Bitcoin
By Ethan Warbelton
In the world of stocks, bonds, real estate, and gold investments, one option has popped up in the last century or so: cryptocurrency. It all started in 2009 when Bitcoin was released, and since then, countless other companies have tried to launch cryptocurrencies of their own, but none of them truly stand up to Bitcoin. As you can probably tell, Bitcoin has no physical appearance, just all ones and zeroes collected in a digital wallet. It doesn’t sound very special, does it? Well, Bitcoin actually has many perks compared to normal money!
Firstly, it's completely decentralized, free of any governments or financial institutions-- if you want to trade, transactions are made peer-to-peer-- you send the bitcoin straight to the person you’re paying. This means that there’s no big transaction fees, and they can be done in minutes. Another perk is security and privacy-- with no central authority, there’s nobody to spy on your transactions, and fraud is much less common. Of course, this privacy also means that Bitcoin has been used for more illegal transactions, which is one of the main complaints on the platform.
As mentioned above, Bitcoin is also traded and invested in frequently, just like stocks. I won’t lie, I don’t think I’m personally ever going to invest in Bitcoin-- it’s an extremely volatile market! Just on January 11th, the price has plummeted more than 20% per Bitcoin. Still, Bitcoin is predicted to grow just as it has been this past year. Ever since Covid, the price of Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in price, now worth almost 35k dollars each.
Cryptocurrencies likely aren’t going away anytime soon, so if you’d like to, consider investing in one! Who knows, it might boom just like Bitcoin did, and leave you a millionaire… just don’t get carried away and invest everything into it, or depend on Bitcoin investments to really pay off strongly, as it always has the chance of crashing and burning.
(Also, it feels lIke I should mention that you don’t need to buy a whole Bitcoin to invest, you can just buy a part of one. Good luck!)
Works Cited
EBR, Editor. “What Is Bitcoin, and What Are the Reasons behind Its Rising Popularity?” The European Business Review, 23 Nov. 2020, www.europeanbusinessreview.com/what-is-bitcoin-and-what-are-the-reasons-behind-its-rising-popularity/.
Lill, Dominic. “Dominic Lill.” Entrepreneur Business Website Talk Business Small Medium Business Advice Tips SME Success, 10 Dec. 2020, www.talk-business.co.uk/2018/03/26/why-is-bitcoin-so-popular/.
Monica, Paul R. La. “Bitcoin Plunges More than 20% in Three Days. It's Now in a Bear Market.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11 Jan. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/investing/bitcoin-prices-plunge/index.html.
“Open Source P2P Money.” Bitcoin, bitcoin.org/en/.
I did not really understand that much about what bitcoin is, only that I knew it was a popular cryptocurrency. I thought it was just something you have, like a dollar in your wallet. Not something that you can invest in. I also find it interesting that people generally want more privacy throughout their life, but this being a more private way of transactions, it's also used for more illegal purposes. Would people rather have their financial privacy in return for increased illegal activity?
ReplyDeleteWow I never knew that Bitcoin was still such a popular thing and that the cryptocurrency has quadrupled in price. I also didn't know that Bitcoin was worth almost $35k now. I don't think that I'd invest though since there are so many illegal activities and it seems quite unreliable at times. Does it plummet because of inconsistent use?
ReplyDeleteI heard that a couple days ago, the price of 1 bitcoin was around $42,000, and now, it has dropped just about $7,000, which is very interesting. One thing that I would want to know is that why are bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies so volatile? What factors make the market so volatile?
ReplyDeleteI never really knew much about bitcoin, I know what it is but not all the details at all. I'm surprised how much it is in price, the worth being $35k is mind blowing to me and I never expected it to be that high in worth. With how much it wavers I'm not sure it would be the ideal place for me to invest, if others would like I wouldn't judge but not my first pick. Why does the worth and price s=waver so much it seems like everyday there is a new label of cost wise, I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteAlthough you do a great job describing how its traded and essentially what it is, I'm still left wondering how this form of cryptocurrency is really any different than investing in a volatile stock? Besides it not being regulated and taxed, this sounds extremely similar to the supply and demand market that is any individual stock. Why would I invest in bitcoin as opposed to a safer and more reliable share in any given company?
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Bitcoin was worth so much. Before I read your post I didn't realize what Bitcoin was beside a cryptocurrency. It doesn't surprise me that people use this for more illegal purposes because it is more private. Because it is more private is it more difficult to make a Bitcoin payment?
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of cryptocurrency is so interesting to me. I think it's so cool that there's no governmental regulation, but I also find that extremely scary because there's nothing to help insure your investment is safe. I wonder how bitcoin and other digital currencies will fare after the pandemic where no one wants to use hard cash.
ReplyDeleteWhile you didn’t have much of an argument, I love that you stated the positives and negatives to Bitcoin and even added in your own opinion when you stated that you would never get Bitcoin because it is too volatile. You listed the concerns that people have with Bitcoin like, “Just on January 11th, the price has plummeted more than 20% per Bitcoin”. At the same time you encouraged us to invest since it is decentralized and the bitcoin goes straight to the person. Great job giving a surface level overview of Bitcoin that taught me what it even is (I had no idea what it was until I read your blog post). I wonder if it will boom again as the pandemic comes to an end?
ReplyDeleteI honestly thought bitcoin died off like over a year ago because of how much I didn't see/hear of it. It's crazy to think people have actually put forth some money towards bitcoin and one bitcoin was worth $35k, that's insane! Because it is so private, do you think there are legal issues involved in the app for transactions and is there a way someone could be caught doing so? Also, their worth seems to fluctuate pretty often so I don't think I would be able to commit to an investment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of this, as much as cryptocurrencies are always fluctuating, they are expanding in general. This is due to the popularity of them expanding and the thought of an anonymous banking platform that reels in many people. There are countless reasons people should be looking into cryptocurrencies and thanks too all the major success in them a lot more places are starting to accept payments via bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. With all the positives to them I personally think they are a great investment and platform for storing money. If you were using bitcoin just a few years ago you would of already multiplied your money by a lot. I do not see it going away anytime soon, if anything I see it continuing to expand.
ReplyDeleteAs bitcoin grows, it will be very interesting to see how it takes the cryptocurrency stock. It was interesting to note that you can purchase a portion of a bit coin if you were not wanting a full one. That was really interesting to me because that is like buying only a portion of a stock when that is not possible (to my knowledge). It is very interesting to understand how the communities are looking at bitcoin as the future as several major sports players have asked for their salaries in bitcoin really showing the potential this cryptocurrency has.
ReplyDeleteIs bitcoin untaxable? If so, it seems like an amazing investment? If not, how do you report it?
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