A Quick Lesson on Crytocurrencies

The history of cryptocurrencies may be short, but it is incredibly interesting and a lot has happened. Thanks to 2017 being the year that the most illustrious cryptocurrency - Bitcoin - saw a stratospheric bull run, the world is now very familiar with the once-niche topic of ‘cryptos’. That notable run in 2017, saw Bitcoin rise from under $900 to over $19,500. It eventually fell dramatically in 2018, and in the last few months from the present (October 2018), the price has been staying relatively steady, currently at around $6,500.

But first, for the uninitiated, let’s explain what a cryptocurrency is. It’s a digital asset that is used as a medium of exchange to facilitates very secure transactions. They use decentralised control, which is the key difference between typical currencies that are part of central banking systems. The most common base technology is blockchain, the purpose of which is a public transaction database. Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency, mostly because it was the decentralised digital cryptocurrency. Bitcoin pioneered the way, and now there are over 4000 other cryptocurrencies. These other variants are known as altcoins - essentially, any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. 

Where did it all begin?

One of the most fascinating aspects of Bitcoin is that the founder is not publicly known. There are rumours of the person that created Bitcoin, but no confirmation. It is rumoured that the founder is Satoshi Nakamoto, although nobody knows who this person is. In fact, it isn't known if Nakamoto is an individual or a group of people. There are suggestions that the name and rumours of Satoshi being Japanese, are merely a red herring. The speculation of Satoshi’s true identity is rife and there are many fascinating conspiracy theories and rumours.

The future of cryptocurrencies

There are few more difficult predictions than the future of cryptocurrencies. To keep up to date on crytocurrencies, the best service to use is Kryptot.net. It seems that Bitcoin will maintain its status as the leading and flagship cryptocurrency, but many other alt coins may become more established. The price of bitcoin has taken a big move to the downside from its peak, however recent stability suggests the price has possibly reached a floor. There is likely going to be a large movement into the downside or upside. Many are leaning towards large upside gains as the next play for Bitcoin. However, some see the previous rapid fall as a prof that Bitcoin is not viable at such high prices, potentially fuelling further downside. Bitcoin is incredibly difficult to predict as no other financial asset in history has moved in the same manner as Bitcoin in such a short space of time. One thing is guaranteed, the future price of bitcoin will be volatile.