Technology is rapidly changing the way we do virtually everything, including how we choose to exchange money. This article might come as a shock to many as money will soon be invincible. That’s right, in the future, you probably won’t be holding another dollar in your wallet. Instead, your smartphone will be your new wallet (as it currently is for some people). Welcome to the new evolution of money.
Digital Currency Introduction
There’s a hot new form of currency out there known as digital currency (also referred to as cryptocurrencies, cryptos, digital coins, blockchain, etc.). Yes, I do mean there’s now a currency that you can’t physically see. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that are seen as the next evolution of monetary systems. They are decentralized, or peer-to-peer and the transaction fees are much lower than traditional banking (we’ll be saying goodbye to physical dollars in your pockets just like we said goodbye to cassette players, although some still exist to this day). They’re less susceptible to events of fraud thanks to cryptographic algorithms and transactions are processed at a much faster speed. You also have ability to store your assets in a virtual wallet such as a web wallet. This could mean that aliens will be making it to planet earth pretty soon. That’s the type of crazy world we live in today.
Essentially, digital currency is a new form of currency that is technology based. Think of it like PayPal, where we electronically send and receive money, but in a new currency. Instead of sending money via PayPal, we can now send an actual currency that is digital to other people. Imagine going to another country and instead of going to a foreign exchange shop to exchange your dollars to that country’s currency, you can now pay people in that country with your digital currency. Now you don’t have to worry much about someone robbing you since you don’t have any physical money on you.
The Infamous Bitcoin
The most popular cryptocurrency out there right now is called Bitcoin, which was first introduced in 2008. Bitcoin slowly gained momentum over time and is now worth more than double the per ounce price of gold! Bitcoin, just like gold, can be traded on an exchange and has a monetary value to it (as of the publish date of this article, Bitcoin is worth almost $6,700 just for one unit/share!!!) That means that you need almost $6,700 just to get one piece of Bitcoin. There are now over 700 different kinds of cryptocurrencies out there right now and Ethereum and Litecoin are some other popular choices next to Bitcoin. Even Burger King has its own cryptocurrency in Russia known as WhopperCoin. At this rate, when aliens come to this planet, they’ll probably create their own cryptocurrency named AlienCoin.
How You Can Get in the Game
You can now buy things online with digital currency (my firm Badu Tax Services, LLC now accepts payments in Bitcoin) and due to its high security measures and convenience of use, demand is growing higher for digital currency. This is an opportunity for investors to profit since Bitcoin can rise or drop in value over time (Bitcoin is traded similar to stocks where you can buy and sell units/shares, but the digital currency market is open 24/7 so there’s much more volatility). I personally own shares in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. You can buy them on sites such as Coinbase, which is an app that allows you to buy partial or whole shares of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This prevents you from having to spend almost $6,700 just to get a piece of Bitcoin. A mere $10 can get you into the Bitcoin madness.
Ethereum is known to have better technology than Bitcoin and just may surpass Bitcoin in the future in terms of value. Right now, Bitcoin is far more popular than Ethereum, which is a big reason why the price is higher than Ethereum. Litecoin, on the other hand, has not received that much support yet so you should proceed with caution (as you should with any of these coins/investments in general). Ethereum was trading at $20 a share just a few months ago and reached $400 not too long ago (currently around $300 as of the writing of this article). That’s a net profit of $280 a share assuming you bought at $20 and sold at $300. That means that $1,000 invested at $20 a share would put $15,000 in your pockets today (pre-tax)! Bitcoin also used to be very low in price so many millionaires have been made in a very short period of time thanks to Bitcoin.
A few ways you can make money in cryptocurrencies include buying and selling, accepting payments in digital currency, and mining. In order to successfully mine, you need a ton of technology, but you can pay a company to mine for you that has the technological capabilities. Imagine a bunch of computers in a room (known as a farm) with some very fancy algorithms on it in efforts to produce more Bitcoin/digital currency (known as mining).
Conclusion
Although these assets/coins are highly risky (as far as price volatility/movement), you certainly should not miss out on this opportunity. Digital currency may just become the most popular currency of all time and will become more widely accepted as a legitimate payment form in the near future. Soon, virtually no one will carry physical money in their wallet. They’ll instead have everything on their fancy devices. The world is changing more than we know it and technology is continuously taking over.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out.