Bitcoin Is Not Here to Stay for Long

We know that digital currencies will be preferred in future, and cryptocurrencies are operating as digital currencies only. But, especially talking about Bitcoin, it is not here to stay. Now, this statement might leave you in shock. But, I can explain it to you. Indeed many a time, people claim that BTC might fall, but there is no such case since the start of 2021. Bitcoin is continuously outperforming other cryptocurrencies since its launch. The current market price of BTC is $40,675, with a market capitalization of more than 760 billion US dollars. The market price of BTC is a lot more than the collective prices of many other cryptocurrencies. But does that mean BTC is immortal? Of course, not! The first reason for this statement is the speed of Bitcoin transactions. If you have made transactions in BTC, then you must be aware of its slow speed. You must be mindful that it doesn't actually keep up with the modern standards of banking. Let's first understand what actually happens when you send BTC using a Bitcoin wallet. When you try to send some BTC to someone, the miners receive the transaction, and they add it to mempool. These are then bundled into blocks. Notably, a block can handle around 3000 transactions, so miners choose only those transactions which reward them the highest. So, it simply means that you have to reward them with a high transaction fee and the procedure indeed takes time to process. Note that a transaction can take even hours to process. Now, consider the case with online payments. Do they take hours to proceed? Definitely, not. Consider sending money using PayPal; it will hardly take few seconds to complete the transaction. So, does it mean cryptos cannot be used for transactions? Actually, Bitcoin is not an excellent option to carry out transactions. There are many other cryptocurrencies that have been adopted to improve their transaction speed and transaction fee. You know that Bitcoin is the first digital asset and is called the first-generation blockchain. The cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Cardano are second-generation and third-generation blockchains that can perform more functions compared to BTC. Another critical factor is that Ethereum and Cardano undergo many periodic upgrades according to the market requirements, which help them improve according to time. Secondly, Bitcoin is not stable as that of a fiat currency. A currency cannot work without stability, and it is an ultimate drawback of crypto like BTC. There are stablecoins that are backed by tangible assets, and they also use blockchain technology. These coins are indeed more suitable compared to Bitcoin because of less fluctuation. Keep in mind that nothing is too big that it can't fail. Humans have already witnessed many financial crises in past, and the failure of Bitcoin will also not be a surprise to see. The reason why Bitcoin is always at the top is mere the irrational sentiments of the market. People believe their sentiments, and that increases the price of a particular crypto. Indeed it is favouring BTC as of now, but the hype-driven rallies are meant to come to an end anyhow. Well, it doesn't mean that you cannot make profits out of BTC. Many individuals have become millionaires by investing in cryptocurrencies, and you can also be one of them. The point is that you must be aware of the hype created by influential investors and make your decisions wisely. The cryptocurrencies like Ethereum indeed hold more potential in them compared to that of Bitcoin.

5 Mins Read

July 29, 2021

Cryptocurrencies

You Have Made a Big Mistake by Investing in Bitcoin

When we talk of cryptocurrencies, the first name that comes to our mind is Bitcoin. Bitcoin indeed is the first cryptocurrency, but, is always been at the top since its launch. Many other cryptos and altcoins have launched after that, but no coin has the capability to outperform BTC as of now. The current market price of BTC is $38,476.45, and it is increased by almost 11% within 24-hours. We can see continuous growth in the BTC. Despite having many drops in the past, investors still believe in its potential. Bitcoin, being the first-ever digital currency, always faced an advantage in the crypto market. It even acts as an intermediate to purchase other digital tokens like Ripple or Ethereum. First, we need to understand the reason behind Bitcoin’s outperformance. One of the reasons could be the scarcity of BTC. We know that the supply of BTC is limited to 21 million tokens, and this is the reason which can push the value of Bitcoin. People believe that the currency's price will go up, and then they start to invest more in it. The second reason for the growth of BTC is the people's belief that paper money is no more the priority. It is another matter of debate whether cryptos can replace paper money or not, but as of now, many investors believe that Bitcoin has the potential to replace fiat currencies. No wonder that BTC is now accepted as a mode of payment by many companies. The first thing is that the supply of BTC is not actually limited, as believed by people. Bitcoin is compared with gold, but the point to be noted is that the supply of gold is limited because once all the gold is mined from the earth, no more can be generated. On the other hand, Bitcoin is merely programming, and its supply is controlled by computer programming only. Yes, we know that its supply was kept fixed by Satoshi Nakamoto. But, BTC is nothing more than software, and the rules created earlier need not stay forever. Have you heard about Bitcoin’s hard forks? Well, you must be aware of Bitcoin Cash, which is a hard fork of BTC. It is pretty evident that hard forks are meant to upgrade the mining procedures for digital assets. But do they also increase the supply of digital assets? Of course, yes. Let’s take the example of Bitcoin Cash. The supply of BCH is also capped at 21 million tokens, just like Bitcoin. But, the hard fork still has doubled the supply of created Bitcoin. Yes, we agree that Bitcoin Cash is no longer comparable to Bitcoin in terms of market performance; it still is a great way to increase the supply of the tokens. The second reason why Bitcoin is not a great thing to invest in is its utility issues. We believe that in order to be absolutely compelling, a currency should have utility. In other words, it should be capable of being used as a unit to trade goods and services. This is indeed the foremost reason for the adoption of currencies. But, the problem with Bitcoin is that it is not equally distributed among individuals. The majority of the tokens are held by a relatively more minor group of people, disrupting the idea of being used as a payment method. The third reason is that Bitcoin is not tangible, unlike an asset. Let's consider that you want to purchase some shares of a company. In that case, you’ll get its balance sheet and income statements. But, with Bitcoin, you do not have any tangible data for your investments. Being unregulated is also a disadvantage when it comes to security. We know that Bitcoin is unregulated, and it is undoubtedly the central selling point for BTC. But, it might be a bad thing if something goes wrong. Blockchain technology is indeed growing across the globe. We can see its use in the majority of the sectors, including the banking sector, healthcare, media, entertainment, telecommunications, automotive industries. But, in reality, blockchain is still far away from gaining widespread relevance. It cannot be adopted very quickly as something mainstream. Also, cryptocurrencies are the hot target for hackers, and there are many cases with serious theft concerns and frauds. The point to be kept in mind is that people are now excited about BTC, but it's apparent that it will be enough to meet the rising expectations, and the bubble will eventually burst. Hence, you are requested to make your investment decisions wisely and avoid making any impulsive decisions.

6 Mins Read

July 27, 2021

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies Are Not What You Think.

Digital assets have become a global phenomenon in recent years, and technology is evolving like anything. If you see the latest crypto trend, you'll find that their adoption rate is increasing since 2013. As depicted in the graph below, crypto-assets (including crypto tokens and stablecoins) show an upward trend for a few years. Cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity because they have their applications in making payments for goods and services. Other than that, cryptos can be used to access personal finance, smart contracts and the internet of things. The launch of stable coins has increased crypto adoption due to the fact that they trade just like fiat currencies. You indeed are well aware of the benefits of cryptocurrencies, but do you know what the darker side of cryptocurrencies is? Yes, it is pretty much right that digital asset enables the users with faster transactions and reduced fee and they also improve the financial inclusion for unbanked people. But, shadow will always be there if there is some light. We can’t neglect the shadowed region of cryptocurrencies as well. To start with, we can say that cryptocurrencies are not regulated by the government. Indeed it is an advantage because it can maintain anonymity for individuals. But, this feature of digital assets can also help the terrorists and criminals for their notorious activity. Do you want to know how? It's pretty simple. Cryptocurrencies maintain anonymity, and the criminal group can use this property for making their trades and payments and that too, without being caught. No doubt that cryptos have found their use in legitimate transactions, but on the other hand, their use in illicit activities can also not be neglected. According to the chainalysis 2020 crime report, cryptos worth around $10 billion were involved in illicit activities.  And those illegal activities included their use in terrorism, drug abuse, ransomware, domestic extremism and other scams. We all are aware that cryptocurrencies are volatile, and hence, there is always a risk while investing in digital assets. Regardless of the market volatility, there are some risks that are involved during the transactions. Scams are indeed an integral part of the internet world, and crypto transactions are also not left behind. Here are two significant scams which you might encounter while making some crypto transactions: <b>Imposter websites</b>- If you don’t know what an imposter website is, let me tell you that it is a website that is not original but resembles the original website. In simple words, it is just a copy of some website. Suppose you follow some website, and when you visit that website, you are actually directed to an imposter website that looks similar to the original one. Now, when you make payment to such a website, you are actually transferring your funds to a fake URL. <b>Scam Emails</b>- Many of you must be receiving email updates from various crypto companies regarding investment decisions and updates. Now, you might receive some fraud emails which look exactly similar to what you receive from a legitimate company. You can get scammed by a fake Initial Coin Offering. I'm not saying that you start looking at every email in suspicion, but make sure that email looks legitimate to you with exact logo and branding details before making any investments. The risks involved with the digital assets are why cryptocurrencies are considered a threat by law enforcement and security organizations. Needless to say, cryptocurrencies hold huge potential with them, but they are actually not what you think. We suggest you be more careful with your investments and do proper risk management before investing in digital assets.

5 Mins Read

July 27, 2021

Cryptocurrencies

Upgrade credit cards- A way to scale the Bitcoin Network to the new users?

The craze about cryptocurrency is increasing since the start of the year. The word ‘crypto’ is rather not new to anyone, but its adoption is getting higher and higher as the days pass. These cryptocurrencies have indeed made a considerable impact in the financial sector as well, and these are believed to disrupt the banking sector in the near future. Moving ahead with the same, Upgrade has recently launched a new credit card incorporated with BTC rewards. Yes, you heard it right. Now, you can very quickly get Bitcoins with your credit card. Notably, Upgrade is a neobank offering credit to consumers via personal loans and cards. If you don’t know, what a neo bank is, let me tell you that neobank is a digital bank that is entirely online, rather than being physically present at a place. Well, Neobanks provide us with digital and financial solutions, including money lending and money transfers. Although they don’t have a license, but they provide bank licensed services by counting on their bank partners. No doubt that traditional banks are fulfilling the needs of people for many years, but they are not entirely able to satisfy the customers in each aspect. There has created a gap between what a bank offers and what a customer expects. So, the neobanks are basically trying to fill that gap, and this could be the most precise reason behind their growth nowadays. As mentioned earlier that Upgrade is another neobank, but what makes it different is its Bitcoin Reward Card, launched recently. Although it is not the first company announcing such a credit card, but it is the only company that has made this card generally available. The working of the Upgrade Bitcoin rewards Card is much similar to the ordinary credit cards, but the only difference is that you will get 1.5% as rewards in BTC when you make some payment. It's a pretty straightforward process, and anyone can apply for and start using their virtual card. Notably, it doesn't have any card fees, and the fixed rates are also kept low. As a cardholder, you must hold your BTC rewards for 90 days and only then can you sell those with a transaction fee of 1.5%. The credit cards are launched in partnership with Visa, so it comes with all the standard benefits of Visa, including car rental insurance, perks at luxury hotels and extended warranty protection. The crypto space is expanding, yet not everybody has a crypto wallet. In other words, not everybody is necessarily a crypto adopter, and a smaller proportion of individuals actually dominates the field.  Providing Bitcoins for payments with credit cards is indeed a unique way to make BTC available to everybody. No doubt that cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream over time. Upgrade's credit card can undoubtedly facilitate the involvement of more individuals in the crypto space.

4 Mins Read

July 24, 2021