We live in the crypto moment

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Cryptocurrency is buzzing since the turn of 2021 to the extent that if you are not crypto-trading you risk being left behind.

So what exactly is cryptocurrency and "who is who" in the decade defining craze that only just getting starting?

Cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange that is digital, encrypted and decentralized. So in simple terms "crypto" is a digital currency that can be used to buy goods and services, secured by an online ledger with strong cryptography. Unlike official country currencies like US Dollars, there is central authority tasked with managing and maintaining the value of cryptocurrency.

According to CoinMarketCap.com, more than 6700 cryptocurrencies are traded publicly with a total crypto market volume of 219.43 B over the last 24 hours. The below table details the top cryptocurrencies by market cap as of today the 14th of February 2022: (Valentines Day ;-)

The top 5 crypto exchanges by volume are detailed below as of today:

With the top cryptocurrencies and exchanged identified, we cannot but talk about "Elon Musk" who seems to be running the show amid this craze.

On Friday the 29th of January 2021, Bitcoin surged as much as 20 % after Elon Musk added the bitcoin hashtag (#bitcoin) to his Twitter bio and tweeted. Industry site CoinDesk clocked the currency’s value at $37,299 at around 3:30 a.m. ET, with an increase of $5,000 in the span of an hour. 

On Thursday the 4th of February 2021, Musk sent Dogecoin soaring (surged more than 50%) with a couple of tweets. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that reportedly started as a joke and couple of tweets from Elon Musk got it close to breaking the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. If you want to know more about Dogecoin, check out this piece by Foreign Policy (link).

On Monday the 8th of February 2021, Tesla announced that it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and said it will start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products “subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis.” - Bitcoin prices surged to new highs following Tesla’s announcement, reaching a price of at least $44,200. Tesla shares also were up more than 2% Monday morning.

We can go on about Musk and how he grilled Robinhood's co-founder on the audio-only social network Clubhouse (currently in beta-testing) about Gamestop a couple of weeks back but we need to stay on topic with crypto.

To conclude, while cryptocurrency can appear to be very lucrative to trade in, it an incredibly speculative and volatile buy. And while cryptocurrencies are legal in the United States, they remain a high-risk investments, so buyers must be very careful.

For the latest about #cryptocurrencies, #AI, and many other future tech trends, follow me on Twitter: @2018Iptv