Almost 50 million Americans are now trading cryptocurrency. What was once considered to be an avant-garde investment is now becoming mainstream.
Digital currency has been around for a long time. Services such as Paypal popularized it. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and dogecoin took the idea of digital currency to the next level by adding processes of encryption.
What is cryptocurrency? The answer is more complex than you think. To understand this revolutionary digital asset you first need to understand the history of cryptocurrency. Read on to find out more.
Pre-Crypto
Before cryptocurrency, there was digital currency such as digicash. Digicash was created in 1989 and by 1990 it failed.
Even so, digicash proved that digital currency could be useful and set the stage for services such as Paypal to progress the idea. It wasn’t until the late 2000’s that the idea of encrypted digital currency was put into practice.
The idea of something such as cryptocurrency had been discussed by economists and financial experts for a long time. Bitcoin was the first time that these discussions turned into a tangible thing.
History of Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency all started with bitcoin. Bitcoin’s origins remain shrouded in secrecy. That said, most agree it came to fruition with the legendary release of the white paper written by bitcoin’s mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
This paper discusses how blockchain, one of cryptocurrency’s integral technologies, works. In these early days of bitcoin’s history, it wasn’t worth that much.
There is a story of how one investor bought a few Papa John’s pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins. At that time in 2010, this amount of bitcoin was only worth $41.
As time went on bitcoin increased in value in a series of dramatic price fluctuations. It soon gained a reputation as a volatile, risky, and lucrative investment.
It was seen as more cutting edge than traditional investments such as the stock market. Eventually, bitcoin’s meteoric rise to popularity inspired competition.
Other forms of cryptocurrency began to emerge such as litecoin, ethereum, and more recently dogecoin. There are now countless cryptocurrencies available for trade on any of the major exchange networks.
If you buy or sell bitcoin you are no longer part of a fringe group of investors. Bitcoin, the head honcho of crypto, has a value in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single coin.
Many experts predict that bitcoin’s value could exceed $100,000 per coin by the end of the decade. Only time will tell what happens to its value. One thing is for sure however, cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
Crypto History Is Still Being Made
The history of cryptocurrency is very interesting if you are a financially minded person. The current times we live in are being revolutionized by cryptocurrency and digital currency.
Cryptocurrency’s history as an economic fixture is just beginning. Who knows what fascinating developments will happen in the coming years.
Do a bit more research first, but when you have a solid understanding of how crypto works consider investing some money in it. If you need more information about crypto or a host of other subjects check out our site!
