We are in a digital age, and this is the age of information. With a bit of effort, you can find just about every piece of information. Through the progression of technology, people rely more on digital technologies such as cloud storage and cryptocurrency.

While cloud storage has been around long enough for people to be implemented into our daily life, cryptocurrency is still a relatively new concept. Regardless, cryptos such as bitcoin and Ethereum is widely popular among tech-savvy people. This has progressed to such an extent that you can pay using cryptocurrencies such as dogecoin in many companies. While cryptocurrencies still cannot be used for regular payment such as personal loan, life insurance, and student loans, it is accepted by some dealers in real estate and home equity. That said, we can easily guess that the buying and selling of cryptocurrency will continue, and their value will just keep on increasing. Therefore, investing in cryptocurrency a bit is a good idea.

But then again, what is cryptocurrency in the first place?

What is Cryptocurrency?

bitcoin and Ethereum

A cryptocurrency is digital money that can be utilized to buy goods and services but using an online financial account with strong cryptography for secure online transactions. The Crypto part of its name comes from using cryptography to secure and verify different transactions. There is no physical coin or bill in cryptocurrency – it’s all on the web. While some cryptocurrencies have ventured into the physical world with credit cards and other mediums, the large majority remain entirely intangible in physical presence. It is designed to work as a medium of exchange.

There are even some cryptocurrencies that you can exchange for physical tokens at designated crypto exchanges.

Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called a blockchain. Blockchain is a system of recording information that makes it difficult to change, crack or cheat the system. It is also an important part of the appeal of this technology. Some of the best cryptocurrencies with high market capitalizations are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether (USDT), Litecoin, etc. In the current cryptocurrency market scenario, Bitcoin has the highest market capitalization.

History of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency’s technical foundation started in early 1980 when an American cryptographer named David Chaum inverted a blinding set of rules that stays central-based encryption. In 1981 Chaum posted the article “Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses and Digital Pseudonyms,” which described the use of public-key cryptography to hide the identity of a participant in an electronic mail. A Chaum associate named Nick Szabo evolved and released cryptocurrency started from the theories “Bit Gold,” a virtual currency, a proof of work system to solve which was never get created.

In 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the whitepaper about dealing with the coin through cryptocurrency. The first decentralized cryptocurrency to be created was Bitcoin back in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto created the technical system on which all cryptocurrencies are based. Nakamoto mined the first 50 bitcoin released by bitcoin in the same year. In 2010, the first purchase made by a bitcoin was two pizzas using 10,000 BTC. In 2012, Litecoin was released, promising faster transaction speeds than Bitcoin.

How do Cryptocurrencies work?

blockchain technology for cryptocurrency

Units of cryptocurrency are created through a process called mining, which includes using computer power to solve numerical math problems that generate coins. The users can also buy the cryptocurrencies from the brokers, then store and spend them using cryptocurrency wallets.

Cryptocurrencies use decentralized technology to let users make secure payments and store money without their name or go through a bank. They run on a distributed public record called blockchain, which records all transactions updated and held by currency holders. Since crypto is relatively hard to mine, there is always some market cap on them.

Otherwise, there may be other ways also defined within the platform of the cryptocurrency to create coins. The best part of cryptocurrency is the transparency of the system. It is public, so everyone can check how the coins in cryptocurrency are created. At the same time, since this currency uses blockchain technology, just about anyone with decent computer knowledge can view every node in the supply chain.

Current Status of Cryptocurrency

cryptocurrency status

The use and investment in cryptocurrencies are increasing. Many organizations and countries already use it. They allow their products and service to be paid for with these digital currencies and even create their own.
According to the report from Forbes (an American business magazine), The bitcoin price has surged by almost 500% over the last 12 months, partly due to Elon Musk’s tweets pro-bitcoin and cryptocurrency and his electric car company Tesla adding bitcoin to its balance sheet.

Developed countries like Japan, the US, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, and so…on have given legality to cryptocurrency. The first country to legalize it was Belarus. Meanwhile, India has also.

Legitimized the usage of Bitcoin across the country from last year.

Out of 74 countries in the Statista Global Consumer Survey (2020), Nigerians were the most used and owned cryptocurrency in the world with 32%, followed by Vietnam in second with 21%, and the Philippines in third with 20%.

Popular Types of cryptocurrencies

As you may have known by now, there is more than one cryptocurrency in the market. While Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are undoubtedly some of the best/ most popular ones, there are more in the crypto exchange and crypto market.

Some of the most popular ones are:

1) BitCoin

bitcoin cryptocurrency
  • Bitcoin Price: $23,300
  • Market Cap: $445 Billion

Created by a person/ group with the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin (BTC) is undoubtedly among the best, if not the best, cryptocurrencies in the market. Bitcoin launched the craze about cryptocurrency. Despite many ups and downs, it is still going strong, and the Bitcoin price is at an all-time high. Although this is a bit of an expensive cryptocurrency to invest in, with this growth rate, it is still worth the price.

2) Ethereum (ETH)

  • Ethereum Price: $1,712
  • Market Cap: $208.059 Billion

Ethereum is among the top rivals when it comes to the popularity of Bitcoin. Although the market cap and the market value for ETH coins in the crypto exchanges are lower when compared to BTC, it is more versatile and can be used for multiple purposes than BTC. The value of the Ethereum coin is less than BTC, it is still a worthy cryptocurrency to invest in. Although bitcoin and Ethereum both run on Blockchain technology, they are two completely different types of cryptocurrency.

3) Tether (USDT)

  • Tether (USDT) Price: $1
  • Market cap: $65.93 Billion

As you may have guessed from the name and the oddly specific price, Tether (USDT) is directly related to USD. As a result, the value of this cryptocurrency in the crypto exchange will always be $1. While the price for the rest of the cryptocurrency fluctuates, Tether (USDT) will always be $1. Because of this stability, value cryptocurrencies such as USDT are also known as Stable Coin

3) USD Coin (USDC)

  • USD Coin (USDC) Price: $1
  • Market Cap: $54.29 Billion

Similar to USDT, the USD coin ( USDC) is another stablecoin directly pegged to the dollar. Because of this, the value of this ( USC coin/ USDC) will always be $1. Thus we have another Stable coin on this list.

4) Binance Coin (BNB)

  • Binance Coin (BNB) Price: 325.57
  • Market Cap: 20.96 Billion

Used by Binance – one of the biggest largest crypto exchanges in the world, the Binance coin (BNB) was a cryptocurrency currency originally used for discounted trades. That said, you can now use Binance Coin (BNB) cryptocurrency for payments for different forms of goods and services. This is a worthy cryptocurrency to invest in.

5) Solana (SOL)

  • Solana Price: $40
  • Market Cap: $14.58 Billion

Although SOL was only launched in 2020, it has quickly risen in popularity. This is all thanks to the strength of its web-scale platform.

Honorable Mention: Meme coin (Dogecoin)

dogecoin cryptocurrency
  • Dogecoin Price: $0.068
  • Market Cap: $9.192 Billion

Dogecoin is somewhat of an accidental cryptocurrency as its creator “Jackson Palmer” started this crypto as a joke. If you know memes, you should know the doge meme, which is one of the reasons why it is also called a meme coin. However, many places legitimately accept dogecoin as their payment, including Twitch, Tesla, Gamestop, and more. These are rather popular organizations/platforms.

Cryptocurrency in Nepal

The Nepal Rastra Bank Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act have officially declared Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies illegal forms of financial tender. The enthesis of cryptocurrency mining does the mining of cryptocurrency by various means. For example, FreeBitco.in, PI network, which is in beta phase, and more.

Future of Cryptocurrency

future of cryptocurrency

It all started with the David Chaum blinding set of rules in cryptography to Bitcoin up to Vlad Finance 1 VLAD and many more. Although the economic damage caused by COVID 19, cryptocurrency has continued to surge in the past couple of months. Cryptocurrency has become a worldwide phenomenon in recent years. It is predicted to grow more and more in the coming days. However, we still need to learn about evolving this technology for the better and quality of mining and transaction. The new corporation agreement between Starbucks and Microsoft is one of the good indications that retailers are prepared to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method. This method development will make a legit currency exchange with secured transactions.

From this, we can only say that the future of cryptocurrency is extremely secure. Regardless of if it is bitcoin, Ethereum, or even dogecoin, virtual currency, especially the encrypted ones like cryptocurrencies, is the way of the future. i.e., the future of cryptocurrency is bright.

With the supply chain of cryptocurrency increasing with each passing day, it is inevitable that cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are rising in popularity. At the time of this writing, besides the two stablecoins, the rest are quite good cryptocurrencies to invest in. But before you do this, you should take a deep lesson in buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

Conclusion

In the end, we can assume that many renewed corporates will engage with this cryptocurrency, indicating a high probability of dramatic change coming in the future. Cryptocurrencies cannot easily be used for general expenses such as life insurance, real estate business (with a few exceptions), personal loans, and student loans. However, with the progress of technology, we estimate that it will not take long before some of the cryptos can also be used for our daily payments.

We hope you found this interesting. And as always, thank you for reading till the end.

By Anna

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