Posted in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Trading Down By 40%; Is This A Warning?

Written by allsafetoken Published

The negative premium for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Fund expanded to 42.7%, while the Ethereum Fund’s negative premium dropped to 40.12%.

The recent FTX exchange collapse has left many digital asset markets feeling the heat. Several exchanges and lending platforms have been affected by this turn of events, but now even the world’s largest cryptocurrency fund is feeling the brunt of it.

The data reflected that expanded Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Fund’s (GBTC) negative premium was at an alarmingly high of 42.7%. In addition, the Ethereum Fund’s negative premium dropped to a still too-high 40.12%. These results have been record lows for both trust funds according to the research conducted.

GBTC, which owns 3.5% of the world’s Bitcoin, has seen a drop in value as investors are seemingly hesitant to invest in cryptocurrency following the recent FTX crash. However, Grayscale stated that it and its subsidiary DCG were not affected by Genesis’ collapse.

Since Bitcoin hit its All-time high in November, trust investors have lost 83%. Additionally, within the last year alone, prices have dropped 65%.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin is being traded at an average price of $16,748. The total market capitalization for BTC now stands at approximately $321.7 billion dollars.

Cryptocurrency investors have lost confidence following the implosion of FTX, with the global digital asset market cap dropping below $1 trillion.

On Wednesday, crypto lending platform Genesis suspended its services, worrying Grayscale investors. With more than $50 billion in loans originating from the company last year, its lending arm took a major hit from Three Arrows Capital’s collapse.

Until last month, Genesis had the authority to issue new shares for Grayscale securities. As a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, it was responsible for issuing new shares for GBTC.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

The Private Keys to Your Crypto

Written by allsafetoken Published

Discover the critical distinction between private keys and public keys, and why “not your keys, not your coins” is essential.

Private keys are an essential part of the crypto network infrastructure because you need them to sign transaction requests.

In this guide, you will learn about public key cryptography and how private keys are used in crypto wallets.

Cryptography is the technique of secure communication in the presence of third parties. Public key cryptography (PKC) employs a pair of unique keys to encode and decode messages: the public key and private key.

A public key is, as the name suggests, open to the public and can be given to anyone. Conversely, a private key must be safeguarded so that the system remains secure.

PKC is a type of cryptography where a public key and private key are used. This allows for the user to encrypt information using their public key and share it publicly while also making sure that only the intended recipient can decrypt it through use of the corresponding private key.

Three computer scientists named Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman publicly revealed the first asymmetric cryptography scheme in 1977. They called their system RSA after the initials of their last names. The system would generate two keys through a series of mathematical computations.

RSA keys are used to encode and decode messages, so that only the authorized recipient can read them.

Before the arrival of RSA cryptography, all cipher systems used symmetric key cryptography, which employs only one key to both encrypt and decrypt data. In this system, it was critical to keep this key secure. Sharing this key with all scheme participants had to happen through a safe channel before any data could be transferred. Although this was possible between two people, it became more complicated and difficult to manage as more people got involved in the scheme–a substantial security risk.

The entry of the RSA scheme provided a solution to this challenge.

RSA is based on the concept that it’s tough to factorize a large integer. A public key contains two numbers—one of which is the product of two vast prime numbers, and the corresponding private key also hails from those same two prime numbers.

Consequently, we can observe that the cypher scheme’s potency is reliant on the size or length of the keys. this is due to if a party manages to factorize the public key, then the private key is no longer secure. Though, if keys are established to be large numbers, it would be impractical from a mathematical standpoint to break them.

Bitcoin, while not using RSA specifically, functions similarly and therefore also has long keys for security purposes. The average length of a key in Bitcoin is 1,024 to 2,048 bits.

All cryptocurrency wallets have both public and private keys to ensure safety.

A private key authenticates asset ownership and encrypts the wallet, while a public key helps to identify the wallet and receive funds.

A crypto wallet will usually give the user a twelve-word seed phrase. These words are representative of an innumerable amount of public and private keys.

The twelve-word seed phrase is a representation of your private key, but does not serve as your actual private key. In the event that you lose access to your wallet, this phrase can be used to restore it.

A private key is what you need to access your crypto wallet. For example, when you first download Trust Wallet, it generates a private key for you. At that point, the app will ask you to write down and store your seed phrase somewhere safe. After doing so, you can access your crypto wallet

If you lose your smartphone that has Trust Wallet installed, for example, redownload the app and use your twelve-word seed phrase to restore your wallet. You will then have complete access to all of your funds and be able send/receive coins again.

Whoever has access to a wallet’s private keys controls the funds in thatwallet–that is where the phrase “not your keys, not your coins” comes from.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

Last week the crypto market’s drivers

Written by allsafetoken Published

Last week the crypto Market continued to hold on for dear life in the face of increasingly bearish macro factors.

For starters earnings for the third quarter are starting to come out and every company from Big Tech to Banks is getting battered by the increasingly weak economy.

The most significant announcement came from Microsoft which confirmed that it will be cutting its Workforce.

Note that Microsoft is just one of many heavyweights that have announced layoffs in recent weeks and what we’ve seen so far is likely just the beginning.

Trust me when I say there is no shortage of stuff coming up, that’s going to shake up the markets now what’s odd is that Weekly jobless claims in the United States somehow came in lower than expected despite all these layoffs.

This suggests that the labor market continues to be strong and this is paradoxically bad for financial markets, this is of course because of the Federal Reserve.

Ted’s mandate is to keep inflation under control and prevent unemployment from getting too high.

Given that inflation is out of control and unemployment is somehow low this means the FED can continue aggressively raising interest rates and as you’ll all know raising interest rates basically means that money gets sucked out of the economy to pay back all the debts that individuals and institutions took on when interest rates were low.

With another rate hike coming in just over a week’s time investors are concerned that the markets could get wrecked.

At the same time some investors are speculating that the FED could deliver a less aggressive rate hike during its next meeting, this is simply because of the upcoming midterm elections in the United States.

Some investors believe that the current administration wants assets to be rallying when the ballots are passed.

Unfortunately for the current administration it looks like there’s no stopping FED chairman Jerome Powell who is determined to defeat inflation from the demand side.

This is concerning because most of the inflation is arguably coming from the supply side factors, at this point in time until governments realize that they can’t fight physics and start magically producing oil and gas you can bet that inflation is going to continue to run hot in most countries.

This means that interest rates will continue to remain high possibly for much longer than investors are currently pricing in for what it’s worth it takes between one and two years to set up oil and gas operations depending on the location as such the current period of economic pain shouldn’t last too much longer than that.

The only problem is that many businesses will not survive and the markets will be extremely volatile until things improve.

If that wasn’t bad enough there’s also a whole bunch of black swans swimming around such as an escalation of the war in Ukraine and China potentially taking Taiwan.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

Circle’s USDC benefited from Terra’s collapse

Written by allsafetoken Published

Speaking of stable coins if there is one issuer that has benefited from Terra’s collapse, it’s Circle this is not only because the resulting regulations will prevent competition, but also because it has allowed USDC to fill the void left by UST.

This was the headline from CoinDesk which asked the question of quote – whether decentralized Finance can mature with decentralized money at its core regarding USDC’s native expansion to Cosmos.

I suspect the answer is no, but it ultimately depends on who you ask.

In addition to Cosmos USDC will be expanding natively to Ethereum’s arbitrum near protocol, optimism and polkadot by the end of the year.

To clarify USDC’s native expansion to Cosmos won’t be taking place until sometime early next year.

USDC expanding to its blockchain should come as no surprise, that’s because a former Circle executive recently became the CEO of the near Foundation.

This is more significant than you think, because near protocol is eerily similar to Solana, the biggest difference is that near protocol doesn’t experience constant outages.

This has apparently been an issue for Circle 2 particularly since USDC was being heavily leveraged within Solana’s ecosystem as such it’s quite possible that near protocol could replace Solana as USDC’s de facto home chain.

For now though Ethereum continues to hold the Lion’s Share of the USDC in circulation.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

Interested in making some money without putting in a lot of work? Check out crypto staking!

Written by allsafetoken Published

Staking is a method for generating passive income in the crypto world, similar to interest or dividends earned while retaining your underlying assets.

If you stake your existing cryptocurrency, you can earn more of that same currency as a reward. This happens when you vouch for the validity of transactions made on a blockchain network. Even though it may sound complex, regular users can do this from their digital wallets or by using services provided by exchanges. These exchanges take a percentage of what is earned but will handle all the difficult details for staking customers.

Staking in cryptocurrencies generally results in higher earnings than what you could earn in a savings account. Staking, though, comes with inherent risks. You’ll get rewards in crypto, a volatile investment asset. You may be required to lock up your crypto for a certain length of time at times. Furthermore, there’s the potential that you’ll lose some of the cryptocurrency you’ve staked as punishment if the system doesn’t operate properly.

Staking can also serve as a way to incrementally grow your cryptocurrency assets portfolio, using coins you don’t plan on selling anytime soon. Staking is also more energy efficient than mining, which Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies utilize.

Staking is an essential part of the technology behind certain cryptocurrencies. However, not every cryptocurrency network employs staking.

In the long run, proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, as they’re known, are likely to support staking. Here are a few case studies:

Ethereum (which recently shifted from proof-of-work).

  • Cardano
  • Solana
  • Shiba Inu

Bitcoin, Litecoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies are energy hogs. They require large amounts of electricity and expensive computers to run. They don’t typically allow for staking. The following are examples of proof-of-work cryptos:

  • Bitcoin
  • Litecoin

To comprehend staking, it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of what blockchain networks accomplish. Here are some key facts you should know.

Rather than one centralized party — like a bank — validating new activity and making sure it tallies with a historic record kept on computers across the network, blockchains are “decentralized.” This means that users put together recent blocks of transactions before submitting them to be included in an unchangeable historical record. If theirblocks are accepted, they receive a transaction fee paid out in cryptocurrency.

Staking is a safeguard against fraud and mistakes in this procedure. Users proposing a new block — or voting to accept a proposed block — risk some of their own money, which encourages them to follow the rules.

Inaccurate information in a proposed block can result in loss of part of the user’s stake, which is known as slashing. The size of the transaction fee rewards generally corresponds to the amount at risk.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

Top Cryptocurrency Myths

Written by allsafetoken Published

Since their inception in 2009, cryptocurrencies have experienced tremendous growth in popularity. They are somewhat unique and obscure; as a result, misconceptions and rumors abound about them.

In no particular order, here are several of the most popular cryptocurrency misconceptions debunked with an analysis of facts to help you make an informed decision.

#1 There is a General Misconception that Digital Currencies Are Only Used for Illicit Activity

A widespread and long-standing myth about digital currencies is that they are only used for unlawful activities. While there have been individuals with bad intentions, as well as criminal groups, who employed digital currencies in the past, similar statements could be made about any type of money used at any point in history.

According to Chainalysis, a firm that uses blockchain data analysis to aid investigators in cryptocurrency crimes, the proportion of cryptocurrency transactions relating to illegal activity dropped in 2021 (the most recent study) to 0.15% of all transactions. The majority of the remaining 18 percent were fraudulent cryptocurrencies.

It’s crucial to know that governments and other organizations are targeting cryptocurrencies in criminal activities. Many nations have implemented anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism laws, as well as agencies and teams dedicated to combating cryptocurrency usage in illicit activities.

The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), for example, investigates and prosecutes criminal cryptocurrency uses in the U.S..

 

#2 Cryptocurrencies don’t have value

The concept of value is subjective—something one person might see as worthless could be seen as a treasure by someone else. For instance, when Bitcoin was first introduced in 2009, it was only worth thousandths of a cent. However, its popularity grew over time until it reached $69,000 per Bitcoin in 2021. This example shows that how an asset is perceived by society plays a big role in determining its value.

ETH, or Ethereum, is a blockchain technology that serves as the foundation for non-fungible tokens and other digital asset ownership applications. Even though it doesn’t have the same dollar value Bitcoin does, ETH is much more valuable to companies developing financial products that use Ethereum smart contracts.

Investors and businesses have started investing in bitcoin for financial, investment, venture capital, and other purposes. Galaxy Digital Holdings is a financial services and investment firm with over $2 billion in digital assets under management as of July 2022.

 

#3 Cryptocurrencies Aren’t as Secure as You Might Think

Cryptocurrency works by utilizing a blockchain. A blockchain is a recorded database that uses encryption methods to ensure its security. As new transactions are inputted into the blocks, previous transaction information is carried over and also encrypted.

Each new block in the chain builds on the one before it, and a network of automated verifiers must confirm that data contained in the transactions is correct. It’s nearly impossible to modify information on the blockchain to steal cryptocurrency because of encryption, connected blocks, and consensus techniques.

The security of Bitcoin, in particular, is questioned. There are several issues that threaten the stability and integrity of Bitcoin and its community. The first is how individuals use cryptocurrency such as wallets and centralized exchanges to organize transactions. It’s all but impossible to move bitcoin from one user to another without worry, but the platforms and programs used to store and access it may be hacked or tampered with.

There are a few highly secure techniques for keeping your cryptocurrency safe. You may, for example, keep your crypto asset keys off the exchanges and in cold storage. Only the amount you wish to use should be transferred to your hot wallet through a secure, wired connection on a non-mobile device like a personal computer when you want to utilize it.

 

#4 Cryptocurrencies Are Not Good for the Environment

There is a lot to be concerned about when it comes to the environmental effects of digital currencies. Some cryptocurrencies employ a mechanism that relies on computational power and substantial amounts of energy to authenticate and validate transactions. As popularity has risen, Bitcoin has grown more popular and valuable; as a result, huge mining operations have emerged to capture the bitcoin market.

All of these cryptocurrency mining farms use a lot of energy to run the equipment, which totals an network energy consumption rate similar to that of some small countries. The environmental effect this has greatly depends on where the farm is getting its power and how much coal or other nonrenewable resources are being used because those have a larger negative impact on the atmosphere.

The environmental impact of mining depends on how the operations are powered. If most of the electricity comes from fossil-fuel-powered grids, then there is carbon pollution. If mostly sustainable energy powers the mining, then the environmental impact is lower.

The reactivation of old, fossil fuel-powered plants to support bitcoin mining raises concerns for environmentalists and countries working to reduce their carbon footprints.

#5 Cryptocurrencies Are a Scam

Cryptocurrencies have gained substantial traction in the retail and commercial world. People are using them for personal transactions, and governments are striving to regulate them. The majority of cryptocurrencies do not contain any programming, code, or malevolent artificial intent that seeks to steal money from you.

However, there are fraudsters who attempt to deceive you out of your cryptocurrency or cash. For example, there have been several unregistered initial coin offerings—unregulated fundraising for new cryptocurrency projects—that turned out to be hoaxes. Someone may try to persuade you to accept unverified transactions in other bitcoin scams, or pretend to be government officials and ask you to pay your bills in cryptocurrency.

While you can never be guaranteed that you won’t get scammed, being knowledgable and aware of the signs will help to decrease your chance s of it happening.

 

#6 Cryptocurrencies Are Real Money, Not Securities

The International Monetary Fund considers money to be a store of value, unit of account, and medium of exchange that is widely accepted and may be translated into prices. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) defines cryptocurrency as a digital representation of a stored value secured by cryptography.

The Internal Revenue Service views cryptocurrency as “convertible” currency—one that has an equal value in “real” currency. Transactions in cryptocurrency are taxed, and capital gains or losses from holding them must be reported on your tax filings.

Lacking guidance from the Federal Accounting Standards Board and Generally Accepting Accounting Principles, accountants have been instructed to account for cryptocurrencies as intangible assets with an indefinite life and to measure any crypto assets at cost rather than value.

Vendors are increasingly accepting Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies in exchange for their goods—you may also trade your crypto for real money at numerous cryptocurrency exchanges.

 

#7 Cryptocurrencies will eventually replace cash

Cryptocurrencies have only been around for a short while, in comparison to fiat currencies which date back centuries. China is rumored to be the first developer of fiat currency, issuing it around 1,000 CE. However, many other countries have since adopted this type of currency as well.

Although it would be a difficult feat, cryptocurrency could potentially replace fiat currency if enough people adopted it. If value and purchasing power can be established, there is a chance that it may happen on a large scale. Perhaps if merchants began posting prices in cryptocurrency and more people started using it regularly to purchase items, this could begin a snowball effect.

However, governments and officials will not willingly give up fiat money since the existing system of controls for collecting taxes and funding government-sponsored programs and services. Social programs that people rely on would cease to exist if taxes are not collected, and other government financing may run out.

In addition, because cryptocurrency is decentralized, there would be no way to control inflation through standard monetary policy tools. The lack of ability to use traditional central bank policies could create unknown effects on a country’s economy. Without built-in ways to affect inflation, employment or growth found in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, new methods for influencing the economy would need to be devised.

#8 Cryptocurrencies are a temporary trend

Computers, the internet, and email have come a long way since they were first introduced. They are now essential to many people’s personal and work lives. It is tough to predict where cryptocurrencies will be in the next few decades; however, the technology they introduced and the products they inspired will likely continue to be developed and refined.

Decentralized finance systems are beginning to take shape, attracting the attention of financial institutions and consumers. Some governments are looking at ways to bring legally-validated cryptocurrencies linked to a more stable asset into circulation, while others are investing heavily in Bitcoin and altcoins.

Blockchain technology is being used by these companies to connect the real and virtual realms, with non-fungible tokens serving as a building block for this fusion. Any asset or value may be assigned to non-fungible tokens, and they may be created for anything imaginable; the virtual and real realms are on a collision course, and cryptocurrency is likely to play a role.

Posted in Cryptocurrency

Cardano’s ADA: Vassal Hard Fork is coming

Written by allsafetoken Published

The time again the possibility that there could be a problem with the merge is why I hold a handful of so-called Ethereum killers as part of my portfolio.

this includes Cardano’s ADA which looks to be better positioned than ever to play the role as an ETH hedge.

this is because Cardano’s developers have confirmed a date for the highly anticipated Vassal Hard Fork.

as per a Twitter thread by input output the Vassal Hard Fork is now scheduled for the 22nd of September which will be roughly one week after Ethereum’s own massive upgrade.

for those unfamiliar the Vassal Hard Fork is expected to significantly improve Cardano’s scalability.

specifically it will increase Cardano’s block size so that more transactions can fit in each block and make it possible for developers to analyze transaction outputs without having to spend these outputs.

Cardano’s novel transaction model though secure created concurrency challenges for smart contracts and decentralized applications which resulted in sub-optimal user experiences.

put simply it made Cardano daps slow the ability for developers to effectively simulate transactions on Cardano before they occur should therefore make it possible for their dapps to provide the same sort of user experience we’ve become accustomed to on other smart contract cryptocurrencies.

this is why ADA has been rallying so hard over the last few days and why it could continue to rally even after the Vassal Hard Fork is complete and ADA could rally even harder if there are any significant issues on Ethereum as a result of the merge.

now the Caveat is that it’s not entirely clear just how much Vassal will affect the user experience on Cardana’s growing number of daps and I say this because Cardano developers noted in a June update that the effect of the Vassal Hard Fork on Cardano will quote not be immediate.

more recently Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson seemed to tacitly reiterate that the Vessel Hard Fork will not result in an increased scalability that can be felt by the end user as he focused on the security and quality of transactions on Cardano rather than their speed in the context of Vassal.

what this means is that Vassal could very well end up being another Zelda news event like the Alonzo Hard Fork last September when ADA wales sold when they realized that Cardano’s smart contract functionality had failed to meet their high expectations namely the instant deployment of dApps.

to be clear I am not saying that this will happen again but even if it does addis crash will not be nearly as catastrophic.

as you can hopefully see 30 cents seems to be a very strong zone of price support for ADA and plummeting there from these levels would result in a loss of roughly 50 percent.

conversely ADA could rally as high as 80 cents in the short term and the research that I did for our upcoming Cardano update over the weekend suggests to me that this outcome is more likely.

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Posted in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Exchanges

Crypto Exchanges Report Outages as Bitcoin Price Rises

Written by allsafetoken Published

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) prices go up, cryptocurrency exchanges subsequently fall. Operations at bitcoin exchange platforms have been impacted by the recent rally in Bitcoin prices.

North America’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, experienced “connectivity issues” while Bitcoin was crossing the $40,000 mark on Thursday. However, after approximately four hours, the company’s support team tweeted that all supposed problems had been resolved.

According to Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Bitcoin price crossed $20,000 last year and caused an outage. Another major cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken, experienced similar connection issues due to “heavy loads” but was back up after three hours.

After Bitcoin’s price fluctuations caused multiple disruptions of operations at Coinbase, the exchange went down. During the Bitcoin rally of 2017, there was a sharp selloff in cryptocurrency markets which effected Coinbase. Last year as Bitcoin gathered moremomentum,Coinbase experienced numerous outages. The issue has not only been effecting its retail-focused app, but also its institutional investor focused offering: Coinbase Pro.

The San Francisco-based company, with more users than Charles Schwab, is one of the biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world. Downtime for this platform could have a significant effect on trading volumes for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s price has increased rapidly due to global macroeconomic instability and institutional interest, leading to an influx of retail investors.

According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, downtime issues at his exchange are due to “scaling issues.” In the past, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that the company was investing in additional servers and customer support so that it could handle increased traffic loads better in the future.

That should be good news for investors, since the firm has submitted an IPO application. When Bitcoin’s price rises as a result of increasing consumer and institutional demand, the markets will not tolerate operational issues.

Posted in CBDC, Cryptocurrency

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

Written by allsafetoken Published

Central bank digital currencies are digital tokens that function like cryptocurrency and are created by a central bank. They are linked to the country’s fiat currency value.

CBDCs are being developed and implemented in a number of countries. Because so many nations are looking into how to move to digital currencies, it’s critical to comprehend what they are and what they imply for society.

Fiat money is a type of legal tender that can be used to purchase goods or services. It is created by a government and not backed by physical commodities such as gold or silver. In the past, fiat money has taken on the form of banknotes and coins but with advancing technology, balances and transactions are now recorded digitally.

Even though physical currency is still used and accepted by many, some wealthier countries have witnessed a significant drop in its utilization – which then speedily increased during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

The introduction and development of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have stoked the interest of cashless societies and digital currencies. As a result, governments and central banks across the world are considering the viability of using government-issued electronic money. These currencies would be fully trusted and backed by the government that created them, just like fiat money is today.

In the US and worldwide, many individuals do not have access to financial services. For example, in America 5% of adults don’t own a bank account. Also, 13% percent of people who do have bank accounts use other more costly methods like money orders or check-cashing instead.

The main objective of CBDCs is to provide businesses and consumers with privacy, mobility, convenience, accessibility, and financial security. CBDCs might also help to simplify the maintenance of a sophisticated financial system while lowering cross-border transaction costs for individuals who presently use alternative money transfer methods.

Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, with their value constantly fluctuating. This volatility could cause severe financial stress in many households and affect the overall stability of an economy. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), backed by a government and controlled by a central bank, would provide households, consumers, and businesses with a stable means of exchanging currency digitally. In other words, CBDC use would reduce risks associated with digital currencies in their current form.

CBDCs are divided into two categories: wholesale and retail. Financial institutions use wholesale CBDCs the most frequently. Consumers and businesses utilize retail CBDCs, much like real currency.

Wholesale CBDCs would be like having reserves in a central bank. The central bank offers an institution an account for either depositing funds or to use for settling interbank transfers. With these accounts, the central banks then have more power to set interest rates and use other monetary policies, such as reserve requirementsInterest on reserve balances.

CBDCs are government-sponsored digital money for consumers and companies. The risk that private digital currency issuers might go bankrupt and lose customers’ assets is eliminated by retail CBDCs.

Cryptocurrencies offer a look at a different type of currency system in which onerous rules do not influence each transaction. They’re difficult to counterfeit or duplicate and are protected by consensus algorithms that verify data. Central bank digital currencies, on the other hand, are designed to function similarly to cryptocurrencies but may be devoid of blockchain technology and consensus mechanisms.

Cryptocurrencies are unpredictable and not protected by governments. Their value rises and falls according to people’s thoughts about them, how often they’re used, and public interest. They tend to be unstable, which makes them poor choices for use in an economic system that needs steadiness. Centrally controlled digital currencies (CBDCs) follow the same path as traditional money issued by government agencies. CBDCs are created to maintain a stable value.

 

Posted in Cryptocurrency, Payments

How to Make a Cryptocurrency Payment

Written by allsafetoken Published

Cryptocurrencies were designed to be used as anonymous payments, yet this use is often forgotten in the midst of media frenzy surrounding cryptocurrency prices. While price changes are important, it is more critical to understand how to use cryptocurrency for payments. After all, cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular and accepted methods of payment.

Although cryptocurrency may be confusing, using it as a form of payment is not. Read on to find out how and where you can use your crypto coins.

The procedure of sending and receiving cryptocurrency used to be much more difficult. Sending a currency used to entail diving into the command line on your computer and building a transaction. The complicated procedure of sending and receiving crypto has now been made considerably easier, just like using an app to send or receive money to or from your bank account. How you start the payment depends on the application you choose, but in general, here’s how it works.

To acquire a cryptocurrency, you don’t need an account with a bank, exchange, firm, or other organization. Setting up a wallet and sending or receiving crypto is one of the simplest and more secure ways to obtain cryptocurrency unless you’re familiar with it.

A regulated cryptocurrency exchange will let you trade fiat money for bitcoin. It will also provide you with additional features if required, such as storing your private keys or assisting you with technical difficulties. When you first create an account and fund it for your crypto purchases, a reliable one like Coinbase, Binance.US, Kraken, or Gemini can get you started.

Before you can make a payment using cryptocurrency, you must install a wallet application on your computer or mobile device. This will act as an interface between you and your crypto.

Your wallet doesn’t actually hold crypto; instead, it keeps the keys you’ll need to access them—your private keys. In transactions, your wallet has a public key that works like an email address; it’s used to send and receive payments.

With the hundreds of different wallets on the market, it is important to choose one that will work well for you. Some are compatible with many cryptocurrencies, while others can only be used with a select few.

Many cryptocurrency exchanges offer a wallet to their users that allows for the transferring of funds to other exchange users or Touchless payments using NFC-enabled devices. Some wallets can even use your camera phone to scan QR codes and create unique addresses.

Cryptocurrency is still in its early stages, but the number of locations you can use it to pay for things and services is rapidly expanding. Most businesses that take cryptocurrency payments employ cryptocurrency payment gateways, which are payment service providers that usually guarantee crypto-to-fiat conversion at the time of the transaction so there is no price slippage.

The following businesses either accept crypto as payment or through a service provider:

Microsoft

Paypal

Overstock

Starbucks

Newegg

AMC Theaters

AT&T

Several brick-and-mortar businesses and merchants are also starting to accept bitcoin. Those that do will generally use point-of-sale hardware connected to one of the payment service providers. Signs on the doors, windows, or at the cash register indicating which cryptocurrency is accepted are commonly seen.

 

You can now use your cryptocurrency wallets to shop at a number of online and offline stores.

Many wallets are able to hold more than one kind of cryptocurrency, which makes it easy to use your preferred coin no matter where you are.

Payment service gateways and providers enable online merchants and some brick-and-mortar businesses to take crypto payments. Newegg, Overstock, Starbucks, and Twitch are well-known retailers.