New Delhi: What is cryptocurrency? This question arises in everyone’s mind. Cryptocurrency is often discussed but very few people know about it. In simple language, we can say that cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency. This virtual currency is given security through cryptography. Only online transactions can be done through this currency, there is no interference of any third party in it.
Now the interesting thing is that all the currencies of the world are issued by some country or the other, but the government or bank of any country has no control over the cryptocurrency and neither can any authority decide the price of cryptocurrency. Today hundreds of forms of cryptocurrency exist in the world. Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Monero are some popular cryptocurrencies.
Understand what cryptocurrency is in this way
- Cryptocurrency is a network-based digital currency, which is distributed through a huge network of computers.
- This decentralized structure based on computer networks and blockchain keeps cryptocurrencies outside of governments and any financial control.
- Financial experts say that this blockchain-based technology will create financial and legal complications across the world.
- The biggest advantage of crypto currency is that it is very cheap and fast money transfer compared to other traditional currencies.
- The biggest advantage of the crypto currency system being decentralized is that this currency will not be negatively affected from any one place.
- Cryptocurrency also has some problems, including price fluctuations, high energy consumption for mining and its use in criminal activities.
What is blockchain? (blockchain technology)
You must have seen the ledger for keeping accounts, so you can understand it in simple words that blockchain is a digital public ledger. Crypto currency is operated through this digital ledger. Every transaction is recorded and allocated in a public ledger. The specialty of blockchain technology is that if any transaction is recorded here even once, then it can neither be removed from here nor can any change be made in it.
Due to this feature of blockchain, a trusted third party like a bank is not required for the transaction of crypto currency. In this way, blockchain is a technology whose benefit will be the most in the financial sector in the coming time. It is expected that with the help of blockchain, the cost of transactions will also come down in the coming time. This will increase financial transparency and will also get rid of fake transactions.
How many types of crypto currency are there? There
are many forms of crypto currency at present. Here we are discussing some popular crypto currencies. Bitcoin is considered to be the world’s first crypto currency. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. It is a de-centralized currency, meaning it is not controlled by any government or institution. Due to the constant increase in price, people are very attracted to this currency.
Ethereum is also an open source, de-centralized and blockchain based digital currency. Its founder’s name is Vitalik Buterin. Its crypto currency token is also called ‘Ether’. It is the second most famous crypto currency after Bitcoin.
Litecoin is also a digital currency derived from decentralized technology, which has been developed with the help of an open source software. Its founder is Charles Lee who has worked in Google. Many of its features are similar to Bitcoin. The
story of the formation of Dogecoin is quite interesting. To make fun of Bitcoin, it was compared to a dog, which later took the form of a Cryptocurrency. The name of the founder of Dogecoin is Billy Markus. These days the market value of this currency is very good.
Tether is a large and stable currency. It is one of the most popular options for people wishing to invest in cryptocurrency.
How and where to buy crypto currency?
We hope that you have got basic information about crypto currency from this article of ET Hindi. If you want to invest in crypto currency, then being a digital currency, you will have to invest in it online. There are many platforms where you can find out the current price of crypto currency and buy or sell it.
We are telling you further about some major online websites that buy and sell crypto currency. You can buy or sell crypto currency by creating your account on all these websites. Some of them have also launched their mobile app, by installing which you can invest in crypto currency from your mobile as well.
1. CoinSwitch
2. Wazirx
3. Unocoin
4. Zebpay
5. Coinbox
6. BTCxIndia
7. LocalBitcoin Take
necessary precautions before buying cryptocurrency
If you are investing in cryptocurrency through an app, then make sure to check whether the app in which you are investing is safe or not. One reason for this is that hackers also create many spamming apps with similar names, due to which you may have to suffer losses. You can invest in any cryptocurrency of your choice, but before
investing, get the necessary information about the history of that digital currency, the current price and the fluctuations in the last few months so that you can fully understand all types of risks associated with it before investing.
The Indian government does not have any clear policy on crypto currency, in such a situation you will have to take the financial risk. Therefore, it would be better if you evaluate its risk before investing and invest accordingly.