The Future of Money: Types of Crypto
Omar Mahmoud
Omar Mahmoud
So, in the last two articles, we talked about the history of Bitcoin, and the technology behind it. However, that’s not the only type of crypto by far. Today I’ll talk about a few of the others.
There are many different types of crypto. And I mean MANY! As of March 2022, there are 18,465 cryptos! Many of these cryptos have little to no value or following though, and are virtually unheard of. (Pun unintended) If you were to take away the dead ones, or the ones with no value, you’re left with 10,363. That’s still a large number! I assure you though, at least 75% of those aren’t useful, or at the very least hold little value. So, what are the basic cryptos you should know?
Bitcoin
Created : 2009
Current Price : 53,427.75 CAD
You already know about Bitcoin, so I’m just going to say that this is probably the best bet for any beginner who wants to get into
crypto.
Ethereum
Created : July 30 2015
Current Price: 4,051.11 CAD
Ethereum is the second largest crypto currency in the world, and is used mainly in NFTs and smart contracts. The main difference between it and Bitcoin is that it is a programmable blockchain, meaning that it is essentially a blockchain with a built-in programming language. You can program apps and tools on top of the currency. Ethereum is aiming to create a decentralized system and infrastructure that is not maintained by a single authority.
Tether
Created : July 2014
Current Price : 1.26 CAD
Tether is the third biggest crypto currency, and is backed by the American dollar, unlike many other cryptos. This type of crypto is called Stablecoins. This means there are actual dollars in reserves at financial institutions to serve as collateral.This is better for many reasons, but the main reason is that it avoids the randomness of other currencies, where prices can double and halve in one week. This also removes costs of transaction fees and takes away delays that happen in the crypto market.
Dogecoin
Created : December 2013
Current Price : 0.17 CAD
A crypto that was created originally as a joke (“Doge” was a meme back in 2013), and the software developers as a joke in the crypto community. Its main distinction from Bitcoin is that it is faster and easier to mine and to complete the mathematical equations to create it. Therefore, it has a lower value. There is no limit on the maximum number of tokens created, unlike Bitcoin, which can have a max of 21 million tokens in circulation.
What are the public's opinions on Cryptocurrencies?
Many investors and entrepreneurs have stood with or against crypto. As we all know, Elon Musk is a huge crypto investor and public supporter, with his favorite one actually being Dogecoin. He said he supported it because it felt more like the people’s crypto. His company, Tesla, accepts Dogecoin, and, at one point, accepted Bitcoin too. Other supporters of cryptocurrency include Microsoft, PayPal and even Twitch. All of these accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, and eventually, will accept other types.
There are, of course, disapprovers of cryptocurrency. The biggest one I can probably say is Warren Buffet. Yes, the multi-billionaire entrepreneur, one of the richest people on Earth, highly disapproves of Bitcoin and crypto in general. In 2018, in an interview with CNBC, he said that he was almost certain that they would all come to a bad end. In 2019, Buffet declared that Bitcoin was a delusion and a gambling device, stating that it has not produced anything, and that there are lots of controversies associated with it. He said in another interview :
“Cryptocurrencies basically have no value. They don’t produce anything. You can’t do anything with it except sell it to somebody else. (…) I don’t own any cryptocurrency. I never will”.
Some people claim that Buffet is just scared of Bitcoin and how it’s affecting society. I think we’ll never know, but as for the near future, Buffet will not invest in any cryptocurrencies.
The Future?
To top off this series, let’s talk about the future of crypto. At this moment, crypto is mainly open for business and high level investors, but that could change. Since early 2021, PayPal customers have been able to use their cryptocurrency holdings as funding to pay at PayPal's 26 million merchants around the globe. In this new system, consumers can instantly convert their selected cryptocurrency balance to official currency, like USD or CAD. It has only been a year, so there is still a lot of room for the currency to grow.
Analysts estimate that the global cryptocurrency market will more than triple by 2030, hitting a valuation of nearly $5 billion. Whether they want to buy into it or not, investors, businesses, and brands can’t ignore this rising force anymore.
Many people are widely supporting the decentralization of cryptocurrencies, but feel like there should be some sort of government regulation, as a main hesitation people have over crypto is the lack of control and rules on these currencies. Many feel like the government should step in and place certain restrictions and rules to increase security and decrease fraud, but on the other hand, many others feel that governments entering into this would destroy the entire concept of crypto.
Whatever the future of cryptocurrency holds, there’s a lot of work to be done to balance the risks with the rewards, and there are plenty of opportunities for the brands and individuals who take on the task.
So, in conclusion, crypto is a part of life. There’s nothing more to say. It’s rapidly increasing in popularity and importance, and everybody, even famous celebrities, are jumping on this rising phenomenon. The technology behind it is really helping its popularity, what with the confidentiality and the non-government based format of it. Its history is also really interesting, with its big timeline starting with the foundation of Bitcoin in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, to cryptocurrencies being worth 7% of the world’s money.
There you have it. I hope you liked this series about crypto, and found it interesting and informative. I certainly did. Below are some cool sites that you could check out for more info.
References
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/number-of-cryptocurrencies
https://www.investopedia.com/tech/most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin/
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/ethereum-what-is-it-and-how-is-it-different-to-bitcoin.html
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/what-is-dogecoin/
https://www.gobankingrates.com/investing/crypto/what-is-tether/
https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/business/10-major-companies-that-accept-bitcoin/
https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2020-10-21
https://www.gwi.com/connecting-the-dots/future-of-cryptocurrency
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