Everything you need to know about Cryptocurrency

 You must’ve heard about Cryptocurrency. How people earned lakhs by investing just some amount of money. But what is ‘Cryptocurrency’? And why are people so excited about it? Should you invest in Cryptocurrency? So, before investing let’s understand what exactly is Cryptocurrency and some facts which will help you in investing.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is ‘Digital’ and ‘Decentralized’ currency so it exists only in electronic form. We can store it in our computer’s hard drive or the wallet on your internet. The Central Bank controls the currencies of other countries. The Central Bank decides how much money should be printed. But Cryptocurrencies don’t have any regulators. All other Cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin are known as Alt Coins. In 2021, as of today, over 9000 Cryptocurrencies are present all over the world.

Who made Cryptocurrency?

Actually no one knows. The credit of inventing Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency goes to a person named ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ as per published research papers but no one knows if he is a person or an entire group because no one has met him. No one has taken the responsibility for the software of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency to date. Satoshi had contacted the developers working on this project in April 2011 for the last time and eventually he also removed his name from the software.

For normal currencies, either big countries or their Central Bank can issue the currency. But in Cryptocurrency, there’s no such process. Any person can make his Cryptocurrency and people also make currency through memes such as Dogecoin. Just as there are IPOs for the new companies listed in Stock Market, similarly there are ICOs, i.e. Initial Coin Offerings for Cryptocurrencies. Any company can make a new Cryptocurrency and offer it to investors who can buy this currency with their money. But wherever there’s an opportunity of making money, there are also scams. Because Cryptocurrency is a new concept, purely digital, and it is decentralized, so it doesn’t have any central power or authority. That is why there have been many scams in Cryptocurrency too. Many companies launch their Cryptocurrencies, make big promises about returns also raise money through investors by ICOs but after their launch, they leave the project and also take the money with them. In India, a company named ‘GainBitcoin’ raised money through investors also promised monthly returns of 10% for 18 months. But eventually, it turned out to be a scam of $300 million.

What is the mining of Cryptocurrency?

Just as Central Banks print currency, similarly there’s the mining of Cryptocurrencies. Mining maintains the entire system of Cryptocurrency. And through this mining verifies the transactions happening in Cryptocurrency. For this work of maintenance, whatever Cryptocurrency you’re mining, they give a small part of it to you as a reward. For mining, you need a powerful computer. That is why in today’s world, a lot of electricity is consumed for the process of Bitcoin mining. Last year, for this process of Bitcoin mining, electricity more than the entire country of Argentina was consumed! And for the mining of another currency ‘Ethereum’, electricity more than the entire country of Peru was consumed! And 75% of the world’s Crypto mining is done in China.

Today, people see Crypto from the perspective of investment. But in many countries, Crypto is also used for daily expenses. For example, in Venezuela, where inflation has increased up to 3000% there, ranging from Pizza Hut to Airlines, everyone accepts payment in Bitcoin. And finally, if you’re earning money from Cryptocurrency then you’ll also have to pay tax for it. In India, no final regulation or law regarding Cryptocurrency has been implemented, yet. But if you’re earning money by trading Cryptocurrency, then you’ll have to pay Capital Gains Tax just like stocks, depending on the time you hold this Cryptocurrency, you’ll have to pay Short or Long Term Capital Gains Tax.

Should you invest in crypto?

Cryptocurrencies are risky, but if you are careful and understand the market, they can also make you profitable.