Since its rise in popularity, cryptocurrency’s realistic viability as the future of global currency has been widely debated. Despite the various controversies surrounding it, cryptocurrency, as a concept, continues to be misunderstood.
Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ether (more commonly referred to as Ethereum), is described by CNN Business as “a form of digital assets that are secured by a decentralized network of computers”. It was first made available to the public in 2009 through Bitcoin, and aims to democratize economic systems by eliminating the need for a central bank or government involvement. Instead of exchanging traditional or “fiat” currency, cryptocurrencies are exchanged digitally through a blockchain.
Simply put, a blockchain can be understood as a digitally public ledger, which means that transactions can be seen and verified by anyone. Once the transactions are verified by auditors on the decentralized network, it is stored as a link or “block” within that chain of transactions — thus, the term ‘blockchain’. These links or “blocks” can never be altered or deleted, giving further transparency to exchanges.
Given the appeal of how cryptocurrency exchanges work, there have been notable surges — and drops — in cryptocurrency stocks and popularity, particularly the two most popular types, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Cryptocurrency is also commonly and instantly exchanged on physical ATMs, such as those provided by CoinFlip. Daniel Polotsky, the CEO of CoinFlip, “the world’s leading bitcoin ATM operator”, speaks on the differences between the two brands and why cryptocurrency may be a good addition to financial portfolios.
“There’s a reason that Bitcoin and Ethereum have been the best performing investment in the last decade,” says Polotsky. “Bitcoin is a really good, trusted money transfer system. It really decentralized money and gold. It’s better than a bank in terms of transferring money…
