Category: Cryptocurrency

Factors Affecting the Price of Bitcoin
Bitcoin

What Factors Affect the Price of Bitcoin?

Price of Bitcoin: Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the market. The coin was released in 2009 by an unknown creator named Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, the currency has gained more attention from new and pro investors alike. However, the major question that most investors have is how much does 1 bitcoin cost? Or rather what are the factors that determine the cost of 1 bitcoin? Now, this is a fair question to ask considering bitcoin is not a fiat currency and hence is not regulated by the central bank. So, the cost will have major fluctuations. But what causes these fluctuations in bitcoin costs? Let’s find out. Supply Just like any other product, the reduced supply of coins will definitely increase its prices. With bitcoin designed to be released at a fixed rate eventually slowing down over time has definitely affected its prices. If you observe the trends, bitcoin release has slowed down from 6.9% in 2016 to just 4% in 2018. This is the result of bitcoin halving which means there isa lesser number of coins circulating in the market thus increasing its prices over time. Demand The high demand for any coin will certainly drive its prices. And such is the case with bitcoin! Since its release, the cryptocurrency has gained massive momentum. Although the currency is yet to find its way into replacing fiat currency (which we highly doubt will ever happen!), it has gained attention in a situation where the regular currency has been devalued such as Venezuela. Or bitcoin has gained attention from criminals who make bigger transactions. Also, with a lot of media attention, the demand has increased exponentially. So, a combination of high demand and lower supply has given a huge bump to the prices of bitcoin. Production Costs Bitcoin costs are heavily determined by the production costs. The costs are affected by direct costs incurred by infrastructure and electricity for cryptocurrency mining. Along with direct costs, there are indirect costs that are incurred due to the complexity of the bitcoin algorithm. The more complex the algorithm is, the more time miners will need to crack to code and acquire new coins. This will increase the overall consumption of electricity and miner will need to invest in complex systems. This overall process of cracking the algorithm will increase or decrease bitcoin production thus affecting its costs. Competition Yes, bitcoin is amongst the most popular coins in the market. However, there has been a massive release of new coins that are competing for attention. And some have been successful in effectively affecting the market capitalization of bitcoin. For example, Ethereum blockchain’s token Ether (ETH) has given tough competition to bitcoin. Ethereum blockchain is set to revolutionize the way financial institutions work. Hence, investors are giving the coin immense attention. This has affected the costs of bitcoin. Other coins including Ripple XRP, Cardano ADA, and more have also gained attention from investors. This tough competition from other coins combined with production costs, supply, and demand has increased the price of bitcoin over time. Regulation of Bitcoin The cryptocurrency market is highly unregulated and so is bitcoin. This lack of regulation has invited criminal elements to use bitcoin as a currency of illegal transactions. Hence, several investors are still skeptical of investing in bitcoin making the market more volatile. However, if more governments make bitcoin legal and include it in their daily transactions, it will bring more stability to the market. Investors will invest in bitcoin and affect its overall supply and demand thus affecting its costs. News Development The latest news regarding the market will have a major impact on bitcoin prices. This will especially include news related to the regulation of cryptocurrency. Apart from this, airdrops and hard forks can also affect bitcoin and investors’ drive to invest in cryptocurrency. Both these factors and more news can increase the price of bitcoin over time. Final Takeaway So, what is the price of 1 bitcoin? Well, the answer is not so simple! With several factors affecting the price of bitcoin, it can rapidly increase or decrease thus making the market more volatile. To know more about cryptocurrency, guide, insights, and news, keep reading Coin Informer!

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Ethereum Blockchain
blockchain technology

How Ethereum Blockchain Can Transform the Future of Financial Institutions?

If you are active on social media, listen to the latest news or chat with your colleagues, you might have already heard about cryptocurrency and how it is based on blockchain technology. Blockchain technology which sounds like something from a futuristic sci-fi movie is very much real and is gaining massive attention from businesses around the world. And for the right reasons! This technology shows massive potential in the financial industry for functions such as settlements, cross-border payments, organizing back-office processes, and so much more. But these changes haven’t yet disrupted the financial sector. The application is quite slow. However, with Ethereum blockchain gaining speed and attention, these changes can be implemented more quickly and efficiently. This will certainly have long-term effects on how financial institutions work and carry out their crucial business functions. Before we take a look at how Ethereum will bring massive and powerful change in the fintech business functions, let’s take a quick overview of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum Blockchain: A Quick Overview So, the first question that many people ask is “Why was Ethereum Developed?” Ethereum blockchain was initially developed to diversify the use of Bitcoin. However, it has evolved prominently for implementing ‘smart contracts’. VitalikButerin first proposed Ethereum blockchain in 2013 which eventually went live in 2015 with its beta version. The native token of the Ethereum blockchain is Ether which has a market capitalization of $25 billion. This is just behind Bitcoin and hence it is the next most popular cryptocurrency in the market. Ethereum can be used to trade anything without needing any third-party approval. Using smart contracts via Ethereum reduces the need for a legal system, judge, or court. Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) will not only execute smart contracts but can also be used to bet or execute wagers, coupon-paying bonds, employment contracts, purchase high-value items using Ethereum as escrow, and more. The potential of EVM is certainly high and powerful. However, it is still in its beginning! Several things need to be developed to make it accessible to everyone. Currently, smart contracts are highly expensive but to make them affordable, massive technological development needs to be achieved in the Ethereum blockchain technology. Ethereum Will Give Rise to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) The execution of DAOs using smart contracts will become a real-time possibility using Ethereum blockchain technology. These decentralized organizations will have business functions similar to any other regular corporation, however, without much human intervention. Most corporations are just a huge network of contracts and obligations. This complex network can be converted into DAOs using Ethereum. Ethereum and Decentralized Applications (Dapps): Already a reality! Ethereum and Dapps are already a reality! Although DAOs are still a thing of the future, Dapps have already come into existence. These are standalone applications such as payment gateways, gambling applications, P2P marketplaces, and more. The implementation of the Ethereum blockchain will eventually extend to day-to-day applications such as chat, shopping, gaming, and banking. Final Takeaway Although Ethereum blockchain was developed to support and enhance the functions of bitcoin, it has found its niche in smart contracts. The blockchain shows immense potential to completely transform how financial institutions execute business functions. Keep reading more about cryptocurrency technology with us at Coin Informer!

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Bitcoin Supply
Benefit of Bitcoin Mining?

Will Bitcoin Ever Reach its Maximum Supply Value of 21 million?

Bitcoin is one of the most popular and the first cryptocurrencies to be released in the market for trading. Since its release in 2009, this cryptocurrency coin has performed really well, and most traders prefer buying and selling Bitcoin to earn profits. But there’s a major catch with Bitcoin and its potential to be the only currency in long-term trading. Bitcoin is designed to be digital gold that has similar properties to physical gold. This means that the maximum supply of bitcoin is limited to a finite number of coins. The maximum number of bitcoins that will be released and mined is 21 million coins. Every 10 minutes a new block is created to release new coins. However, at about four years after 210,000 blocks,the number of coins that can be minted is reduced by half. So, what does it mean for bitcoin as a long-term trading cryptocurrency coin? What will happen once bitcoin reaches its maximum supply value of 21 million? Let’s find out! Will Bitcoin Ever Reach its Maximum Supply Value of 21 million? The short answer is NO! Bitcoin will never reach its maximum supply value of 21 million. Here’s why! Bit-shift operators are a special type of arithmetic operator that is used by the Bitcoin network to calculate its value. These bit-shift operators usually round off the decimal value to its nearest smallest integer. But when does this happen? This happens when the value of a bitcoin block is divided in half. This gives rise to a new reward with decimal values that are expressed in Satoshi. Now Satoshi is the smallest unit to measure bitcoin and can’t be divided in half. Hence, bit-shift operators will round the decimal value to the nearest whole integer. This system of rounding off Satoshi values during new blockchain reward generation is the reason why Bitcoin will never reach its maximum supply value of 21 million. Due to this system, it is unlikely that the last bitcoin will be released before the year 2140! However, it will be interesting to know what will happen if bitcoin reaches the maximum supply value of 21 million. What Happens If Bitcoin Reaches Maximum Supply Value of 21 million? If bitcoin reaches 21 million which is highly unlikely, no new bitcoins will be released in the market for mining. The transaction will still be processed but any trader/miner will gain profits only from transaction fees. If in 2140, there are several bitcoin transactions, miners will be able to get profits from transaction processing fees. However, if bitcoin serves as storage of value, miners will still be able to get some profits but with lower transaction processing fees. However, some negative outcomes can be anticipated if bitcoin mining rewards are not so profitable. Selfish Mining: In this situation, a group of miners will keep valid blocks in hiding and release them as orphan blocks. In such a case, there will be an increase in block processing times and high fees will be required to be paid when these blocks are released in the market. Miner Cartels: Yes, miner cartels are very much a possibility if bitcoin reaches a maximum supply value of 21 million. A group of miners will try to control the mining resources and demand high transaction processing fees. Final Takeaway Bitcoin’s market is continuously evolving. It is highly unlikely for bitcoin to reach its maximum supply value. However, if it does, bitcoin traders will experience some negative impact. Now, what happens in the future remains to be seen. The truth is that you can keep investing in bitcoin for the near future without worrying too much! Keep reading more news and insights on the cryptocurrency market at Coin Informer!

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Self-Regulation of Cryptocurrency Exchang
crypto market

Self-Regulation of Cryptocurrency Exchange: Will It Work?

Cryptocurrency Exchange: The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile. Investors have always been too skeptical of investing in this market considering risks. And to top off the trading risks, there are high risks of hacks and scandals associated with crypto currency exchanges. These factors have kept several investors from trading in this market. Moreover, governments are still figuring out a way to regulate crypto currency exchanges to make trading a bit secure. However, there is still a long road to go for the government before we get crypto currency exchange regulations. So, what can exchanges do to ensure that trading in this exciting, yet volatile market becomes a tad bit secure? The answer is simple. Self-Regulation of crypto-currency Exchange. Self-Regulation: What is it? Now, let’s just get one thing straight, self-regulation is not a new concept. There have been several instances where self-regulation has worked and shown growth in the respective market sector. For example, commodities trading is self-regulated by the National Futures Association (NFA). Similarly, for the cryptocurrency market, self-regulation can include different aspects such as code of conduct, guidelines, industry organizations that will guide the market participants for secure trading. Self-Regulation can be based on different ways such as KYC (know your customers), security against hacks, or maintaining transparency. Apart from the set self-regulation guidelines by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, crypto-currency exchanges can also be regulated by independent market associations similar to NFA. Will Self-Regulation Work in the Cryptocurrency Market? The biggest question is whether self-regulation works in the cryptocurrency market. Will it help to regulate the operations in this highly volatile market? The answer is YES! There are several examples where self-regulation of the cryptocurrency market has helped traders trust investing and trading cryptocurrency. The Coincheck hack in 2021in Japan is a prime example of how self-regulation can help maintain the security of this market. The hack resulted in crypto currency exchanges enhancing their security checks. In fact, Coincheck went a step further by giving their customers partial refunds. This was done in association with the Japanese government and market associations. Another example of self-regulation for crypto currency exchanges came when the South Korean government announced overheated trading. This prompted crypto-currency exchanges to implement self-regulation strategies that will protect the interests of investors, their assets, and provide greater transparency. So, yes, the self-regulation of crypto exchanges can work. Have countries already implemented the self-regulation of crypto exchanges? Although there is a still long road ahead, some countries are implementing the self-regulation of cryptocurrency. Japan has implemented self-regulation with the Japanese Blockchain Association which has more than 100 members. Amongst these 35 are cryptocurrency exchanges. South Korea blockchain association also has 25 members with similar goals. India has established the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Committee (BACC) with 7 crypto exchanges as part of the association to regulate the market and create a code of conduct. CryptoUK is another self-regulatory committee in the United Kingdom formed by seven cryptocurrency exchanges. The USA is still in the phase of proposing a self-regulatory body. However, Gemini developers have proposed the establishment of the Virtual Commodity Association (VCA) as self-regulatory for crypto exchanges. Final Takeaway Governments are still far away from establishing any regulatory commission for the cryptocurrency market. Until then, self-regulation offers a great way to make this market secure and protect the interests of investors. Want to keep reading about the cryptocurrency market, news, guides, educational content, and more? Keep checking our blogs at Coin Informer!

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Ways to Invest in Cryptocurrency
Best Coin To Invest In Crypto

Five Popular Ways to Invest in Cryptocurrency

Invest in Crypto: Cryptocurrency is a buzzword that was constantly heard on social media, mainstream media, and personal discussions all-around 2021. Thanks to global personalities like Elon Musk who kept tweeting about the cryptocurrency market and influencing the trends. But cryptocurrency is more than just a buzzword. It is an amazing opportunity that investors can avail themselves of to diversify their investment portfolio. But how do you invest in cryptocurrency? What are the best ways to invest in cryptocurrency? Let’s find out. Five Popular Ways to Invest in Crypto Currency An investor can buy more than one cryptocurrency coin. They can buy or sell cryptocurrency coins based on the trading strategies and opportunities. Here are five popular ways to invest in cryptocurrency. Buy Cryptocurrency Directly This is one of the most common and easiest ways to invest in cryptocurrency. You can buy more than one cryptocurrency. You can choose from more than 100s of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum (popular ones) to unknown cryptocurrencies released during Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Cryptocurrency-Focused Funds If you don’t want to buy individual cryptocurrencies, you can always choose from different cryptocurrency-focused funds for investment. You can choose from ETFs (future funds or index funds) or investment trusts that are cryptocurrency-focused. When you invest in cryptocurrency-focused funds, your investment will either go into individual cryptocurrency coins directly or in derivative securities or cryptocurrency companies. Cryptocurrency Companies If you directly want to invest in cryptocurrency companies, you can do so quite easily. Several companies have a partial or total focus on cryptocurrency. For example, PayPal Holdings, Inc., cryptocurrency mining and hardware maker companies, and more. Become a Crypto Validator or Miner If you want easy access to cryptocurrency investment, you can become a crypto validator or miner. When you mine or validate a cryptocurrency, you will be paid in crypto coins. Now, you can either hold these crypto coins as investments or use them to buy other high-profit coins from the market. Cryptocurrency IRA When you want to get the tax benefits and secure storage of your cryptocurrency, you can invest in a cryptocurrency IRA (individual retirement account). Investing through a cryptocurrency IRA provider gives you the benefit of secure investment. Final Takeaway These are the five most popular ways to invest in cryptocurrency. Although the market is highly volatile and price fluctuations are high, investors are highly attracted to the market. If you have been thinking of investing in cryptocurrency, now is the time! The market is hot and you will certainly get profits in the long run. For more insights, information, guides, news, and strategies of cryptocurrency, keep reading Coin Informer!

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Cryptocurrency Hard Fork and Airdrops
Airdrops

What Is the Difference Between Cryptocurrency Hard Fork and Airdrops?

Cryptocurrency Hard Fork and Airdrops: Investing in the cryptocurrency market is certainly new territory for a lot of people. However, with the right knowledge and guidance, you can make profits over time. If you have decided to begin your cryptocurrency investment, you might want to know about two of the most common terms that are used in this market. Hard Fork and Airdrop. These two terms are frequently used in the cryptocurrency world to define two instances that sometimes surprise investors. There are instances when investors suddenly find some new cryptocurrency tokens delivered in their digital wallets. However, it is not a random event, instead, it is the result of a hard fork and airdrop. These two terms go hand in hand; however, they differ fundamentally. Let’s take a quick look. Hard Fork When the second branch of a digital currency is created by the developers, it results in a hard fork. This event is not random and doesn’t happen on its own. Hard forks happen after much deliberation and discussion amongst developers, investors, and miners. Hard forks are required when each of the fractions involved in the development of cryptocurrency wants to take it in a different direction. In a hard fork, the two cryptocurrencies don’t have the same code. Where the new cryptocurrency token has a new code based on the basic code, the original cryptocurrency keeps ongoing as it was before. Most people think that hard forks occur due to disputes between miners and developers, however, such is not the case always! Sometimes, the developers want to come up with a new cryptocurrency token and hence a hard fork becomes imminent. Airdrops On the contrary, airdrops include the delivery of cryptocurrency tokens to the digital wallet of some investors. The delivery of new tokens can happen using different ways such as ICO or freebies from developers. If you own a preexisting blockchain such as Ethereum or blockchain, an airdrop will deliver new cryptocurrency tokens to your digital wallet. The main aim of airdrops is to introduce investors to new cryptocurrency tokens. However, airdrops don’t always work as intended. Most of the time, investors will sell these new cryptocurrency tokens, thus dropping the price in the market. Since investors don’t know much about these new tokens, they are skeptical about buying them. This reduction in price affects the overall performance of the new cryptocurrency token. Sometimes, airdrops are the reason why a new token doesn’t take off in the market as expected by developers. Final Takeaway Knowing the fundamental difference between hard fork and airdrops will help you to determine how to tackle surprise tokens in your digital wallet. Don’t hesitate to learn about these new tokens, buy or sell them accordingly. To know more about cryptocurrency strategies, news, insights, guides, keep reading our blogs on Coin Informer!

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Cryptocurrency Price Tracker:
CoinMarketCap Vs Bitgur Vs Coinlib

Cryptocurrency Price Tracker: A Comprehensive Look at Three Popular Price Trackers

As an investor, you are always looking for the best ways to invest in the market and make a profit. Apart from profit, you certainly want to diversify your investment portfolio. This means you will always look for new cryptocurrencies or the ones that are undervalued. You might also want to consider other factors such as cryptocurrency exchanges, services, and applications to increase and diversify your investment potential. In addition to these factors, you might want to consider a cryptocurrency price tracker. The tracker will have a significant impact on investment decisions in the long run. In this blog, let’s look at what cryptocurrency price tracker is along with a quick comparison between three popular price trackers. Cryptocurrency Price Tracker In brief, a cryptocurrency price tracker will track the current prices and fluctuations of digital coins. Along with cryptocurrency prices, the tracker will also keep an eye on market capitalization, price charts, trading volume, and much more. The tracker will also present older values that can help an investor determine the performance of a digital currency. The investor can also compare the performance of 2 or more different cryptocurrencies. This will have a significant impact on investment decisions. With the right data in your hand, you can determine when you should buy or sell the cryptocurrency. A good cryptocurrency price tracker will be regularly updated to give accurate results. Moreover, the tracker must have ease of use, varied digital currencies, other related information, and more. CoinMarketCap Vs Bitgur Vs Coinlib When you go on the market looking for a cryptocurrency price tracker, you will find CoinMarketCap, Bitgur, and Coinlib in the top three. Let’s compare them and see which one is best suited in the long run. World’s go-to price tracker, CoinMarketCap is amongst the most popular and one of the first price trackers available for investors. The price tracker first started its operations in 2013 and since then has been preferred and due to several reasons. CoinMarketCap is a comprehensive price tracker that will make your investment worthwhile. The price tracker was launched in 2017 and gives investors access to compare multiple cryptocurrencies from different exchanges. The unique feature of this price tracker is that it provides a filtering system to the user. A user can filter out the desired cryptocurrency and values based on year, type, and technology. For example, as an investor, if you are interested in commodities-linked cryptocurrency, you can filter your search results and fine-tune your investments. Bitgur also offers some services that are similar to brokerages such as volatility index, BTC prediction tool, and a watchlist. This price tracker is lesser known but could be worth a try. Although the price tracker is not as comparable to CoinMarketCap, it does offer several new features that can be useful to investors. The price tracker has a “Bitcoin Dominance” feature on top of its page. This is meant to show the measure of the dominance of bitcoin along with features such as market capitalization, and individual currency data. All the values are updated in real-time. With a comparison tool, the investors can compare up to 4 coins. The investors can also determine arbitrage opportunities using Coinlib. Final Takeaway Price trackers can have a major impact on your investment decision. You can find the right investment opportunity using these price trackers. Combined with other factors, you can earn desired profits and expand your investment portfolio. For more such insights and information on the cryptocurrency market, keep reading Coin Informer!

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Cryptocurrency ETFs
Cryptocurrency

Investing in Cryptocurrency ETFs Beneficial for Prospective Investors

investing in cryptocurrency: Have you been trading in the cryptocurrency market? Do you want to boost liquidity while trading your preferred cryptocurrency? If so, you must start trading cryptocurrency ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) right away. In this blog, let’s take a quick and comprehensive look at cryptocurrency ETFs. Cryptocurrency ETFs: What Is It? Just like regular stocks, Cryptocurrency ETFs are traded daily. These funds track the cryptocurrency price of one or more digital tokens. Just like regular stocks, the price of ETFs fluctuates based on changes in the cryptocurrency market. Cryptocurrency ETFs: Two Kinds of Trading Cryptocurrency ETFs: Advantages to Investors! The trading of cryptocurrency ETFs is definitely filled with uncertainty much like the cryptocurrency market. However, it provides major advantages to investors as compared to direct cryptocurrency trading. Here are a few that show that cryptocurrency ETFs trading is highly advantageous. Cryptocurrency ETFs: Bottom Line Cryptocurrency ETFs are an exciting prospect for beginner and pro investors who want to explore this market. Without any extra expenses or complicated jargon and analysis, ETFs make it easier to trade in this volatile market. So, if you still haven’t explored trading in the cryptocurrency market, start with cryptocurrency ETFs! Keep reading more news, insights, guides about cryptocurrency trading on Coin Informer!

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Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs))
importance of NFTs

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): A Brief Overview

Non-fungible Token: Non- Fungible Tokens (NFTs), a term that is making rounds in the cryptocurrency market since the beginning of 2021. And now it has become so popular that it has been named as the word of the year 2021 by Collins’s dictionary. But what is a non-fungible token? How does it benefit individuals around the world? Let’s take a quick look at the blog post. What are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)? In simpler terms, NFTs are created on a blockchain as cryptographic assets. These assets have unique codes for identification and differentiating them from each other. However, with NFTs, the value is different. One NFT will never have the same value as another NFT. Also, cryptocurrency can be used for secure digital transactions whereas NFTs can be used to represent assets digitally. What can NFTs represent and who can use NFTs?</h2 NFTs can represent different assets such as real estate assets, artworks, lending contracts, and more. NFTs can be used by artists for their digital artworks or by real estate agents to uniquely identify the properties, create unique contracts, and more. What is the importance of NFTs (Benefits)? The biggest question that most people ask about NFTs is what is its importance or how they can benefit in the long run. Here’s how it can be beneficial Final Takeaway NFTs will completely revolutionize how we operate in the digital world. They will make the transactions, asset representation, and ownership much easier to track. If you haven’t bought any NFT, now is the time to do so. If you want to keep reading more insight on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFT, keep reading our blogs at Coin Informer!

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