The story of these virtual coins begins with one person: the cryptographer David Chaum. In 1983, the Americans developed a cryptographic system called eCash. Twelve years later, he developed another system, DigiCash, that used cryptography to make economic transactions confidential.
However, the first time the idea or term “cryptocurrency” was coined was in 1998. That year, Wei Dai began to think about developing a new payment method that used a cryptographic system and whose main characteristic was decentralization.
What Is Cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers.
Satoshi Nakamoto: the creator of the first cryptocurrency
Do you remember the global economic crisis that began more than a decade ago? Yes, in 2008, a funding crisis affecting everyone, including America’s superpower, was booming. The effects of such a large economic disaster were dormant and the coins were losing value faster and faster.
In 2009, the so-called Satoshi Nakamoto a person whose identity is still secret, created the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. As you have already read, he was not the first person who came up with the idea to create it. What was the intention behind it? To create a new way of payment that could be used internationally, decentralized, and without having any financial institution behind it.
Types of Cryptocurrency
The first blockchain-grounded cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, which still remains the most popular and utmost precious. Moment, there are thousands of alternate cryptocurrencies with colorful functions and specifications. Some of these are duplicates or spoons of Bitcoin, while others are new currencies that were erected from scrape.
Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by an individual or group known by the alias”Satoshi Nakamoto.”
As of Aug 2021, there were over 18.8 million bitcoins in rotation with a total request cap of around$858.9 billion, with the figure streamlining constantly. Only 21 million bitcoins live, precluding both affectation and manipulation.
Some of the contending cryptocurrencies spawned by Bitcoin’s success, known as” altcoins,” include Litecoin, Peercoin, and Namecoin, as well as Ethereum, Cardano, and EOS. By Aug. 2021, the aggregate value of all the cryptocurrencies in actuality is over$1.8 trillion — Bitcoin presently represents roughly46.5 of the total value.
What is the future of these Cryptocurrencies?
We can speculate on what value cryptocurrency may have for investors in the coming months and years (and many will), but the reality is it’s still a new and speculative investment, without much history on which to base predictions. No matter what a given expert thinks or says, no one really knows. That’s why it’s important to only invest what you’re prepared to lose and stick to more conventional investments for long-term wealth building.
“If you were to wake one morning to find that crypto has been banned by the developed nations and it became worthless, would you be OK?” Frederick Stanfield, a CFP with Lifewater Wealth Management in Atlanta, Georgia, told NextAdvisor recently.
Keep your investments small, and never put crypto investments above any other financial goals like saving for retirement and paying off high-interest debt.
