What is cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency origins are traced to an individual or a group of people who go by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, who created Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, in 2009 club player casino legit. The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery to this day.
Cryptocurrency is digital money that doesn’t require a bank or financial institution to verify transactions and can be used for purchases or as an investment. Transactions are then verified and recorded on a blockchain, an unchangeable ledger that tracks and records assets and trades.
Fast forward to today, and Bitcoin alone is worth over $2 trillion, making up nearly half the crypto market cap. This isn’t just another passing trend; it’s a seismic shift in how we perceive money, value, and trust in financial systems.
All about cryptocurrency investing
If you don’t have the resources to compete with the heavy hitters, one option is joining a mining pool, where users share rewards. This reduces the size of the reward you’d get for a successful block, but increases the chance that you could at least get some return on your investment.
Though cryptocurrency is technically a currency, it’s also a digital asset, which means you can invest in crypto like you would with other asset classes, like stocks and bonds. That’s why you’ll commonly hear cryptocurrency be referred to as a “cryptoasset”.
Before investing in cryptocurrency, it’s important to know the risks. Cryptocurrency is still becoming established in modern economies, and large swings in value tend to be more common than in stocks. For this reason, some investors view the money invested in crypto as out of reach for the foreseeable future. Setting clear risk management guidelines can save you from crushing losses in the long run.
Cryptocurrency is a highly speculative area of the market, and many smart investors have decided to put their money elsewhere. For beginners who want to get started trading crypto, however, the best advice is to start small and only use money that you can afford to lose.
Because of the volatility in cryptocurrency, you should consider how much you can afford to lose and still meet your financial goals. Staking your entire savings or retirement plan in cryptocurrency could lead to dramatic losses, and the timing of these losses can be difficult to predict. It’s also important to pay attention to the tax consequences of buying cryptocurrency and transaction fees. Hidden costs could lead to spending more than you bargained for.
All about cryptocurrency
Regulators have increasingly signaled that cryptocurrencies should be regulated similarly to other securities, such as stocks and bonds. However, with the June 2024 Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo Supreme Court ruling, that may change — Congress may have to clearly define crypto regulation through law making rather than allowing the SEC to enforce rules based on its interpretation. That could have major implications for the asset class in the future.
The EU defines crypto assets as “a digital representation of a value or of a right that is able to be transferred and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or similar technology.” The EU regulation Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) covering asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs) (also known as stablecoins) came into force on 30 June 2024. As of 17 January 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued guidance to crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) allowing them to maintain crypto-asset services for non-compliant ARTs and EMTs until the end of March 2025.
On 25 March 2014, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled that bitcoin will be treated as property for tax purposes. Therefore, virtual currencies are considered commodities subject to capital gains tax.
Bitcoin’s founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, supported the idea that cryptocurrencies go well with libertarianism. “It’s very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly,” Nakamoto said in 2008.