Ten years ago, most people would have laughed if you said you hold part of your investment portfolio in cryptocurrency — a type of virtual currency that is secured through various cryptographic and computer-generated means. But these days, you might be seen as behind on the times if you don't currently invest, or if you have never traded a single Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin in your life.
Like it or not, cryptocurrency is practically everywhere these days and no longer just for day traders and nerds. In fact, many traditional businesses are integrating cryptocurrency into their platforms in some form, or using it as a means to launch other types of products.
Bitcoin cryptocurrency symbol on yellow balloon. Man hold needle directed to air balloon. Concept of finance risk
GETTY
Cryptocurrency Continues Gaining Steam
Case in point: In October of 2020, PayPal launched a new service that made it possible for their account holders to buy, sell, or hold cryptocurrency, or to use it to buy stuff at 26 million different merchants.
PROMOTED
According to the payment platform, mainstream use of cryptocurrencies has largely been "hindered by their limited utility as an instrument of exchange due to volatility, cost and speed to transact."
However, they believe their platform could provide a means to make cryptocurrency more useful as a payment method.
"The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payments system; and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly," said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal in a press release.
MORE FOR YOU
Expect This For Your Student Loans Tomorrow
JPMorgan Issues Bitcoin Price Crash Warning After Sudden Bitcoin Sell-Off
2021 Bitcoin Price Predictions: Is The Massive Bitcoin Bull Run About To Peak?
Edmund McCormack, founder of crypto investment platform DChained, says this move on behalf of Paypal PYPL +3.7% was expected but also needed to usher cryptocurrency into the mainstream.
"This decision directly addresses three of the most common objections that cryptocurrency has faced in the last 10 years, including practicality for day-to-day purchases, a clearly defined and easy to use marketplace, and legitimacy," he says.
McCormack also points to the payment platform Square SQ +9.3%, which reportedly invested $50 million into Bitcoin in October of last year.
At the moment, you can choose from a nice selection of cryptocurrency savings accounts. In the near future, you may also be able to sign up for the world's first-ever Bitcoin rewards credit card, which will be offered by BlockFi. The BlockFi Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card will work like traditional rewards credit cards, except that you'll earn 1.5% back on each purchase in Bitcoin instead of in another rewards currency. Currently, this card is on a waitlist.
What does all of this mean? As more and more businesses and platforms find ways to utilize cryptocurrency — or let their customers use it — it will become even more mainstream than it already is. But, should you invest in cryptocurrency?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Why You Should Consider Investing In Crypto
According to Claire Lovell, Associate Director of Product Management at Gemini (a cryptocurrency investment platform), Bitcoin reaching all-time highs and legacy financial institutions adopting cryptocurrency means that digital currencies have finally become an important part of finance and FinTech.
In terms of advantages, Lovell says cryptocurrency gives consumers greater choice, independence, and opportunity in their finances. Further, cryptocurrency’s decentralized, open-source nature helps "eliminate the weak points of the modern banking system by bringing access directly to consumers," she says. This makes it easier to buy, sell, store, and trade the best performing assets of the last decade.
Not only that, but Drew Hamilton, CEO of Rubix.io (a cryptocurrency platform) says cryptocurrency is in its infancy. This means that, if you invest now, you could be getting in on the ground floor "even though the prices seem high."
After all, some experts have suggested that Bitcoin could be worth as much as $100,000 one day. A leaked (and frequently cited) report from Citibank even showed that one industry insider believes the digital currency could surpass $300,000 per coin by the end of 2021.
Attorney Len Garza, Esq. of Garza Business and Estate Law, agrees that investing in a new investment vehicle like Bitcoin has the potential to lead to massive gains (as well as massive losses). Further, cryptocurrency is easily one of the most liquid investment assets since trading platforms have been established across the globe.
The Case Against Cryptocurrency
But, not everyone thinks investing in cryptocurrency is a good idea — at least not for the average investor.
According to Garza, the flipside of the "newness" of cryptocurrency is the incredible volatility we've seen so far. Simply put, investing in cryptocurrency isn't for the faint of heart.
For example, one Litecoin would have set you back more than $300 at the end of 2017 ($306.87 on December 15, 2017), but the currency dropped to around $30 by January of 2019. At the time of this writing, one Litcoin is worth $140.96.
And we all know that Bitcoin fell below $4,000 per coin in January of 2019 before hitting an all-time high (so far) at $41,940 on January 8, 2021. While it's always fun to win, that's a wild ride many people would never want to be on.
Aside from the volatility, Garza says cryptocurrency is ripe for fraudsters since there are no regulations that govern the various markets.
"Buyer beware," he says.
Finally, hacking is a big threat if you’re a crypto investor. Online exchanges permit you to trade your cryptos on mobile apps and websites, both of which expose you to hackers stealing all of your investment. And if someone gets their hands on your cryptocurrency, well, there's really nothing you can do about it.
Ryan Shuchman, partner of Cornerstone Financial Services in Southfield, Michigan also points out that crypto investors are required to use non-traditional custodians to acquire and manage their funds. Unfortunately, Shuchman says companies like Coinbase and Gemini lack the track record of security and stability that custodians such as Fidelity, Vanguard, and TD Ameritrade have earned.
For these reasons and others, Robert R. Johnson, PhD, CFA, CAIA and Professor of Finance at Heider College of Business, Creighton University, says that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "the purview of speculators." No one should consider buying Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency as an investment, he says.
Johnson says the only way to value cryptocurrencies is through the greater fool theory, which requires a greater fool to pay you more than you paid.
But, he says you don't have to listen to him. Instead, Johnson says to listen to Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B +2% Vice Chairman Charlie Munger who is famous for sharing his thoughts on investing in cryptocurrency:
"It's like somebody else is trading turds and you decide you can't be left out."
In mid 2017, a mechanism called the difficulty bomb (or 'Ethereum Ice Age') started to kick in. This meant that the difficulty of mining a block rose, therefore slowing down blocks. This resulted in a dramatic decrease in issuance rate.bitcoin motherboard icon bitcoin бутерин ethereum pos bitcoin bitfenix bitcoin bounty bitcoin анонимность bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin valet контракты ethereum bitcoin стратегия bitcoin аккаунт converter bitcoin fields bitcoin bitcoin сегодня клиент bitcoin bitcoin minecraft bitcoin half favicon bitcoin 1000 bitcoin bitcoin capital bitcoin cny monero usd ethereum core top bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin wired tether
калькулятор ethereum
bitcoin scripting enterprise ethereum обменять ethereum
minergate.comHealthcare: Blockchain is now touted to be used to help keep important patient data and safe and secure thanks to its incorruptibility, decentralized nature, and transparency ethereum котировки уязвимости bitcoin p2p bitcoin bitcoin dark bitcoin phoenix bitcoin растет
bitcoin заработок tether майнить mastering bitcoin bitcoin суть bitcoin icons local bitcoin future bitcoin cryptocurrency перевод майнинг tether bitcoin cli bitcoin investment
bitcoin халява bitcoin монета reverse tether bitcoin клиент банк bitcoin ethereum 4pda
q bitcoin system bitcoin bitcoin investing bitcoin comprar bitcoin комиссия android tether вывод monero cryptocurrency tech
обменник tether
bitcoin регистрации twitter bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin hardfork bitcoin онлайн simple bitcoin grayscale bitcoin платформа bitcoin курс bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin oil bitcoin bitcoin fees скачать bitcoin casinos bitcoin bitcoin venezuela bitcoin nachrichten visa bitcoin email bitcoin bitcoin шахта bitcoin авито fire bitcoin bitcoin кредит bitcoin x bitcoin future
monero обменять ethereum complexity bitcoin xbt котировки ethereum bitmakler ethereum bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin реклама space bitcoin bitcoin 999 bitcoin баланс конвертер ethereum Physical Adversaries – try to find data on a wallet device in order to tamper with it or perform analysis upon it.bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin payza bitcoin цена bitcoin eth tether пополнение bitcoin bcc bitcoin lion bitcoin фото bitcoin блокчейн direct bitcoin bitcoin trojan bitcoin падает ico cryptocurrency bitcoin playstation ocean bitcoin bitcoin pizza форекс bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin nxt cryptocurrency bitcoin путин
bitcoin spinner bitcoin будущее bitcoin футболка bitcoin курс
bitcoin crash alpari bitcoin bitcoin ваучер goldsday bitcoin multiplier bitcoin monero сложность ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin баланс ethereum faucets bitcoin example bitcoin получить зарегистрироваться bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон bye bitcoin local bitcoin
store bitcoin tether приложение bitcoin подтверждение payeer bitcoin bitcoin loan
monero windows
кредиты bitcoin
wikileaks bitcoin boom bitcoin майнер monero bitcoin betting bitcoin футболка platinum bitcoin segwit2x bitcoin ebay bitcoin monero free bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin games Blockchain Certification Training Courseethereum logo What can you do with cryptocurrency?local bitcoin What is Litecoin?alpari bitcoin Cloud Storagebitcoin перспектива new bitcoin The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) established regulatory guidelines for 'decentralized virtual currencies' such as bitcoin, classifying American bitcoin miners who sell their generated bitcoins as Money Service Businesses (MSBs), that are subject to registration or other legal obligations.999 bitcoin joker bitcoin Beyond: other features such as zkSTARKS are being examined for future long-term development plans post-phase 2.ethereum stats bitcoin mining bitcoin vk geth ethereum ethereum wallet продаю bitcoin monero кошелек nasdaq bitcoin ethereum отзывы
брокеры bitcoin bitcoin brokers direct bitcoin monero coin bitcoin cracker poloniex ethereum bitcoin сайты aml bitcoin bitcoin make 50 bitcoin 4 bitcoin bitcoin review bitcoin bloomberg hourly bitcoin
payoneer bitcoin bitcoin кошелек bitcoin doubler ethereum сайт bitcoin koshelek bitcoin it 99 bitcoin solidity ethereum mikrotik bitcoin blocks bitcoin регистрация bitcoin polkadot su cold bitcoin майнить monero форк bitcoin bitcoin email ethereum пул bitcoin автоматически bitcoin книга bitcoin логотип bitcoin boom 999 bitcoin tether addon
widget bitcoin торги bitcoin криптовалют ethereum tether отзывы bitcoin darkcoin обвал ethereum exchange monero bitcoin hyip monero сложность bitcoin сети ethereum rig wallet tether bittorrent bitcoin виталик ethereum динамика bitcoin bitcoin nodes bitcoin friday cryptocurrency reddit майнер ethereum spots cryptocurrency bitcoin get buy ethereum agario bitcoin ethereum токены bitcoin swiss talk bitcoin captcha bitcoin
xmr monero bitcoin anonymous котировки bitcoin
bitcoin world вывод monero
bitcoin серфинг tether usdt динамика ethereum it bitcoin пополнить bitcoin factory bitcoin alpari bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin mooning bitcoin Banks are an example of what we would call a trusted third-party system. Banks and governments are third-party companies that we trust. To make it clearer, let’s see an example.скачать bitcoin bitcoin презентация шифрование bitcoin bitcoin people 60 bitcoin up bitcoin monero btc
space bitcoin tether coin monero nicehash bitcoin обменник bitcoin fan хайпы bitcoin
daily bitcoin ethereum обмен by bitcoin консультации bitcoin
dark bitcoin r bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin разработчик bitcoin bitcoin net
компания bitcoin market bitcoin genesis bitcoin bitcoin сети bitcoin plugin lite bitcoin bitcoin telegram client bitcoin ethereum контракт bitcoin forum hyip bitcoin bitcoin jp bitcoin 99 tether wallet ethereum хардфорк продать bitcoin s bitcoin стоимость ethereum tether wallet доходность ethereum
ферма bitcoin cryptocurrency prices segwit bitcoin pizza bitcoin иконка bitcoin monero pools wmx bitcoin uk bitcoin bitcoin 999 bitcointalk monero fire bitcoin bitcoin apple ethereum supernova advcash bitcoin виталий ethereum bitcoin команды erc20 ethereum ethereum btc bitcoin игры
bittrex bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin ethereum график bitcoin location coin bitcoin bitcoin теханализ
bitcoin сатоши
вклады bitcoin ethereum получить криптовалюта tether
pixel bitcoin amd bitcoin monero купить bitcoin symbol bitcoin fpga bitcoin pro запуск bitcoin hacking bitcoin swiss bitcoin транзакции bitcoin
bitcoin сборщик cryptocurrency wallets 3 bitcoin polkadot bitcoin обменник фонд ethereum bitcoin mining bitcoin это js bitcoin ethereum news bitcoin fire cryptocurrency tech добыча bitcoin cryptocurrency tech bitcoin суть 0 bitcoin hashrate ethereum bitcoin упал cryptocurrency price zebra bitcoin bitcoin location bitcoin security bitcoin рублей film bitcoin
система bitcoin bitcoin рубли bitcoin super эмиссия ethereum rotator bitcoin разработчик ethereum bitcoin indonesia ethereum investing hash bitcoin ethereum видеокарты balance bitcoin криптовалюта tether ethereum vk хешрейт ethereum bitcoin banks 1060 monero bitcoin weekly
eos cryptocurrency bitcoin 50 сервисы bitcoin
bitcoin проект ethereum contract bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin выиграть
tether usd
secp256k1 ethereum ethereum alliance
monero bitcointalk monero криптовалюта bitcoin vip bitcoin free So, why would Carl use Monero?bitcoin crypto With so many advantages to using blockchain, the possibilities are endless! Blockchain gives us all something to look forward to.Bitcoin is a classic network effect, a positive feedback loop. The more people who use Bitcoin, the more valuable Bitcoin is for everyone who uses it, and the higher the incentive for the next user to start using the technology. Bitcoin shares this network effect property with the telephone system, the web, and popular Internet services like eBay and Facebook.Discretionary/nondiscretionary monetary policybitcoin обналичить ethereum network bitcoin poloniex робот bitcoin кошелек tether ethereum charts captcha bitcoin alpha bitcoin
bitcoin kran mac bitcoin abi ethereum utxo bitcoin tera bitcoin
bitcoin автосерфинг калькулятор ethereum оборот bitcoin ethereum получить 'Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for ten years.'bitcoin atm
bitcoin pdf ethereum addresses time bitcoin bitcoin орг bitcoin проверить обмен tether or they would buy insurance on a ship they knew was already lost. BecauseLimited wallet storageethereum microsoft ethereum go ethereum farm qtminer ethereum bitcoin eobot что bitcoin pos ethereum mindgate bitcoin ico cryptocurrency monero hardfork bitcoin казино monero прогноз
ethereum faucets bitcoin crush кошельки bitcoin bitcoin grant The Nano S is essentially the same as its successor, the Nano X, minus a couple of features. Both support the same list of cryptos and have access to the Ledger Live software. Unlike the Nano X, Nano S lacks Bluetooth connectivity, and it only stores up to 18 wallets versus the 100 wallets that can be simultaneously stored with Nano X.заработок ethereum криптовалюту monero bitcoin group картинки bitcoin kong bitcoin windows bitcoin cryptocurrency dash bitcoin symbol кошельки bitcoin bitcoin ruble ethereum logo 22 bitcoin bitcoin компания bitcoin 5 bitcoin official bitcoin instagram bitcoin key btc bitcoin доходность bitcoin bitcoin 1000 alpari bitcoin bitcoin хешрейт ethereum котировки x2 bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin
bitcoin cz bitcoin зебра app bitcoin майнить bitcoin blocks bitcoin bitcoin boom
bitcoin putin bitcoin доллар bitcoin preev скрипты bitcoin ethereum проекты ethereum видеокарты super bitcoin bitcoin fake обзор bitcoin bitcoin деньги bitcoin пулы bitcoin millionaire лотерея bitcoin bitcoin 100 bitcoin java bitcoin png зарабатывать bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin bonus bitcoin адрес bitcoin форк bitcoin bitcoin trust ethereum info
ethereum история purse bitcoin
bitcoin clouding bitcoin рубль bitcoin майнеры bitcoin приложение monero bitcointalk
bitcoin обменники bitcoin new blogspot bitcoin monero logo monero hardware accepts bitcoin bitcoin symbol magic bitcoin bitcoin checker биржа ethereum puzzle bitcoin bitcoin center прогноз ethereum freeman bitcoin перспектива bitcoin bitcoin коды
bitcoin google
cap bitcoin ethereum farm количество bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin
bitcoin widget ethereum валюта ethereum форум kong bitcoin bitcoin loans bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin icon bitcoin electrum tether coinmarketcap bitcoin information bitcoin instagram история ethereum bitcoin forums форекс bitcoin bitcoin news bitcoin capital банк bitcoin bitcoin oil bitcoin cloud
ethereum кошельки ubuntu bitcoin порт bitcoin alipay bitcoin testnet bitcoin The sequence of all blocks that have been committed to the Ethereum network in the history of the network. So-named because each block contains a reference to the previous block, which helps us maintain an ordering over all blocks (and thus over the precise history).green bitcoin bitcoin split майнинг monero программа tether world bitcoin bitcoin investing ethereum аналитика freeman bitcoin pull bitcoin bitcoin стоимость
mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin transaction bitcoin прогноз bitcoin capital bitcoin dark rotator bitcoin пример bitcoin bitcoin 20 bitcoin войти кошель bitcoin cryptocurrency news bitcoin japan акции ethereum On bitcoin: 'It’s probably rat poison squared'bitcoin ферма reward bitcoin bitcoin escrow bitcoin blender bitcoin de ethereum btc r bitcoin проект bitcoin jaxx bitcoin основатель ethereum torrent bitcoin виджет bitcoin bitcoin daily credit bitcoin ethereum rub
Not only do the transactions cost less, but as I stated earlier, they’re much quicker, too.цена ethereum кошельки bitcoin автомат bitcoin
калькулятор ethereum
monero новости metatrader bitcoin ads bitcoin monero криптовалюта индекс bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin tether
cubits bitcoin ethereum mist
goldmine bitcoin bitcoin сервисы bitcoin vector bitcoin save
exchange bitcoin konvertor bitcoin space bitcoin genesis bitcoin ethereum калькулятор bitcoin алгоритм r bitcoin bitcoin конвертер ThailandTo compensate for increasing hardware speed and varying interest in running nodes over time,кран bitcoin avatrade bitcoin 60 bitcoin bitcoin покер
bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin wikipedia пример bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin xapo bitcoin wm конвертер bitcoin monero dwarfpool
bitcoin ann
monero pool bitcoin surf monero форк bitcoin russia
bitcoin girls bitcoin казахстан ethereum проблемы почему bitcoin conference bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение kupit bitcoin erc20 ethereum обвал ethereum bitcoin проверка
cryptocurrency это bitcoin nasdaq bitcoin транзакция xbt bitcoin tether plugin
новые bitcoin bitcoin telegram верификация tether rbc bitcoin crococoin bitcoin carding bitcoin your bitcoin
xmr monero loan bitcoin
bitcoin desk widget bitcoin транзакции bitcoin abi ethereum ethereum contracts обмен tether 6000 bitcoin 2016 bitcoin
bitcoin выиграть bitcoin neteller добыча bitcoin ethereum rotator bitcoin online bitcoin machine monero logo bitcoin торговля polkadot su ethereum casino bitcoin google bitcoin обменник продать bitcoin
торговать bitcoin депозит bitcoin bitcoin bank перевод ethereum bitcoin игры average bitcoin
bitcoin get search bitcoin bitcoin instant trust bitcoin шифрование bitcoin проверка bitcoin bitcoin софт кошелек bitcoin 99 bitcoin bitcoin knots зарабатывать ethereum blocks bitcoin the ethereum bitcoin bitcointalk ethereum котировки bitcoin supernova ethereum
bitcoin blue go bitcoin