Cryptocurrency – The Way Forward and Possibilities

Peer to peer technology has evolved to accommodate payment systems, with Bitcoin as an example. It is a digital currency that can be used for personal and business transactions at a reasonable cost. Sometimes called the Internet currency, Bitcoin is not subject to any central authority. It was created about five years ago, and the rise has increased, and many speculators have said that this rise will continue for the foreseeable future.

More about Bitcoins

Bitcoin is a description of the actual technology at play. These coins represent the currency itself and are transacted. They are sent or received through wallet software running on a PC, web application or smartphone. They can be obtained through product and service exchanges or through mining.

What is Minning?

Mining is simply the process of creating new bitcoins. For each transaction that takes place, records are stored sequentially in a public database called a blockchain. These blockchains are maintained by miners, whose reward is newly created bitcoins.

Using Bitcoins

These coins are easily obtainable for different currencies. The painless way is to buy with cash. There are companies that provide exchange services to their clients with rates determined by factors such as volume.

There are people who have invested in bitcoins in the hope that their value will rise. Although this credibility is undeniable, it carries with it some risk. There are weaknesses in these coins, and this factor makes large-scale investments difficult. This coupled with some inherent limitations such as the irreversibility of transactions, the volatility of Bitcoin’s exchange rate and limited user discretion make it a reserve for sophisticated investors only. On the other hand, however, Bitcoin can prevent inflation, making it ideal for places where national currencies are problematic.

The future of these coins

Bitcoins have received a mixed reaction in the market. Some economists say that this technology has provided the long-desired digital currency. Others have found it less convincing, arguing that its unreliability and its volatility are disappointing. Regardless, many merchants have warmed to it, and its growing popularity means it will succeed as a mainstream payment method.

If you are new to Bitcoin and spend a lot of your time online, you should give it a try. It offers unparalleled flexibility and convenience that is missing from other payment gateways.

Crypto trading can be profitable when the trader manages to keep an eye on the market around the clock. However, this is something that can be difficult to do, but fortunately, there are crypto signal services that can be used to provide the necessary support in trading. They provide signals so that traders can make the right decisions with their trades at the right time. Since cryptocurrency trading has become so popular, many crypto signal services have appeared. So how do you choose the best one to provide valuable information to make your trade the most successful?

Quality of service

It is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing services. The trading platform should have an impressive prediction success rate and should also provide important signals to guide you through trading and market trends. Signals must also be sent immediately so that they match actual market activity. Check that they generate signals as quickly as possible; it makes all the difference.

Reliability

Remember that you will be trusting them to guide you with your trades, so you want to choose someone you can fully trust to make safe choices. This means that you should select a provider that is 100% legitimate. A provider that tells you how they generate their signals is more reliable whether they are expert traders or automated software. In a world full of scams, you want to be careful who you choose to work with.

Free trial

One of the best ways to tell if a provider is genuine is to offer a free trial of their services. This also applies when it comes to crypto trading. A provider that offers free signals for a certain period of time allows you to determine the quality and reliability of the service. By trying before you invest, you enter the services with full confidence and trust. Legitimate signs won’t be a problem, giving you the freedom to decide to work with them or look elsewhere if you’re not happy with what you get.

Prices

Even with a free trial, you will definitely need to subscribe to services at some point. Avoid providers offering signals for free as they may not be legitimate. However, you wouldn’t be paying much for a subscription either. The price should be reasonable for the quality of service you want to enjoy. Do your math and do some research so you can make the right decisions in the end.

Help

In addition to being available 24/7 for your support, they should be knowledgeable about digital currency exchanges and the application they offer you. Without this kind of support, you will have trouble enjoying the value that the services are trying to add to you.

In a world driven by hype and FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out]It’s becoming clearer every day that a serious crypto enthusiast needs to make a case for choosing a token to help them capture money in a world where real viable projects are hard to find and good projects with long-term prospects are even harder. ‘shit coins’.

With recent developments where most new cryptocurrencies are hitting record lows and new ICO Projects failing to live up to their hype after Crowdsale, it is now common for disappointed “investors” to blame ICO promoters on social media instead of blaming them. for not doing due diligence themselves to pick a sure post-crowdsale winner before buying a token during their ICO.

From my extensive observation, most crypto buyers simply bought the coins based on an ICO based FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) created by the masters of the hype behind these coins. Many bought without understanding the coin’s post-ICO purpose, or what the token was supposed to do after the Crowdsale. When nothing happened after the ICO, as is the case with many ICOs now, they jumped on social media to cry bloody murder.

Recently, me and my team just finished a tour in Africa and parts of the US to promote the Nollycoin ICO. We organized and sponsored different conferences, held AMA (Ask Me Anything) press conferences and held many one-on-one meetings with Crypto whales, small investors and crypto millionaires of all colors.

Through it all, one thing that surprised me more than anything else was that MOST token holders had NO idea what the underlying business or project was involved in behind the token sales.

Even more strange to my observation, it was surprising that many could not articulate the project’s value proposition, its goals or the company’s plan to disrupt the market and capture a portion of the buyers in their industry. They simply bought the ICO because the various telegrams or Facebook pages they visited told them to “Buy”. Hodl and buy more’. Most simply acted on herd instinct instead of objective deliberation.

Now, if most of the people I met were teenagers or uneducated people, I wouldn’t be so surprised by the level of ignorance of many of the crypto “investors” I’ve met. On the contrary, many of those I met were college graduates and some middle-aged. However, less than 10% of them can easily say why they bought a coin in the hope that it would increase in value over time. Everywhere I went, very few people in the crowd told me the name, experience, and ability of the corporate executives of the company selling the coins.

The only thing most of them could point out was that the coins were recommended by “respectable” influencers, when facts have shown that most of them paid colds to create respectability for FOMO and otherwise worthless shitcoins.

Beyond the so-called fake influences, many crypto buyers knew the names of the ringleaders were Russian, Chinese or Korean, even though they knew nothing about them. As if all you need to have a successful ICO is to list the names of people in Korea or China or Russia that no one could verify with a simple Google search.

While I agree that there are certainly many things to consider when deciding whether or not a project’s tokens will increase in value over time, I think the acid test and immediate evaluation criteria should be the utility of the coin itself outside of what would happen. on crypto exchanges.

Although most crypto-token owners I’ve met didn’t know it, the reality is that if you bought a token from most ICOs, you weren’t actually “investing” in that company. You would not be buying shares in the company and you would not be buying any security from the company.

And at best, what you were doing when you bought tokens in most ICOs was “donating” to a project, outside of the business ecosystem legally controlled by the issuing company, in exchange for a utility token or coin that legally had no real value.

In short, apart from hoping that the price of the tokens will rise to “the moon” or become a millionaire, there is nothing else you can do with the token other than enjoy the utility attached by the ICO company, if any.

Since no one could predict for sure how Crypto would perform on a crypto exchange when it finally got there, and recent experience has shown that the prices of most tokens would likely dive within the first few weeks of being listed on an exchange (due to heavy speculator selling), it would make sense to sell your token from looking at what value or utility you can get out of it, beyond the expected “moon” in return.

As the crypto revolution continued to evolve, transform and adapt to different market developments, the only way to make sure your money isn’t going down the drain is to make sure you can still use those tokens for great value and benefits. even if you could sell it for a profit in an exchange.

When making this decision, you should ask yourself this key question: What is the value, product or service that the company selling the token is creating that will give me enough value for my cash to make this purchase worthwhile?

In a world where token prices are falling on different exchanges, the more opportunities you have to get a real-life use for a token outside of the expected list on a crypto exchange, the more likely you are to end up frustrated or broke. tabs that are useless to you.

So you have to ask again and again: If this coin was never traded on an exchange, would I be happy to support the vision? If this token has lost 70% of its value on an exchange, can I still use it and get my money’s worth with it somewhere else?

If you could not answer these questions positively after reviewing the RESEARCH and investment claims of the company, then you should think twice before buying that coin.

Final case study

Take a current ICO like Nollycoin, which is a token that powers a Blockchain-enabled film distribution ecosystem. The coin’s promoters have created different utility scenarios for the coin’s buyers to ensure that whatever happens to Nollycoin in the crypto exchange, their backers and token holders will continue to smile.

They are among the great utilities attached to the Nollycoin token in the Nollytainment ecosystem

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to watch exclusive movies in theaters and cinemas

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to access 1,000 movies on the Netflix-on-steroids blockchain Movie distribution.

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to purchase products and services on NollyMall, which is like an Amazon platform for entertainment-based products.

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to pay school fees on the NOLLY Academy platform and partner companies

As you can see, beyond the normal expectation that tokens can be listed on a crypto exchange platform, you need to look beyond the hype of an ico to the immediate and prospective utility of the token and the viability of the underlying project.

As I isolate myself in our home, I ponder the economic health of our country in the coming months and beyond. Seeing people mobilizing to fight the invisible coronavirus is certainly inspiring. We all know that managing individual behavior will go a long way toward slowing and eventually stopping the spread of this terrifying pandemic.

However, why is it enough to cancel large events, not gather in large groups, work from home and keep six feet apart? I’m afraid businesses are closed, including restaurants, bars, malls and gyms. movie theaters, travel companies and more as we face unprecedented economic hardship.

Right now, a couple of thousand people have died in the US, which is sad and painful especially for their families and loved ones. However, if we continue on this path of stopping business trade, hundreds of thousands of people will die from the dire economic consequences.

When the unemployment rate rises by one percent, there could be almost 40,000 deaths according to Bluestone et all. Causes and effects of economic displacement, which is often summarized in economics textbooks and mentioned in the popular movie The Big Short. A further breakdown of the numbers is as follows: 20,000 heart attacks, 920 suicides and 650 murders.

A three percent rise in unemployment could lead to more than 100,000 deaths, which far exceeds the number of coronavirus deaths directly linked to the pandemic. I think this scenario shows that we need to maintain social distancing practices, but I think we need to keep our retail businesses open. Certain individuals, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, may take the necessary precautions if they wish to self-isolate.

The remaining 80-90% of the population must learn to accept and live with the risk of this pandemic in order to maintain our quality of life. We can change our individual behavior, practice good hygiene, show compassion for those who get sick, mobilize financial and human resources to fight the pandemic and not stop our business, personal and consumer lives.

Compassion should also be extended to the small business owner, who only has the capital to operate for a short time without modest sales. Their entire financial allocation can be invested in the business, including their ability to support their employees and family. In addition, they may be at an age where there is insufficient time to recover from a business or personal bankruptcy. Shouldn’t we accept a reasonable risk to allow this entrepreneur to sustain his business?

Another overlooked aspect of this pandemic is the uneven geographic distribution of the virus. Four states, including New York, New Jersey, Washington and California, account for 64% of cases. Breaking it down further, most people with the disease in these states live in New York City, Seattle, and the CA Bay Area.

Even if the virus has reached all 50 states, why should West Virginia with eight cases and South Dakota with 50 cases and one death suffer negative economic consequences when the number of cases is so small. West Virginia is already in a tough spot due to the loss of its state’s manufacturing and coal industries.

In today’s world, there is danger all around us from crime, car accidents, natural disasters and more. We do not stop living because of the tragic circumstances that inevitably find their way into our lives. Instead, we face tragedy head on and know in our guts that we must always find a way to persevere. The last risk is not to take one and today we are in a very dangerous situation.

Bitcoin hit a high of nearly $20,000 about a month ago, on December 17th. As I write, the cryptocurrency is below $11,000…a loss of about 45%. It’s more than that 150,000 billion dollars lost market cap.

Cue lots of hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth in the crypto commentary. It’s neck and neck, but I think the “I told you so” crowd has an advantage over the “excuse makers”.

Here’s the thing: Unless you’ve lost your Bitcoin shirt, none of this matters at all. And chances are the “experts” you see in the press aren’t telling you why.

In fact, the bitcoin crash is wonderful… because it means we can all stop thinking about cryptocurrencies.

The death of Bitcoin…

In a year, people won’t be talking about bitcoin in the grocery store or on the bus like they are now. Here’s why.

Bitcoin is a product of justified frustration. Its designer explicitly said that the cryptocurrency was a reaction to the government’s abuse of fiat currencies like the dollar or the euro. It had to offer an independent and peer-to-peer payment system based on an immutable virtual currency, of which there was a limited amount.

That dream was long ago abandoned in favor of raw speculation. Ironically, most people care about bitcoin because it seems like an easy way to get more fiat currency! They don’t own it because they want to buy pizzas or gas with it.

In addition to being a terrible way to trade electronically – it’s incredibly slow – bitcoin’s success as a speculative game has rendered it useless as a currency. Why would someone spend it if they appreciate it so quickly? Who would accept one when it is rapidly depreciating?

Bitcoin is also a major source of pollution. It takes 351 kilowatt-hours of electricity to process a single transaction, which releases 172 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That’s enough to power a US household for a year. The energy consumed by all bitcoin mining so far could power nearly 4 million US homes for a year.

Paradoxically, bitcoin’s success as obsolete speculative game – not the intended libertarian use – has attracted government repression.

China, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and France have implemented or are considering bans or limits on bitcoin trading. Several intergovernmental organizations have called for joint action to stop the apparent bubble. The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which once seemed to approve bitcoin-based financial derivatives, is now doubtful.

And according to Investing.com: “The European Union is introducing stricter rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing on virtual currency platforms. It is also looking into the limits of cryptocurrency trading.”

We may someday see a functional and widely accepted cryptocurrency, but it won’t be bitcoin.

… But the Boost for Crypto Assets

good Overriding Bitcoin allows us to see where the true value of crypto-assets lies. Here’s how.

To use the New York subway system, you need tokens. You can’t use them to buy anything else…even if you do could sell them to someone who wanted to use the meter more than you.

Indeed, if metro tokens were in limited supply, a lively market for them could emerge. They may even trade for much more than they originally cost. It all depends on how many people want to use the metro.

That, in a nutshell, is the scenario for most promising “cryptocurrencies” other than bitcoin. They are not money, yes tokens – “crypto-tokens”, if you will. They are not used as a general currency. They are only good within the platform they were designed for.

If those platforms provide valuable services, people will want those crypto tokens and that will determine the price. In other words, crypto tokens will have value to the extent that people value the things you can get from their platform.

That will do them real goodswith intrinsic value – because they can be used to achieve something that people value. This means that you can reliably expect a stream of income or services from such crypto-token holders. Seriously, you can measure that stream of future returns against the price of the crypto token, just like we do when we calculate a stock’s price/earnings (P/E) ratio.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has no intrinsic value. It has only one price – the price set by supply and demand. It can’t generate future earnings, and you can’t measure anything like a P/E ratio.

One day it will be worthless because it doesn’t get you anything real.

Ether and other crypto-assets are the future

Crypto-token ether for sure it seems like a currency Cryptocurrency is traded on exchanges under the code ETH. Its symbol is the Greek character Xi. It is mined in a process similar to Bitcoin (but with less energy consumption).

But ether is not a coin. Its designers describe “Ethereum as a fuel for running the distributed application platform. It is a form of payment that clients of the platform make to the machines that execute the requested operations.”

Ether tokens provide access to one of the most sophisticated distributed computing networks in the world. It’s so promising that big companies are falling over each other to develop practical, real-world uses for it.

Because most people trading it don’t understand or care about its true purpose, the price of ether has bubbled and frothed like bitcoin in recent weeks.

But eventually ether will return to a stable price based on the demand for computational services that people can “buy”. That price will replace it real value that may be the price in the future. There will be a futures market, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), all of which will have a way of evaluating their underlying value over time. As we do with stocks.

What will that value be? I do not know. But I know it will be much more than bitcoin.

My advice: get rid of your bitcoin, and buy ether at the next jump.

As it’s all the rage today, I’d like to announce that I’ll be launching my own cryptocurrency next week.

Let’s call it “kingcoin”.

No, that’s too self-serving.

How about “muttcoin”? I’ve always had a soft spot for mixed races.

Yes, it’s perfect, everyone loves dogs.

It will be the biggest thing since fidget spinners.

Congratulations! Everyone reading this will receive a mutcoin when my new coin launches next week.

I will distribute 1 million muttcoins evenly. Feel free to spend them wherever you want (or wherever anyone will accept them!).

What is that? The cashier at Target said they wouldn’t accept our muttcoin?

Tell the doubters that muttcoin has a scarcity value – there will only be one million mutcoins. In addition, the full faith and credit of my desktop computer’s 8GB of RAM is protected.

Also, remember that a decade ago, one bitcoin couldn’t even buy a pack of gum. Now one bitcoin can buy a lifetime supply.

And, like bitcoin, you can safely store muttcoin offline away from hackers and thieves.

It is essentially an exact replica of bitcoin’s properties. Muttcoin has a decentralized ledger with an impossible cryptographic crack, and all transactions are immutable.

Still not convinced that our mutcoins will be worth billions in the future?

Well, it’s understandable. In fact, launching a new cryptocurrency is much more difficult than it sounds, if not downright impossible.

This is why I believe that bitcoin has reached these heights against all odds. And because of its unique user network, it will continue to do so.

Of course, there have been setbacks. But each of these setbacks has ultimately led to higher prices. The recent 60% drop will be no different.

The Miracle of Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s success is based on its ability to create a global network of users willing to transact with it now or store it later. Future prices will be determined by the rate at which the network grows.

Even in the face of wild price swings, bitcoin adoption continues to grow at an exponential rate. There are currently 23 million wallets open worldwide, trailing 21 million bitcoins. Within a few years, the number of wallets may increase to include the 5 billion people on the planet connected to the Internet.

Sometimes the motivation of new crypto converters was speculative; at other times, they sought a store of value away from their home currency. In the past year, new apps like Coinbase have made it even easier to onboard new users.

If you haven’t noticed, this is what people talk about when they buy bitcoin. We all have that friend who won’t shut up after buying bitcoin. Yes, I’m guilty of that, and I’m sure quite a few readers are too.

Perhaps unconsciously, incumbents become crypto-evangelists, as convincing others to buy serves their own self-interest to increase the value of their assets.

Bitcoin evangelism – spreading the good word – is what led to the price increase from $0.001 to a recent price of $10,000.

Who could have imagined that its eponymous founder, fed up with the global banking oligopoly, would launch an intangible digital resource that in less than a decade equaled the value of the world’s largest currencies?

No religion, political movement or technology has ever witnessed such growth rates. Also, humanity has never been so connected.

The idea of ​​money

Bitcoin started as an idea. To be clear, all money – whether it’s shell money used by primitive islanders, a gold bar or a US dollar – started as an idea. It’s that a user network values ​​it equally and would be willing to part with something of equal value for your monetary means.

Money has no intrinsic value; its value is external – it is only what others think it is.

Look at the dollar in your pocket: it’s just a fancy piece of paper with a one-eyed pyramid, a splattered portrait, and the signatures of important people.

To be useful, society must see it as a unit of account, and merchants must be willing to accept it as payment for goods and services.

Bitcoin has shown an incredible ability to reach and connect to a network of millions of users.

A Bitcoin is only worth what the next person is willing to pay. But if the web continues to expand at an exponential rate, limited supply means prices can only move in one direction…up.

Bottom line

Bitcoin’s nine-year rise has been marked by extreme bouts of volatility. There was an 85% correction in January 2015, and others over 60%, including a massive 93% drop in 2011.

Through each of these corrections, however, the network (as measured by the number of wallets) continued to expand at a rapid pace. As some speculators saw their value decimated, new margin investors saw value and became buyers.

Abnormal levels of volatility have actually helped the bitcoin network grow to 23 million users.

Hey, maybe we just need mutcoin price volatility to attract new users…

This week’s news is that several banks in the US and UK have banned the use of credit cards to purchase cryptocurrencies (CCs). The stated reasons are unbelievable – like money laundering, trying to curtail gambling and protecting retail investors from excessive risk. Interestingly, banks will allow debit card purchases, making it clear that the only risks covered are their own.

With a credit card you can play in a casino, buy guns, drugs, alcohol, pornography, everything and anything you want, but banks and credit card companies want to ban you from their facilities to buy crypto currency? There must be some compelling reasons, and these are NOT stated reasons.

One thing banks fear is how difficult it would be to confiscate CC shares when the credit card holder defaults on payment. It would be much more difficult than repossessing a house or a car. The private keys of a crypto-wallet can be stored on a memory stick or paper and easily removed from the country, with or without a trace of its whereabouts. Some crypto-wallets can hold a lot of value, and the credit card debt will never be paid off, leading to a bankruptcy declaration and a significant loss to the bank. The wallet still contains the cryptocurrency, and the owner can then access the private keys and use a local CC Exchange in a foreign country to convert and pocket the money. A nasty scenario indeed.

We certainly do not advocate such illegal behavior, but banks are aware of this possibility and want to shut some of them down. This can’t happen with debit cards, as the banks never take it out of pocket – the money comes straight out of your account, and only if you have enough money to begin with. We struggle to find honesty in the bank’s story about downsizing and taking risks. Interestingly, Canadian banks are not jumping on this bandwagon, perhaps realizing that their stated reasons for doing so are false. The result of these actions is that investors and consumers are now aware that credit card companies and banks have the ability to limit what you can buy with their credit card. This is not the case with the cards they advertise, and it is likely to be a surprise to most users, who are quite used to deciding what to buy themselves, especially for CC Exchanges and all other merchants who have established Commercial Agreements with these banks. The exchanges haven’t done anything wrong – neither have you – but fear and greed in the banking sector are causing strange things. This further shows the degree to which the banking industry feels threatened by Crypto Currencies.

There is currently little cooperation, trust or understanding between the fiat money world and the CC world. The CC world has no central control body where rules can be set across the board, which leaves each country around the world trying to figure out what to do. China has decided to ban CCs, Singapore and Japan are embracing them, and many other countries are still scratching their heads. What they have in common is that they want to collect taxes on CC investment gains. This is not so different from the early days of digital music, as the Internet has made the dissemination and distribution of unlicensed music essential. Eventually, digital music licensing schemes were developed and accepted because listeners were willing to pay a little something for their music, rather than endless piracy, and the music industry (artists, producers, record companies) accepted reasonable licensing fees rather than nothing. Could there be compromise in the future of fiat and digital currencies? As people around the world grow weary of the exorbitant bank profits and the banks overrunning their lives, there is hope that consumers will be treated with respect and not stuck with forever high costs and unreasonable cuts.

Crypto Currencies and Blockchain technology increase worldwide pressure for fair compromise to happen – this is a game changer.

Stay tuned!

What will the future of money look like? Imagine walking into a restaurant and looking at the digital menu board at your favorite meal combination. Only, instead of the price being $8.99, it is shown as 009 BTC.

Could cryptocurrency really be the future of money? The answer to that question is based on general agreement on several key decisions ranging from ease of use to security and regulation.

Let’s examine both sides of (digital) currency and compare and contrast traditional fiat money with cryptocurrency.

The first and most important ingredient is trust.

It is essential that people trust the currency they are using. What gives the dollar its value? Is it gold? No, the dollar has not backed gold since the 1970s. So what is it that gives the dollar (or any other fiat currency) its value? Some countries’ currencies are considered more stable than others. After all, it is the people’s trust that the issuing government of that money holds firm and essentially guarantees its “value”.

How does trust work with Bitcoin since it is decentralized, meaning there is no governing body issuing the coins? Bitcoin sits on the blockchain, essentially an online ledger that allows the entire world to see all transactions. Each of these transactions is verified by miners (people using computers in a peer to peer network) to prevent fraud and ensure that there is no double spending. In exchange for their services in maintaining the integrity of the blockchain, miners receive a payment for each transaction they verify. Since there are so many miners trying to make money, everyone checks each other’s work for errors. This proof of work process is why the blockchain has never been hacked. In essence, this trust is what gives Bitcoin its value.

Next, let’s look at confidence’s closest friend, security.

What if my bank is robbed or there is fraudulent activity on my credit card? My deposits in the bank are covered by FDIC insurance. My bank is also likely to reverse charges on my card that I never made. That’s not to say that criminals haven’t pulled off at least some frustrating and time-consuming stunts. More or less, it’s the peace of mind that comes from knowing that I will make up for any wrongdoing against me.

In crypto, there are many options when it comes to where to store your money. It is essential to know whether the transactions are insured for your protection. There are reputable exchanges like Binance and Coinbase with a proven track record of righting wrongs for their customers. Just as there are less than reputable banks around the world, the same is true in crypto.

What if I throw a twenty dollar bill into the fire? The same goes for crypto. If I lose my login credentials to a particular digital wallet or exchange, I won’t be able to access those coins. Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of doing business with a reputable company.

The next issue is scaling. Today, this may be the biggest obstacle preventing people from making more transactions on the blockchain. In terms of transaction speed, fiat money moves much faster than crypto. Visa can handle about 40,000 transactions per second. Under normal circumstances, the blockchain can only handle about 10 transactions per second. However, a new protocol is being implemented that will increase this to 60,000 transactions per second. Known as the Lightning Network, it could cause cryptocurrency to become the future of money.

The conversation wouldn’t be complete without talking about comfort. What do people like about traditional banking and spending methods? For those who prefer cash, of course, it’s easy to use most of the time. If you’re trying to book a hotel room or a rental car, you need a credit card. Personally, I use my credit card everywhere I go because of the convenience, security, and rewards.

Did you know that there are companies in the crypto space that provide all of that? Monaco is issuing cards with the Visa logo that automatically convert your digital currency into local currency for you.

If you’ve ever tried to wire someone money, you know that the process can be very tedious and expensive. Blockchain transactions allow a user to send crypto to anyone in minutes, no matter where they live. It’s also considerably cheaper and safer than sending a bank wire.

There are other modern methods of money transfer in both worlds. Take, for example, apps like Zelle, Venmo, and Messenger Pay. These apps are used by millions of millennials every day. Did you know that they are also starting to introduce cryptography?

The Square Cash app now includes Bitcoin, and CEO Jack Dorsey said: “Bitcoin, for us, doesn’t stop at buying and selling. We believe it’s a transformative technology for our industry, and we want to learn as quickly as possible.”

He added, “Bitcoin offers an opportunity to bring more people into the financial system.”

While it’s clear that fiat spending still dominates the way most of us move money around, the fledgling crypto system is quickly gaining ground. The evidence is everywhere. Before 2017 it was difficult to find media coverage. Almost every major business news now covers Bitcoin. From Forbes to Fidelity, everyone is weighing in with their opinions.

What is my opinion? Perhaps the biggest reason why Bitcoin can succeed is that it is fair, inclusive and provides financial access to more people around the world. Banks and large institutions see this as a threat to their existence. They are on the losing end of the greatest wealth transfer the world has ever seen.

Still undecided? Ask yourself this question: “Do people trust governments and banks more or less each day?”

The answer to that question may determine the future of money.

Last month, the Fed took the drastic step of cutting rates in half, for a total of 125 basis points. And with a 225 basis point drop since last fall, what does that say about the stock’s return? Let’s look at the historical data.

Since 1950, the Fed has cut more than 200 basis points 11 times in an attempt to simulate a faltering economy. According to economists, it takes six months for the rate cuts to take effect, and they should last three years. Therefore, I analyzed the annual and three-year returns of the S&P 500 Index and the Fama/French Small Cap Value benchmark portfolio for each rate cut period.

After declines of more than 200 basis points, the S&P 500’s one-year average return was 13.5%, with two periods of negative returns. The three-year average returns for the S&P 500 were 31.8% with one period of negative returns.

However, the benchmark Fama/French Small Cap Value portfolio has fared better. The average one-year return is 34.5%, with no negative returns. The three-year average return was 100.5%, with only one period of negative returns.

Periods of rate cuts	S&P500	S/V*	S&P500	S/V*

of 200bp or more	1y ret	1y ret	3y ret	3y ret

Oct 1957 - Mar 1958 	32% 	64% 	55% 	106%

Apr 1960 - Jan 1961 	11% 	23% 	25% 	47%

Apr 1970 - Nov 1970 	8% 	12% 	10% 	-1%

Jul 1974 - Oct 1974 	21% 	34% 	25% 	149%

Apr 1980 - May 1980 	-19% 	46% 	46% 	175%

Jan 1981 - Feb 1981 	-14% 	10% 	20% 	131%

Jun 1981 - Sep 1981 	4% 	25% 	143% 	141%

Apr 1982 - Jul 1982 	52% 	96% 	78% 	174%

Aug 1984 - Nov 1984 	24% 	31% 	41% 	39%

Sep 1990 - Mar 1991 	8% 	29% 	19% 	89%

Sep 2000 - May 2001 	-15% 	19% 	-11% 	57%

Average 		13.5% 	35.4% 	31.8% 	100.5%

*S/V = Fama/French Small Cap Value benchmark Portfolio

Data sources: Federal Reserve, Kenneth French data library

Historical data suggests that a Fed rate cut does not guarantee making money in stocks. However, they increase their chances of doing so, especially with small-cap stocks. (Note: The probability of losing money on the S&P 500 in any given year is about 30%)

Martin Zweig once said:

Don’t fight the Fed!

How wise was his advice!

If you don’t personally invest in cryptocurrencies, chances are that your friends, family members, or colleagues are at this point. Cryptocurrencies have gone from a very niche market to almost completely mainstream, and they’ve done it in a very short time. Now that they are so ubiquitous, there is a new question to discuss, and that is how cryptocurrencies are handled in the divorce process.

Determining and dividing financial assets, as well as determining alimony payments, are major issues to be resolved in most divorce proceedings. There are many tools available to a lawyer for financial asset disclosure, but when you combine Bitcoin and divorce, you’re left with something entirely new.

Handling Bitcoin and divorce is different than handling other financial assets for several big reasons. One is the high volatility of their value. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been known to experience absolutely wild swings, both up and down. Therefore, the value must be continuously tracked and updated, or it must be set at a certain point in time, where it may be worth something very different. In either case, the situation is perfect for determining and dividing assets or establishing alimony.

Another key issue to understand between cryptocurrency and divorce is that these markets and their transactions were designed to be anonymous and secure. Searching a person’s assets, accounts or transactions is not the same as viewing a bank account, retirement account or stock portfolio. Tracing an individual’s crypto accounts will be difficult at best, and whether the courts have put any subpoena power behind it is unclear at this point.

Clearly, this is only the beginning of the Bitcoin and divorce problem, as all cryptocurrencies are still on the rise. As more people start using them or continue to use them, and as they become more common and accepted, how they are handled as financial assets in divorce proceedings will continue to be in focus. The fact that it rose so quickly to begin with has left many people at a loss as to how to deal with such matters today. Remember, Bitcoin was launched less than a decade ago.

As always, be sure to consult with an experienced professional in your area. While there is considerable uncertainty about how Bitcoin and divorce will be treated and what types of rulings we can expect in the future, an experienced divorce attorney can guide you through the process and provide insight into the areas of financial discovery and discovery. all aspects of a pending case.