The World of Bitcoins
We’ve been hearing a lot about bitcoins lately and are still trying to figure out if they will last throughout the ages as a profitable investment.
According to Virtual Vertigo in, The Economist:
“Anyone clever or lucky enough to have bought $1,000 of bitcoins in July 2010, when the price stood at $0.05, would now have a stash worth $46m. Other cryptocurrencies have soared, too, giving them a collective market value of about $80bn. However, ascents this steep are rarely sustainable.”
Read more from Virtual Vertigo in the Economist =
But before we get to the developmental stages of Bitcoin, let’s first get over the basics.
The Basics
According to Bitcoin.com, “the original Bitcoin code was designed by Satoshi Nakamoto under MIT open source credentials. In 2008 Nakamoto outlined the idea behind Bitcoin in his White Paper, which scientifically described how the cryptocurrency would function.”
Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009. Bitcoin offers the promise of lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and is operated by a decentralised authority, unlike government-issued currencies.
Read more at Investopedia = Bitcoin http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp#ixzz4jJzpKHyt
Bitcoin is not owned by anyone, and anyone can use it. Bitcoin transactions are irreversible. This means that no one, including banks, or governments can block you from sending or receiving bitcoins from anyone else, anywhere in the world. With this freedom comes the great responsibility of not having any central authority to complain to, if something goes wrong.
This means that even in Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, and the T&T Stock Exchange, do not have regulatory authority over Bitcoin or any other crytocurrencies.
Read more from Bitcoin.com = https://www.bitcoin.com/you-need-to-know
This neat video will help put things into perspective.
Bitcoin is however making headway in other territories and across various industries, as can be seen below.
Users of Bitcoins place their digital financial record in Blockchain, which is a public ledger/database that chronologically records all transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. It is also termed a bitcoin wallet. As can be seen below Blockchain, the cryptocurrency startup, through investments from the Virgin Group and others raised a sum of 40$million. According to Blockchain, the fresh round of investment will go towards expansion of manpower, and research and development.
The Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission is not an investment adviser nor is it a brokerage house. This article is intended solely to provide you with the information you need to help you make sound investment decisions and to ensure that you are familiar with and understand your rights and responsibilities as a consumer of financial services. To lodge a complaint, ensure that you complete the prescribed complaint form located on the TTSEC website www.ttsec.org.tt.
Before investing, educate and empower yourself!
To learn more, visit www.investucatett.com, follow us on Facebook or call 624-2991. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email us at ccei@ttsec.org.tt.