2017 (coinmarketcap.com)
(BTC) Overview Bitcoin (BTC) is arguably the most well-known cryptocurrency starting out in 2008 and with an admittedly onward growth, the value and popularity of this coin has reached exponential heights. With a market capitalization of $64.36 billion (as of 15/08/2017) it is currently considered to be the most valuable coin. Daily volume for the past 24 hours was $1.1 Billion (blockchain.info) and 30% of transactions currently are traded in USD. Daily volume for the past 24 hours in USD was $397,507,250 (WorldCoinIndex (WCI) figures as of 17/08/2017). YEAR TO DATE +456% Price Action Bitcoin recently came within a whisker of the $5,000 level before a corrective move lower. Clearly the move higher has been explosive and therefore wild swing in both directions should be expected. The trend overall in the most well-known cryptocurrency is in good shape and pullbacks continue to attract buying interest, hence we do not believe that there is any reason in the short term for this sequence to end. TARGET STRONG VOLUME GROWTH