The Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency

The Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency

Nobody except you is able to take responsibility for your Cryptocurrency buying decisions, and thus you do have to think it through before investing.
If you’d like to find out more about this technology supporting cryptocurrencies, please check our info on the blockchain technology. As a newbie to cryptocurrency, it’s important to read a guide to cryptocurrency.

As a newbie, the world of cryptocurrency is a huge sea of unknown terms and technologies. We all ask ourselves “Where do I begin?”. What to keep in mind and what cryptocurrency keywords to look for when researching? What cryptocurrency resources to use?

This is a guide for the cryptocurrency beginners, to help you understand what to expect and to look out for. Most importantly, enjoy the process, it might be the best experience of your life just yet.

The rise of the Cryptocurrencies

Since the technological literacy of the population increases, approval of cryptocurrencies has raised as well. Online headlines like ‘Bitcoin price hits new all-time record’ and ‘Ethereum price surges’ are beginning to become a regular thing on the masses’ information feed.

What we know for certain is that individuals who were sceptical of Bitcoin and the tech behind it are gradually understanding and becoming increasingly more involved with crypto. The market cap of the whole crypto area is currently at $137 billion, March 2019, and the all-time high was $813 billion in January 2018. Who knows what will happen next month?

 

The Present Cryptocurrency Space

You’d have known of Bitcoin along with also the ‘altcoins.’ This naming convention began was because back in the times of 2011, forks of Bitcoin appeared from the markets. The forks, or clones, hoping to find their place on the market place, aiming to become ‘greater’ than Bitcoin. Since the appearance of Bitcoin, countless new cryptocurrencies have surfaced, aiming to take some of Bitcoin’s crypto market cap. Until now, Bitcoin has retained its crypto market dominance. But all these altcoins are gaining market share at an alarming rate. Ten times or even more expansion was discovered at a period as short as six months (visit PIVX, an altcoin).

Cryptocurrency, Stocks, and Fiat

The currencies we all know are known as ‘fiat’ in the cryptocurrency community. Although they have ‘currency’ in their own title, cryptocurrencies share more similarities with shares than to money. When you obtain any cryptocurrency or digital token, you’re in reality purchasing some tech inventory, part of the blockchain plus a bit of the system.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The most common places where people can purchase and exchange cryptocurrency are the cryptocurrency exchanges. Exchanges are places where you might purchase and sell your own crypto, with fiat.

There are numerous steps to estimate the reliability and quality of a market, including liquidity, disperse, fees, buy and withdrawal limitations, trading volume, protection, insurance, user-friendliness. Out of all of these, here are a few cryptocurrency exchanges perfect for beginners.

Most of the beginner friendly crypto exchanges will require you to deposit fiat from your bank account and then buy crypto.  You will need a bank account, and then follow some basic steps:

  1. Access the’Buy/Sell Bitcoin’ tab
  2. Choose the payment method
  3. Input the desired amount
  4. Click ‘Purchase Bitcoin’
  5. View your blamed Bitcoins or other cryptos in your account

When you become acquainted with purchasing crypto and begin to itch for some crypto trading (e.g. BTC/ETH), just carry out an instantaneous transfer from Coinbase into Coinbase Pro (former GDAX) free of cost and begin trading. Consider Coinbase as the location to conveniently purchase and save your crypto and Coinbase Pro as your own gross profit trading platform. Transfers between both are free and instant.

As you gradually find familiarized with different currencies, you may wish the alternative of investing in them. Research your exchanges of choice thoroughly.

When registering on those trades for the first time, do make it a point to confirm your account together with the essential files early, since you don’t wish to get stuck in the centre of a dull and slow admin operate once the trading chance comes. Verification on crypto exchanges may take weeks, and purchase/withdraw limitations might just grow gradually as your exchange.

If you’re investing in a currency other than USD, check out the market’s simplicity of withdrawal and funding. You don’t want your trade to come into fiat withdrawal issues. Make sure to check the deposit and withdraw limits and commission fees. 

Cryptocurrency Wallets

Exchanges have inbuilt online wallets to keep your cryptocurrency. But for people who heard of this Mt. Gox hack, then you may feel uncomfortable to store it on a cryptocurrency exchange. If you don’t want to maintain your crypto holdings in the exchange wallet, you have the choice to use a more secure wallet. Wallets are considered the safest way to secure your crypto investment.

By keeping your cryptocurrency in a wallet, you eliminate the platform risk, and it’s all up to you. After that, the biggest risk would be to physically lose your cold stored wallet or forget the password. A small network fee may be changed for the transfer of your cryptocurrency to a wallet. Always take precautions and avoid cryptocurrency trading mistakes.

Since it is hard to own something and not physically see it, many cryptocurrency investors prefer to store their cryptocurrency on hardware wallets, to remind them of their crypto holdings. Additionally, the hardware wallet’s user interface makes it effortless to keep numerous coins, which is particularly handy once you take part in ICOs (Initial Coin Offering) later on.

Cryptocurrency as part of Your Investment Portfolio

This topic is exceptionally subjective. Crypto has the capability to realize many ‘rags to riches’ stories, but its volatility makes it inconsistent. As a precaution, the money that you put in crypto ought to be money that you’re fine with losing. Most cryptocurrency investors are influenced psychologically by the volatility of the market. Of course, the risk could be worth it in the end, but this possible outcome comes with a lot of risks and psychological torment.

Of course, we recommend starting out with cryptocurrency you can acquire free, so check out how can you earn free cryptocurrency.

The popular and conservative recommends this portfolio:

  • < 30 years old (maximum) 30% Crypto, 50% Conventional Investments
  • 30 – 40 years old (maximum ) 20% Crypto, 60% Conventional Investments
Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Lack of expertise, Psychology and other Foolish mistakes newbie cryptocurrency traders make

How to prevent mistakes newbie cryptocurrency traders make?

Errors are brought on by a lack of expertise

We knew that it while preparing the listing. We have checked one more time and we all knew that we’re going the ideal way. A dealer must combine unknown business and he does not know the effects of his activities or their lack. Therefore he makes several activities, occasionally he earns, occasionally he loses after all he knows what he’s done. He’s his own bags of mistakes and for the large aspect of dealers, it’s the exact same.

Generally, nobody learns from the error of different dealers, we chose to publish this listing. Perhaps you have enough discipline to not get rid of money as the most aspect of dealers Well, nobody learns from the expertise of many others, we chose to publish this listing. Perhaps you have enough discipline to not lose your cash as other dealers do.

To tell the truth, typical mistakes rely not just on experience. They’re associated with a deficiency of knowledge and abilities which are useful especially for cryptocurrency trading world. We are going to examine the principal illusions of dealers, that make traders lose part of the funds.
In addition, you are going to discover 3 dumb mistakes, they appear to be evident, but they hurt sensible and decent people over and over again. They believe that”that won’t happen to me” These errors are part of the emotional world, but they do not deserve another category.

We’ll classify all errors according to their standards:

  1. Lack of experience
  2. Psychology
  3. Foolish cryptocurrency mistakes newbies traders make

The overview:

Should you catch on quite quickly, you will observe this long read begins from the origin of problems. this is a comprehensive guide and explanation of every error cryptocurrency traders and newbie make:

  • The 20% principle – the most suitable proportion of inexpensive resources in your portfolio using reduced capitalization. It should not be over 50%.
  • If you have discovered a”sexy” cryptocurrency from networking stations, likely you have missed a chance to buy it.
  • It is important not only select unique coins to your own portfolio but also put money into various kinds of the marketplace.
  • If you would like to trade as a casino, then you must invest all your money in a deposit or on your initial wager. If your plan is to create money from trading, then you should not comply with this information.
  • Should you see coin cost visiting the moon, then you must check a trading volume, averting pump & dump strategy.
  • It is a major mistake to market money if it begins falling. Additionally, you should not hold it indefinitely. Assess your trading forecast and do not follow it if it is not working.
  • Exchange support isn’t a bank, so your capital are under danger.
  • Examine your errors. If you have reserved your reduction, find a way how to prevent it next time.
  • Trading with No strategy. It is like driving to nowhere: you will quit driving when gas is finally over.
  • Do not follow your plan – it is like shifting the destination whilst driving with no map and with no clue how to read a topographical map.
  • Risk management – amounts that determine your entrance and exit rules along with your dimensions of Stop Loss. Without them, you see the tea leaves trade or combine the collective mind. Join our discussion and inform us if you adhere to this information (incidentally, this is poor information ).
  • All preceding rules will not help you in the event that you don’t know what the current program shows you. But if you’re able to just browse the graphs, with no principles you’ve got a fantastic danger to get rid of money.
  • You ought to look closely at the small things, this information can allow you to conserve your own funds.
  • We’ve got terrible news for you in the event that you run out of cash or hope to earn a lot of money in stocks.
  • In case your dynamics includes a developing loss and it resembles a loss and it is encouraged by reduction signs, there’s a fantastic possibility
  • that this can be a reduction. You ought to take it and try to not revenge. The marketplace acts like a living organism, however, it is not worth of revenging or fighting it if you have failed.
  • News effect on price moves. It’ll be too late in the event you choose to put in the trade with a broad group of different dealers.
  • You need to stop theft and supply safety to your own funds.
  • Advisors earn money on innocent novices, not on successful guidance.
  • You need to make an effort and make money rather than looking for a button. In cases like this, you will have the ability to forecast your own result.
  • You need to use just reliable robots.
  • Insufficient comprehension of Stock Exchange motion
  • The most essential ability of every dealer is your ability to browse the market. The charts move continuously, at the cryptocurrency business, even in brief periods anything could happen.

1. Lack of experience

 

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Purchasing cheap cryptocurrency

It isn’t worth investing in a cryptocurrency only’cause it’s cheap. There are still individuals who reside in 2010 when the market consisted of the few of cryptocurrencies.

These people today think that cheap altcoins are undervalued: after their price goes to the moon.

This doesn’t indicate that weakly capitalized coins aren’t worth purchasing. Risky and lucrative assets must be included in your portfolio, so they could bring fantastic gains. Their percentage should not be more than 20%. If you begin trading, you need to supply your portfolio with assets that are strong, and their commission must be not less than 50%.

If cheap is what you are looking for, there isn’t anything cheaper than earning free cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Purchase a cryptocurrency following its growth

You shouldn’t invest money on”sexy” tokens. Ordinarily, it’s too late to purchase it if everybody discusses this”sexy” token since the cost soar is accompanied by its own crash.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: To not diversify your funds based on Advertise leadership

Maybe you’ve learned about diversification and believe it is an investment in various coins. Nonetheless, it’s usually regarded as insecure to spend only in 1 way of the marketplace. That is why cryptocurrency investors opt to invest in trading, mining, ICO, and startups in precisely the exact same time, also disperse this portfolio properly.

Why is this essential? Cryptocurrency marketplace lives by its own legislation, its own lively can differ: a sharp increase, lingering fall, sore level – and you can’t predict it. It’s essential for each and every dealer to rely on the gain from different trades in the event of a failure at once in several kinds of investment.

In cases like this, you should not forget about balancing and creating your portfolio. It is vital to produce a record of the very promising coins and pick the sum of every coin on your own funds. You have to look at your portfolio frequently and delete or add resources.

 

You should not spend money on “hot” tokens. Usually, it’s too late to buy it if everyone discusses this “hot” token because the price soar is accompanied by its crash. Some investors had bought highs Ripple (XRP) and Tron (TRX) in 2017, and they regretted a few weeks later, in 2018.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Invest all your funds on your first deposit or trade

Generally, newbies attempt to make from scratch as far as you can. Maybe not all them think how to generate their own strategy or how to not lose their deposit.

Attempting to make all of the cash from the cryptocurrency marketplace, they frequently overlook the vital components in trading – capital and money direction.

It contributes to serious mistakes – shifting all of the available capital to their own trading accounts.

Don’t make your initial deposit from your entire amount, particularly in the event that you don’t have a trading program or your statistics.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Be a victim of a pump and dump scam

If you have discovered unknown coin, which cost went to the moon, then you ought to stop dreaming, since this might be part of the pump and dump scheme.

At exactly the exact same time, you should not dismiss it you need to assess its trading volume on CoinMarketCap. Its 24h trading quantity significantly less than $1mln – that could possibly be a “pump and dump” scam.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Sell your cryptocurrency if the price is going down

This is a current market, babe, this may occur: a coin cost that you have, suddenly, starts to fall. About persistence, we will talk about a little later.

Let us talk about the 1st one about promoting your coin when it functions to collapse. You will see the error.

You need to alter your position before you choose to market falling cryptocurrency. Let us say that you have invested in this coin since you thought in its own prospects.

1) Have you ceased thinking in the long-term outlook of the cryptocurrency?

2) Have you shifted your goal?

3) Have you noticed any information, which affected its cost?

We believe that you have known everything: if all of your answers are”no”, you need to wait to get a much better time.

Such trades accumulate a massive reduction, which is extremely tricky to pay with gains.

Generally, volatility is fine. Cryptocurrencies – are claims, their costs go not just up and down, but they constantly fluctuate. Additionally, the majority of the time that their rates are from the sideways motion — they fall and grow roughly in precisely the exact same selection. Consequently, if the cost has dropped contrary to your expectations, then it’s fairly possible this is only one more fluctuation prior to expansion.

It is important to start a trade after assessing the cryptocurrency price chart and the most recent news. If that which shows you that you ought to start a trade, maybe it’s well worth waiting until the close of the drawdown.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Choose only one cryptocurrency

If a coin does not satisfy your expectations, then you can face together with the next common error – hold money at any price.

Yep, you should not sell it instantly, additionally, you should not rush and opt for an opposite manner.

Persistence, particularly in the event that you confront failures and problems with any money, is a potent technique. Generally, this is a helpful attribute of personality, which generally provides an edge, but not necessarily.

In a couple of days, you will observe an inclination to permanent losses. You should not persist – only promote the coin, create a few changes on your plan, have a look at your situation and fix your ineffective strategy.

It is very important to understand:

Prevent your own personal rules and beliefs should you see they aren’t functioning.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Store your funds on the exchange

It’s dangerous to store all of your funds within a market. We’ve got numbers of instances once the trades were closed with no reason and blocked users balances indefinitely — their customers lost their capital. Accounts with low-security level could be hacked.

The trades aren’t exactly the same as banks, so they’re aimed to not save capital. You need to store your cash in more secure and more suitable cold wallets.

You should regularly draw your money if you do not intend to use this amount throughout the transaction.

Qualification

A range of mistakes that are connected with a lack of particular skills. That is why they are sometimes utilized as a guideline for selecting which path to research further.

This block comprises the following errors:

  • Avoid assessing unprofitable trades
  • Trading with No strategy
  • Launched in a trade That Doesn’t suit your plan
  • Know nothing regarding risk management
  • Do not know stock market motion
  • Prevent assessing unprofitable trades

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Avoid analyzing unprofitable trades

It’ll be nearly possible to lower your unprofitable transactions to zero. You ought to consider trading for a company and plan your own losses.

All traders confront with losses. A number of them believe this is a reduction, then come to the conclusion they weren’t fortunate enough. That can be a mistake.

Without assessing what’s occurred, it’s hard to comprehend what do you want to modify firstly, so as to prevent losses that are new.

You need to examine your failures and examine them, so as to define your errors.

If it’s a challenge for you to examine it on your own, you can combine our trading discussion, there we assist beginners.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: No strategy crypto trading

Everybody knows about the volatility of this cryptocurrency marketplace — the origin of (endless pleasure ) gains and (infinite pain) risks.

Cryptocurrency market has created an illusion of”I shall quickly input and cope with everything through the procedure.”

Regrettably, without a transparent trading program, you get a fantastic opportunity to lose your money, since you need to make decisions based on instinct and feelings, you need to consider different people- everything that contributes trading from company to betting. A few indicators that you know are not likely to help since they reveal nothing about the dangers and quantity of trades.

Additionally, emotional stress will make you feel drowsy fast.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Engage in a trade that does not match your strategy

People who remain at trading, earlier or later, with a different number of losses, realize that they want their own approach.

After a few losing trades, traders see it is crucial to adhere to the plan rigorously.

Thus, follow your strategy, averting joining the transaction that doesn’t agree with your plan, even though it appears appealing and transparent.

If you have noticed that you ought to alter your priority, then you need to change it, but you need to also prepare a plan. Don’t attempt and reevaluate your trading procedure if you aren’t prepared to risk.

What proportion of your funds would you hazard in each individual trade? When can you use Stop the Loss?

The dilemma is that the world is merciless to people who don’t maintain a journal of trades and don’t put limitations on losses.

It is not important if you use conservative or aggressive risk management.

Without it, the problem will later be fairly miserable for you.

Generally, don’t test your luck and compute your own risks.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Lack of understanding of stock market movement

The program is composed of corrections and instincts.

Impulse is a lively upward or downward motion that’s more powerful than the preceding maximum or minimum. Correction is a motion of the chart in a particular impulse. Correction is more than an urge.
To be able to specify price movements of a coin, then you need to inspect the graph at several periods: 1 hour, 4 hours daily.
With no abilities, traders have a fantastic opportunity to purchase the highs and market them with a reduction.

 

2. Psychology

List of errors connected with mental eligibility of the dealer, which may be solved together with introspection and self-control. Robots cope better compared to individuals with this listing.

  • Inattention
  • Emotions
  • High expectations
  • Fighting against loss and neglecting stop reduction
  • Forget assessing breaking news and dismiss facts

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Inattention

The cryptocurrency marketplace is truly volatile, and it’s fairly tricky to keep an eye on everything. This issue could be partially solved by robots, also by way of training.
At times it’s possible to purchase cryptocurrency at a rather large price. This will lessen the price, so the cost will probably be unprofitable.

It is vital to create your own trading plan and determine the intricacies of this inventory, you need to calculate and make conclusions quickly. Incidentally, robots deal with it better than individuals.

Stress, euphoria, expect, irritation are harmful. They bring reductions to a dealer or even cause the reduction of their deposit, they don’t allow to have a sober look at the circumstance.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Emotions

Emotions take over investors and they raise their losses, don’t take profits in time, and start intentionally poor traders.

If you believe you get started earning large amounts from the very first days, you’re confused. In reality, success doesn’t come instantly and depends upon your expertise obtained by perseverance and self-confidence.

People who get to the finish, get an outcome. On occasion, the very first income from cryptocurrency trading comes after dropping a few deposits, but the outcome is always well worth it.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: High expectations

If you believe that you start earning big amounts from the very first days, you’re confused. In fact, success does not come immediately and depends upon your experience obtained by perseverance and self-confidence.

Those who go to the finish, get an outcome. Sometimes the first income from cryptocurrency trading comes after dropping several deposits, but the result is always well worth it.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Struggling against loss and failing stop reduction

The brutal fact is that trading losses won’t regain. But it’s hard for novices to set up with losses, and frequently they begin to behave responsibly: attempting to maintain the position until the previous satoshi or perhaps double the loudness of the trade. The longer they behave weirdly, the higher are their losses, they could lose their deposit.

The reason for the error can be found in the certainty of dealers. They think that investment must”return” the cash to them. Regrettably, they convince the industry rarely.

Don’t take altcoins as a distinct region of the marketplace or product.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Forget researching news and dismiss the truth

The price of cryptos is dependent upon the news. Dealers forget about it, particularly if they use technical evaluation whilst trading. It is important to utilize basic analysis in cryptocurrency trading and unite it using specialized evaluation.

This error isn’t common. Some dealers forget about it, but they could understand the value of monitoring the information. Well, every event from the cryptocurrency business can bring sharp price changes or alter the trend management.

The frequency of monitoring is dependent upon your trading plan. It’s thought that you are able to develop your abilities in 21 days. Set a reminder and find time for studying daily. As an alternative, you may subscribe to this newsletter.

3. Foolish cryptocurrency mistakes newbies traders make

They have been dedicated by adults, normally smart men and women. We’re Certain That You Aren’t capable of doing, however, we recommend checking them:

  • Careless attitude toward safety
  • After others guidance and Purchase signs
  • Seeking to locate”a cash button”
  • Utilizing unreliable trading bots
  • Careless attitude toward safety

Dealers consider safety if it is too late to take care of it. Before enrollment on the market platform, you need to check whether it employs the best applications to encrypt personal information, such as SSL certificates. It’s also wise to be certain transactions with SMS and email verification are protected. Additionally, email ought to be safeguarded also.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Following others guidance and buy signals

You ought to be aware that IT-celebrities can place advertisements, even John McAfee confessed paid advertising, moreover, you should not overlook that advisers are not accountable for their own words.
It is trendy to buy signs on forums, and other programs before the market turn against you. You must remember the “easy money” signifies something else.

Successful traders utilize advertisements rarely and select unique methods of boosting their approaches. By way of instance, through trust administration. Should you purchase access to signs group, you get a fantastic opportunity to combine a bogus group and shed your own funds.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Seeking to locate “a cash button”

The simple fact that countless dealers couldn’t locate it, obviously, doesn’t imply anything. Well, there’s absolutely no button.

We won’t dissuade you in the event that you choose to find it. You need to understand that this button will be hidden so much if it actually exists. It is much easier to make money than attempting to locate a cash button and we encourage this thought.

Cryptocurrency mistakes newbies should avoid: Using unreliable trading robots

The marketplace offers a significant array of robots, advisers and sign bots, free of charge or not free of charge.

Generally, these are scam programs geared toward parasitize the innocent beginners.

  • You should not purchase robots when you have not analyzed it and can not rely upon it.
  • Prevent projects that haven’t any community. Remarks can be imitation, community – certainly not.
  • Developers frequently offer their bots at no cost, but you may utilize in on the market that has a lousy reputation.

You know yourself better than anybody else, so that means that you can forecast your potential mistakes and you understand where situations you need to pay extra attention.

January 2019: Cryptocurrency Review

January 2019: Cryptocurrency Review

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019

What happened to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in January 2019? How did the crypto market perform and what other cryptocurrency news should you look after? Find out some of the cryptocurrency highlights of January 2019.

This is the chart for Bitcoin for January 2019.

bitcoin january 2019 review

The new year started slowly for the crypto market, as it was bouncing between a high of $135.4B and low of around $125B. The first week ended with a market cap of $129B – slightly under a 6% weekly gain.

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/4/2019)

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/4/2019)The second week of January left us with a drop in the crypto market, with a $123.2B market cap, a 4.5% drop on the week. Most of the top cryptocurrencies saw red during this week as well, with the exception of Tron (TRX) which actually grew 23.71%.

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/11/19)

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/11/19)A rather uneventful week was the third week of the year. The total market cap was at around $122B.  Most individual cryptocurrencies stayed within single-digit gains and losses. A few exceptions were Augur (56.85%), Chainlink (20.45%), and TenX (78.94%).

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/18/19)

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/18/19)

The fourth week started on a positive note but ended up being a disappointment for cryptocurrency prices. The cryptocurrency market cap dropped about 1.6% and currently sits at $120 billion. The only coins showing any double-digit movement were Waves (12.99%), Holo (76.98%), and Factom (14.59%) among a few others.

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/25/19)

Cryptocurrency Market Stats (1/25/19)

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain News

31st December 2018 

The online retailer Overstock announced it would pay a part of its Ohio state business tax using Bitcoin.

The state will charge a 1% fee on payments made with Bitcoin, which is less than the 2.5% service fee on credit card payments.

7th January 2019

Some northern Nevada areas are utilizing blockchain to store computerized version of government records like birth and marriage certificates.

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposal for using blockchain for air traffic data. They describe it as “an open source permissioned blockchain framework to enable aircraft privacy and anonymity while providing a secure and efficient method for communication with Air Traffic Services, Operations Support, or other authorized entities.”

8th January 2019

Nick Szabo, one of Bitcoin’s earliest developers, spoke at the Israeli Bitcoin Summit. During his presentation, he made a bold claim, “There’s going to be some situations where a central bank can’t trust a foreign central bank or government with their bonds…a more trust minimized solution is cryptocurrency.”

10th January 2019

Darren Soto, blockchain’s biggest fan on Capitol Hill, told Cheddar.com this week that the SEC shouldn’t have jurisdiction over most cryptocurrencies. He stated that “securities laws can be very intense”, which inhibits the growth of blockchain technology.

15th January 2019

The state of Wyoming proposed a bill to legalize the tokenization of stock certificates for corporations. Beyond stock issuance, the bill would make voting via blockchain legally binding as well.

Blockchain companies are beginning to notice too. IOHK, the development company behind Cardano, has announced plans to relocate from Hong Kong to Wyoming.

16th January 2019

Exchange owners reacted to Cryptopia’s recent hack. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) outlined the risks of storing funds yourself, encouraging users to only store coins on reputable exchanges or, even better, decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

17th January 2019

Professors from MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley will attempt to create a new cryptocurrency with faster transaction speeds and the same core decentralization principles of crypto. The new crypto, Unit-e, will allegedly process up to 10,000 transactions per second utilizing a new form of sharding.

Unit-e is the first project under Distributed Technology Research, a non-profit for creating decentralized tech and backed by investors such as Pantera Capital.

18th January 2019

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) talked about the classification of cryptocurrencies: “only fiat currency, or currency issued by the United States government, is ‘money’ in Pennsylvania.” This classification means that cryptocurrency exchanges and kiosks like Bitcoin ATMs are not required to get Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs).

According to the DoBS, to require an MTL, “fiat currency must be transferred with or on behalf of an individual to a 3rd party, and the money transmitter must charge a fee for the transmission.” As crypto entities exchange fiat for crypto directly, they do not qualify. This is great news for cryptocurrency businesses, but they still have to follow the stricter rules of the federal government and other states in which they wish to operate.

22nd January 2019

CNBC hosted a panel in Davos, Switzerland. Here are some memorable quotes regarding Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology from the discussions:

Jeff Schumacher (Founder, BCG Digital Ventures): “I do believe [bitcoin] will go to zero. I think it’s a great technology but I don’t believe it’s a currency. It’s not based on anything.”

Glen Hutchins (Chairman, North Island): “The way to think about the value of the tokens is as a derivative of the use value of the protocols they enable.”

Brad Garlinghouse (CEO, Ripple): “The long-term value of any digital asset is derived from the utility it delivers.”

Edith Yeung (Partner, 500 Startups): “I think it’s a really good thing that now the crypto secondary market has, in some way, fizzled out because the people who are here now building are the ones that really believe in the technology.”

 

The Economics of Cryptocurrencies

The Economics of Cryptocurrencies

Let’ explore some of the factors that affect the price movements of a cryptocurrency. We have identified the main factors which affect the cryptocurrency price (but there are many more other)

  • Supply & Demand
  • Utility
  • Market Sentiment
  • Mining Difficulty

Supply & Demand

Supply and demand is a fundamental factor that affects the price of a cryptocurrency (and the price of any type of market). Bitcoin is the most well-known, and therefore, the most sought-after cryptocurrency. With a circulating supply of 16.7 million coins, the number of bitcoins available is quite low when compared to altcoins.

Circulating supply of the top ten cryptocurrencies according to coinmarketcap
Source: Coinmarketcap

This low supply, when weighed against the staggering demand Bitcoin has seen in the past few months, is believed, by some, to be the reason for Bitcoin’s surge in price.

Utility

Utility = the usefulness of a cryptocurrency. The more useful a cryptocurrency is, the more likely it is to be perceived as valuable, and therefore, the more likely it is to be bought.

Let’s take Ethereum as an example! People believe it is useful because of the platform that it provides in allowing people to build decentralized applications on top of. This novel use of blockchain technology as a sort of app store, as opposed to a medium of exchange, has been perceived by some to be very useful. And so, Ethereum can be said to have high utility and therefore be seen as valuable.

Market Sentiment

As a cryptocurrency trader, it is likely that you will switch between multiple positions at a high frequency. Therefore, it becomes key that any position you take is well researched and has a positive market sentiment surrounding it.

Read more on Where Is the Cryptocurrency Industry Headed in 2019?

It is important to research any project you intend investing and to read recent articles on that cryptocurrency. If you invest in a cryptocurrency that has had no real coverage, it is likely that your position will stagnate, or even worse, to decline in value.

Getting a clear view of the sentiment surrounding a cryptocurrency allows you to filter the useless cryptocurrencies and focus on active projects capable of growth.

Mining Difficulty

Mining difficulty = a measure of how hard it is to be the next person that gets to add a block to the blockchain, and receive the reward for doing so.

Read more on Mining Cryptocurrency: Crypto Mining Business Model Used Worldwide

A lower mining difficulty indicates that a cryptocurrency is easy to mine; this results in an increase in the rate of supply, and therefore, downward pressure on its price.

Conversely, a higher mining difficulty suggests that a cryptocurrency is harder to mine. This results in supply growing at a slower rate, therefore resulting in upward pressure on the price.

Cryptocurrency Regulation Around the World Report

Cryptocurrency Regulation Around the World Report

This report surveys the legal and policy landscape surrounding cryptocurrency regulation around the world. This report covers 130 countries as well as some regional organizations that have issued laws or policies on the subject.

After analysing how various jurisdictions, it would be possible to identify emerging patterns, as this report is trying to describe. The country surveys are also organized regionally to allow for region-specific comparisons.

The terminology used to describe cryptocurrency

One first aspect the report has revealed is the variety and fluidity of the terminology used to describe cryptocurrency.

Read more on The differences between cryptocurrency coins and tokens

Some of the terms used by countries to reference cryptocurrency include: digital currency (Argentina, Thailand, and Australia), virtual commodity (Canada, China, Taiwan), crypto-token (Germany), payment token (Switzerland), cyber currency (Italy and Lebanon), electronic currency (Colombia and Lebanon), and virtual asset (Honduras and Mexico).

Cryptocurrency regulation: Cryptocurrency warnings and approach

One common action was identified across the surveyed jurisdictions: the government-issued notices about the pitfalls of investing in the cryptocurrency markets.  Such warnings, mostly issued by central banks, are designed to educate people about the difference between actual currencies, which are issued and guaranteed by the state, and cryptocurrencies, which are not.

Most government warnings include the following: the investment risk resulting from the high volatility, many of the organizations that facilitate such transactions are unregulated, investing is done as a personal risk and some even add that cryptocurrency was created for illegal activities, such as money laundering and terrorism.

Read more on What is cryptocurrency and why do we need it?

Some of the countries surveyed go beyond simply warning the public and have expanded their laws on money laundering, counterterrorism, and organized crimes to include cryptocurrency markets, and require banks and other financial institutions to ban or limit any type of activity that cannot be tolerated under such laws.

For instance, Australia, Canada, and the Isle of Man recently enacted laws to bring cryptocurrency transactions and institutions that facilitate them under the ambit of money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws.

Some countries (Algeria, Bolivia, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam) ban any and all activities involving cryptocurrencies. Qatar and Bahrain have a slightly different approach in that they forbid their citizens from engaging in any kind of activities involving cryptocurrencies locally but allow citizens to do so outside their borders.

Other countries are indirectly imposing restrictions, by restricting cryptocurrency transactions of the financial institutions (Bangladesh, Iran, Thailand, Lithuania, Lesotho, China, and Colombia).

Cryptocurrency regulation: ICOs

Cryptocurrency regulation is not the only concern for some. Only a limited number of countries surveyed regulate initial coin offerings (ICOs). Some of these countries ban ICOs altogether (mainly China, Macau, and Pakistan), while most tend to focus on regulating them.

For the rest of the countries that do address ICOs, its regulations depend on how an ICO is categorized. For instance, in New Zealand,  particular obligations may apply depending on whether the token offered is categorized as a debt security, equity security, managed investment product, or derivative.  In the Netherlands, the rules applicable to a specific ICO depend on whether the token offered is considered a security or a unit in a collective investment, an assessment made on a case-by-case basis.

Read more on How to earn free cryptocurrency (without investing or mining)

Cryptocurrency regulation: Blockchain technology

Some of the jurisdiction surveyed for this report, while not recognizing cryptocurrencies as legal tender, see potential in the blockchain technology behind it and are developing a cryptocurrency-friendly regulatory regime as a means to attract investment in technology companies that excel in this sector. In this class are countries like Spain, Belarus, the Cayman Islands, and Luxemburg.

Read more on Blockchain technology used in non-cryptocurrency applications

Some jurisdictions are seeking to develop their own system of cryptocurrencies.  This category includes a diverse list of countries, such as the Marshall Islands, Venezuela, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) member states, and Lithuania.

Belgium, South Africa, and the United Kingdom stated that the size of the cryptocurrency market is too small to be cause for sufficient concern to warrant regulation but have issued warnings to the public about the pitfalls of such investments.

Cryptocurrency regulation: Cryptocurrency taxation

The challenge appears to be how to categorize cryptocurrencies and the specific activities involving them for purposes of taxation.

Transactions must first get classified either as income or capital gains to determine the applicable type of tax.

Read more on Top countries where cryptocurrency is legal

The surveyed countries have categorized cryptocurrencies differently for tax purposes, as illustrated by the following examples:

Israel taxed as asset
Bulgaria taxed as financial asset
Switzerland taxed as foreign currency
Argentina & Spain   subject to income tax
Denmark subject to income tax and losses are deductible
United Kingdom: corporations pay corporate tax, unincorporated businesses pay income tax, individuals pay capital gains tax

Mainly due to a 2015 decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), gains in cryptocurrency investments are not subject to value added tax in the European Union Member States.

Cryptocurrency mining is exempt from taxation in most surveyed countries. However, in Russia mining that exceeds a certain energy consumption threshold is taxable.

Cryptocurrency regulation: Cryptocurrency payments

In a small number of jurisdictions, cryptocurrency regulation permits cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

Read more on What Can You Buy Using Cryptocurrency?

In the Swiss Cantons of Zug and a municipality within Ticino, cryptocurrencies are accepted as a means of payment even by government agencies. The Isle of Man and Mexico also permit the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment along with their national currency.  Much like governments around the world that fund various projects by selling government bonds, the government of Antigua and Barbuda allows the funding of projects and charities through government-supported ICOs.

Mining Cryptocurrency: Crypto Mining Business Model Used Worldwide

Mining Cryptocurrency: Crypto Mining Business Model Used Worldwide

The most popular way to get into crypto is to start mining crypto. There are a few other ways in which you can earn crypto without spending any fiat money, but serious money is made by mining cryptocurrency.

Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is an automatic process, a decentralized mechanism that creates Bitcoin out of thin air to provide rewards to miners for processing transactions. The result: a booming business in mining.

All you need to get into the business of mining cryptocurrency is a rack of high-speed computers and access to electricity anywhere in the world and you can essentially create cryptocurrency, simply by running free software.

Crypto Mining Business Model #1: Legal, Competitive Mining

In the early days of crypto, mining was a business for small-time entrepreneurs. The business soon became increasingly competitive, as miners purchased massively powerful computers while scaling up their operations to remain profitable.

Risks seemed low, as the original Bitcoin software was supposed to account for falling prices, making it easier to mine as the number of miners remaining in the game dropped, thus ensuring that there would always be enough miners to process all the transactions.

Then the Bitcoin crash came, severely limiting the ability for miners to churn out crypto while still making a profit. As it turns out, inefficiencies in the mining algorithm, combined with market pressure on the transaction fees that were supposed to partially compensate miners, has led to a squeeze on the ability for anyone to mine at a profit.

Legal crypto mining using electricity at market rates is now becoming increasingly unfeasible, even in places like Iceland, which have exceptionally low electricity rates combined with temperatures conducive for data centres filled with heat-generating computers.

Crypto Mining Business Model #2: Subsidized Electricity Mining

In Washington State, hydroelectric power generates far more juice than locals can consume, thus attracting a booming business in crypto mining.

“The region’s five huge hydroelectric dams, all owned by public utility districts, generate nearly six times as much power as the region’s residents and businesses can use,”

Explains Politico journalist Paul Roberts. “Most of the surplus is exported, at high prices, to markets like Seattle or Los Angeles, which allows the utilities to sell power locally at well below its cost of production.”

By 2015, however, the Washington Bitcoin mining craze had run its course. “Margins grew so thin—and, in fact, occasionally went negative—that miners had to spend their coins as soon as they mined them to pay their power bills,” Roberts adds.

If not Washington, then, what about Iran? “I come across some very interesting cases,” notes Mohsen Rajabi, an Iranian blockchain entrepreneur. “I recently set up a rig for a middle-aged customer who was not tech-savvy at all and had simply heard of mining and its potential profits. He wanted to start with ten devices installed at his factory because it can legally use extremely cheap industrial electricity.”

Crypto Mining Business Model #3: Steal Electricity

The electricity is the greatest cost of the mining business. If you can manage to cut that out, that chances of making a profit increase at once. In the early days of Bitcoin, college kids would use the university electricity to power their rigs from their dorm.

Today, in contrast, stealing electricity is serious business. “A Shanxi Datong [China] man named Xu Xinghua stole power from the poles near the West Second Plant of the Kouquan Railway, which was borrowed from November to December 2017,” reports Liu Yulin, writing in Chinese for The Paper.

“The coin ‘mining machine’ and three electric fans were operated for 24 hours,” she continues. “Xu Xinghua mined a total of 3.2 bitcoins, earning 120,000 yuan [$17,700], and the electricity generated by the stolen electricity was 104,000 [$15,340] yuan.”

What happened to the thief? “Xu Xinghua was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for committing theft and was fined 100,000 yuan [$14,750],” she reports. He also had to reimburse the electric company for the stolen power and forfeit his equipment.

This story is one of many, notable merely for the fact that the perpetrator was caught and the story appeared in the local paper. Many more instances are sure to be out there, as yet unreported.

Another popular, if potentially unintentional, way to steal electricity: set up a mining operation, take the profits, and then go out of business.

This is the story of one of the Washington State mining companies. “U.S.-based bitcoin mining firm Giga Watt has declared bankruptcy with millions still owed to creditors,” writes Yogita Khatri for Coindesk. “Creditors include the utilities provider in its Douglas County [Washington] base, having a claim of over $310,000, and electricity provider Neppel Electric, which is owed almost half a million dollars.”

One silver lining: there may be a possibility these stiffed utilities will eventually get some of their money back, as Giga Watt raised about $22 million in its ICO – and it’s possible the scammers were unable to spend or secret away all of the proceeds before the bankruptcy shut them down.

Crypto Mining Business Model #4: Cryptojacking

Illicit cryptocurrency mining (known as cryptojacking), has surpassed ransomware as the most popular form of cybercrime targeting enterprises.

Cryptojacking means introducing crypto mining software onto a target victim’s computer without their knowledge. The software starts generating crypto for the hacker while stealing processing power and electricity from the victim.

The cryptojacking problem, in fact, is much worse than it was when I wrote my article Top Cyberthreat Of 2018: Illicit Cryptomining in March 2018.

“Despite the volatility in the value of various cryptocurrencies, the trend of illicit cryptocurrency mining activity among cybercriminals shows no signs of abating,” according to David Liebenberg, senior threat analyst at Cisco Talos.

One of the reasons why the cryptojacking problem is getting worse is because the malware is getting better. One such package: Rocke. “Talos assesses with high confidence that Rocke will continue to leverage Git repositories to download and execute illicit mining onto victim machines,” continues Liebenberg.

Git repositories are where most of today’s enterprise software developers store and manage their source code – but such repositories are not Rocke’s creators’ only target. “It is interesting to note that they are expanding their toolset to include browser-based miners, difficult-to-detect trojans, and the Cobalt Strike malware [malware that leverages Cobalt Strike penetration testing software].”

Crypto Mining Business Model #5: Evading Sanctions

Another cryptocurrency mining business model is to evade sanctions.

For example, a pair of Iranian Bitcoin miners tried to take advantage of their local USD exchange rate: “At the time we bought the mining device, the rate of the US dollar in Iran was still quite high, so we figured we would make about $90 to $100 a month,” explains Ali Hosseini, an Iranian miner. “The cost of electricity is relatively low in Iran, so the math seemed viable.”

Hosseini’s cousin also spoke up. “Foreign exchange rates and Bitcoin prices have fallen and our profits have been slashed, but we’re not seeing losses yet,” says Pedram Ghasemi, another Iranian miner. “According to my calculations, the US dollar must drop below 110,000 Rials [about $2.60] and Bitcoin must be down to $2,000 for us to really lose.”

Another example is North Korea. Priscilla Moriuchi, a former top National Security Agency official and now director of strategic threat development at Recorded Future, estimates that North Korea may have earned up to $200 million in 2017 mining crypto.

How, then, would North Korea turn that crypto into hard currency? “North Korea has such extensive criminal networks that have been well-established for decades to facilitate illegal activities,” Moriuchi says. “If Pyongyang were able to cash out into physical currency, it would be relatively easy for them to move that currency back into North Korea and to buy things with the physical currency. I would bet that these coins are being turned into something — currency or physical goods — that are supporting North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.”

Crypto Mining Business Model #6: Mining at a Loss

This doesn’t come out as a rational business model, unless ensuring that crypto transactions can be completed is your primary motivation.

We know that crypto is (or at least use to be) essential to the operation of the Darknet. Many illegal businesses and organized crime syndicates depend on the successful exchange of crypto to move their contraband.

Should the value of Bitcoin or any other crypto drop to the point that no one could make money mining it, then such syndicates would likely step in to fill the void – mining at a loss to keep the crypto running.

For all the crypto fanatics out there, therefore, there is a reason to take heart – there’s no way crypto values will ever drop far enough for mining to cease. Organized crime wouldn’t let that happen.