Chapter 3 What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, which have been created by private individuals, groups, and in some cases banks and other companies. Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender which means they are not readily exchangeable for goods and services in the way that national currencies are, but one day they may be – there are already many business which accept the larger cryptocurrencies as payment.
If you buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the real market, your transactions are made through a decentralized and encrypted system, which goes a long way towards ensuring anonymity.
Transactions in cryptocurrencies are enacted through blockchain technology, which also regulates a finite supply and the integrity of its ecosystem, ensuring that it cannot be debased.
The cryptocurrency market had in 2020 an average daily trading volume of approximately $4.1billion, making it about two-thirds as large as the Forex market. The first digital currency was Bitcoin, launched in 2009. Bitcoin is by far the largest and most famous cryptocurrency. In October 2020, the market capitalization of Bitcoin was estimated at $204 billion, and the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies at $350 billion.
There are two ways to trade or invest in cryptocurrencies. If you want to buy real cryptocurrencies and hold the legal ownership, you can do this through major cryptocurrency exchanges. There is typically some kind of fee for ensuring security of the custodianship plus a commission, but this can be the most effective way to make a long-term investment. On the other hand, you can trade cryptocurrencies with most major Forex / CFD brokers today packaged as contracts for differences (CFDs) and as ownership is virtual – you are just betting on price fluctuations here – you do not have to worry about security and storage and any such associated fees. However, retail brokers apply overnight financing charges / swaps which mean in effect that you pay a fee for every day you keep a crypto trade open, which is why this route is better for short-term trading than long-term investing.
