cryptonomics

As I was skimming twitter  the other day, I came across an opinion (via  marketwatch ) piece that was critical of Bitcoin. The author pointed out some minor flaws; mainly with people's knowledge on bitcoin, especially among its fanboys/fangirls. I recently had the opportunity to meet with a fine gentleman, Jim Clawson, who has been involved with the idea behind cryptocurrencies for decades. In 1997 he was issued a patent that deals with the fundamental aspects of blockchain tech. With the knowledge I have attained on bitcoin's subject matter, it seem's that it is my obligation to respond to some things that opinion piece mentioned. 1. What is the purpose of Bitcoin? According to Bitcoin's White Pages , the purpose of Bitcoin is to provide peer-to-peer electronic cash or digital currency. This true digital currency would allow users to send payments directly from one party to the next with out being boggled down by the financial institutions, and their lengthly tr...

Cryptocurrencies will provide a missing piece in the global economy by providing a borderless currency. There is no currency that is accepted globally. If you take a US dollar to a different country, it is hard to use it at any given location. Instead, you need to swap them out for the local currency. As an individual, this can make traveling abroad a little painful; especially after paying currency exchange fees (not to mention having to carry around cash). This is also painful for global business as well. If a firm wants to send a payment outside their home market they need to go through a bank. Which then takes their home market's currency, exchanges it for the accepted currency in the other market, and then lets the payment process. This process can take days, and this is the most painless method of transferring payments. Payments through cryptocurrencies break the barrier, and remove the middle man. Firms can easily find where they need to send the payment, select how ...

Bitcoin Lets go over some of the basics about bitcoin. Cryptocurrency vs Altcoins . The only difference is that cryptocurrency covers all digital currency (Bitcoin and altcoins), while altcoins are alternatives to Bitcoin. Blockchain is a digital ledger where transactions for cryptocurrencies are publicly recorded. The blockchain is stored on nodes, that verify transactions. Bitcoin Mining  sounds intense, but only for the computer. When a computer is "mining" it is racing against other miners on the network to solve a mathematical equation and seal the current block. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be bought, sold, traded, transferred (etc) digitally. The network for cryptocurrencies is virtually impossible to hack/manipulate since a dishonest group would have to take control of 51% of the network. The network is huge. Bitoin's network is in exohash sphere. Similar to precious metals, cryptocurrencies can be broken down into smalle...

There are copious amounts of websites that offer ways to exchange cryptos. A few that will be discussed are Coinbase, Bitstamp, Poloniex, Bittrex, Gatehub, and Bitfinex. These exchanges never close; so you can buy/sell anytime/any day. I also added Circle, just cause. *refer to end for abbreviation Coinbase Simple and clean user interface Buy and Sell BTC/ETH/LTC with local currency Instant credit card purchases, bank accounts take 3-5 days high fees Bitstamp.net Exchange BTC, XRP, USD or EUR 98% of digital funds stored offline If you want to try trading cryptos: Poloniex Exchange/Lending 2.5x leverage Chatbox (trollbox) which can be entertaining Two Factore Id *Sometimes Poloniex has issues, and their customer service seems inexistent  Kraken Offers 5x leverage trading tools *seems sluggish at times Bittrex Offers 190+ cryptos US Based (if you are into that, deals with US regulations Gatehub.net Trade multiple currencies...

If Bitcoin's destination is the moon, it hasn't started its launch sequence. Cryptocurrencies are not in a bubble. There are just over 16 million bitcoins in circulation today with a market cap of just under $40 billion (Crypto Currency Market Capitalizations). The US currently has over $1.2 trillion dollars in circulation today (How Currency...). Bitcoin can be used in the global market, while USD is mainly used in the US. 16 million bitcoins to help assist a global economy. Supply is there, and demand is slowly ticking up. Retailers and Banks haven't decided to accept cryptocurrencies yet. As cryptocurrencies assimilate into the global economy, the value for Bitcoins will continue to all time highs. Image from coinbase *You do not need to buy a full bitcoin/alt-coin. Exchanges let you buy less that .01 of a crypto.

If you haven't exchanged a form of fiat currency for bitcoin/alt-coin, then you basically have managed to sit on the sidelines during the coolest innovation of our times. The altcoin movement will be bigger than the change from horse pulled carriages to automobiles, mail to e-mail, dial-up to broadband... you get the point. Altcoins are a fabulous innovation that can cut transaction time from days to seconds.  These future currencies don't come without problems, the biggest being how unstable they can be, but that will change as people have less and less reasons to sell. Until then, this is true. At times, altcoins can seem to be driven by pump-and-dump traders; not investors or users. The volatility of these markets could make the strongest human bipolar. For now, take a long position  Diversify Then only throw as much money as you are willing to lose