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At the turn of the century, cryptocurrencies were unheard of. They hadn’t even been invented yet. By 2009, though, bitcoin was unveiled and the notion of wholly digital currencies without regulated monetary backups and physical representations was making waves. People across the globe began to consider all the possibilities of such a concept. What’s more, they rushed to get their virtual hands on assets like these. Some countries tried to suppress cryptocurrencies, and some succeeded for the most part. Others decided to allow their citizens to get in on the rising concept. Even household names like AT&T and Starbucks began accepting cryptocurrencies as payment.
Learning More About Cryptocurrencies
Quite a few people have a hard time grasping the concept of cryptocurrencies. If you fall into that category, you’re certainly not alone. Understanding how something that doesn’t really exist in any physical form could have value isn’t exactly easy. Finding out how to acquire cryptocurrencies can be equally difficult. Those are only a couple of the most basic factors involved. Though you can learn more at xCoins, we’ll discuss some of the finer points right now.
What Is Cryptocurrency?
As touched upon earlier, cryptocurrency is a type of currency that only exists in digital form. It’s not backed by any bank or government, and it has no physical representation, such as actual coins or paper bills. It’s based on blockchain technology, meaning it’s basically made up of chunks of digital data connected to one another to form a chain. That’s the basic, simplified version of the story. Several cryptocurrencies have been developed since this technology first came to light, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Litecoin to name a few.
How Can I Get Cryptocurrencies?
In general, cryptocurrency values are surging. For example, people could purchase Bitcoin for less than $5 per share when it first began to gain value. At the moment, it’s worth more than $46,000 per share. Many of the other popular cryptocurrencies have seen growth as well though not quite to the same extent as bitcoin. That leaves many people wondering how they can get their piece of the virtual pie.
One way to acquire cryptocurrencies is to mine them. In a nutshell, that means unlocking the blocks of information they’re comprised of. To do so, you’ll need an application-specific integrated circuit miner or a graphics processing unit. You’ll also need to understand how to use those devices to mine cryptos. For those who don’t want to mine their cryptocurrencies, though, there are other options.
It’s also possible to purchase or trade for cryptocurrencies. You can do this via a cryptocurrency exchange. Purchasing and trading for cryptocurrencies require setting up an account with an exchange and creating a virtual wallet. These exchanges ask for personal information to verify users’ identities, so be careful about which ones you use. You can supply your account with funds in various ways or purchase cryptos using credit and debit cards. Even PayPal offers its account holders a way to purchase cryptocurrencies through its own platform.
Becoming Part of the Crypto Revolution
Though many people have yet to trust or understand cryptocurrencies, the number of people who are interested in investing in them continues to grow. In turn, that abounding interest drives the value of cryptocurrencies ever higher. If you’d like to purchase cryptocurrencies to hedge against disaster or diversify your investment portfolio, several varieties are on the market, and numerous options are available. Be sure to do your research on cryptos, exchanges, and payment options before jumping into the process, though.
