HOW DOES CRYPTO WORK?

A lot of us have stumbled upon crypto many times in the last decade, trying to figure out how it works. Now we know that crypto uses a decentralised system which frees it from the hierarchal structure of power for recording transactions and issuing new units through a process called as mining. All the math enthusiasts benefit here since new coins are generated by solving complex mathematical problems. You must have come across words like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dodge coin, NFTs, Tether and PolkaDots etc.

These are all substitutes to online payment which uses encryption algorithms; and in order to use cryptocurrency you must have a wallet which is able to store your keys and access your coins. Wallets consist of public key and private key (online (web), mobile, desktop, hardware, and paper wallets.) for signing to your cryptocurrency transactions.

The bitcoin network relies on a block-chain which is a digital ledger or collection of accounts which facilitates recording of transactions which is set in the stone and cannot be changed over time. Confirmed transactions are collected in the block chain and the block of the bitcoin always consists of a magic number, block size, block header & transaction counter.

Yes, I know this is getting very nerdy, but we need to be able to wrap our heads around these terms.

Each block is limited to 1MB and must contain data (value 0xD9B4BEF9) which can be verified by the network to be validated and adjoined to the block chain. Block header is made up of 6 components adding to an 80-byte field namely:

These records of blockchains are owned by the currency holders and owning digital currency is very volatile. They are intangible assets and block chain technology is still emerging into the financial world.

How to buy cryptocurrency

Disclaimer: Buy only as much as you can feel comfortable losing. I know I don’t like to lose but if you don’t then this investment is not for you.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are coins which you can earn by completing tasks while playing the most played games like Axie infinity (Pokémon NFT), Decentraland (Buying and selling virtual lands), PirateXPirate (PXP tokens in a Pirate Metaverse), Sandbox (Investing in future and Metaverse gaming), STEPN (Winning rewards for your steps) and you can either earn NFTs which can be transferred into your digital wallet, which can be sold for currencies for real-world payments.

Let’s dive into earning while playing your favorite games. As a child, you always dream of getting rich while doing something you really love. Gaming industry makes billions of dollars because of the blockchain technology today and ‘play-to-earn’ games have hiked in the last 5 years.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are coins which you can earn by completing tasks while playing the most played games like Axie infinity (Pokémon NFT), Decentraland (Buying and selling virtual lands), PirateXPirate (PXP tokens in a Pirate Metaverse), Sandbox (Investing in future and Metaverse gaming), STEPN (Winning rewards for your steps) and you can either earn NFTs which can be transferred into your digital wallet; which can be sold for currencies for real-world payments.

Planning to travel today? Expedia’s Vice President of global product believes in adopting to payment technologies, which lets you purchase hotel reservations by indicating bitcoin as their payment option. CheapAir’s fandom dates to 2013 despite the serious financial difficulties of 2022, they accept dozens of crypto payments till date including, Cash, Ethereum, Dodgecoin, Litecoin etc.

You can also book a virgin galactic flight experience. German branch of Burger King has been accepting Bitcoin online payments since 2019; followed by Starbucks and subway using the Bakkt crypto company and lightning network subsequently.

BitPay cryptocurrency processor can be used to buy fashion products from Gucci, Jomashop, Tag Heuer, Farfetch, Balenciaga etc. It is safe to say that crypto has become a world of its own. It has now become a medium of exchange and has the potential to gain even more popularity in the upcoming years.

We can observe that crypto has now started to gain legal tender by some countries like El Salvador, Slovenia, Germany, Canada, Malta, Singapore, Portugal, Switzerland, Estonia, The Netherlands which shows the value of regulations in crypto landscape. However, a few questions of taxation policies, rules and regulations, volatility in nature, long-term investment, expandability, hacking and phishing still exists.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CRYPTO

• Roller coaster ride: There are two ways to the crypto street, you can either become filthy rich overnight or lose everything in a jolt and there is no going back from there. In the last decade crypto has crashed 8 times and the pace setters have gone through these fluctuating losses.
• Crypto is taxable: Yes, your earnings on crypto are taxable to income tax or capital gains tax (CGT) depending upon your sold commodity. Income tax-goods and services and trade-CGT. First $12,300 of any financial year for CGT is tax free. Meeting the threshold of trading is achieved, Net profits will be subjected to income tax at 20%, 40% and 45%.
• Extortionate energy consumption in crypto: IT USES A LOT OF ENERGY and when we say a lot, we mean it! To verify transactions, Bitcoin needs computers to solve more complex problems. Total global usage for assets is accounted at 120 and 240 billion kilowatt-hours/year; which exceeds the total yearly usage of electricity usage of countries like Australia, Norway and Argentina.

This leads us to the real question of whether there is a future to cryptocurrency or not? And can it replace cash in the future?

The reason why barter system was taken over by currency was its dependability of store of value. Although, crypto is in high circulation it will always be unstable and volatile; subjected to a risk of cyber-attacks and in case of national emergencies. It will be a questionable medium of exchange, economists and bank regulator says. It is difficult to predict where the cryptocurrency market is headed in the long term due to the industry being in its infancy and a highly erratic market.

The system is currently prone to cybercrime due to its relatively new, evolving and decentralised technology. Institutions are not hostile towards the idea of cryptocurrency, however, a long-term approach to establish firm laws and regulatory framework is needed to appeal to investors and to initiate a global adoption of the technology. Crypto can never escape paradoxes and analysts estimate that the global cryptocurrency market will more than triple by 2030 hitting a valuation of nearly $5 billion!

The post HODL CRYPTOCURRENCY – BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA? first appeared on wbsdigital.

What is an NFT ?

An NFT is a digital asset that symbolises physical objects such as art, music, in-game goods, and films. They are purchased and traded online, commonly using cryptocurrency, and are typically encrypted with the software just like any other digital currencies.

NFTs are unique and each art contains a digital signature that prevents NFTs from being swapped for or equivalent to one another. 

NFT have been suggested as a way for establishing ownership over an item that may otherwise be easily replicated. So, when someone purchases an NFT, they are receiving a digitally authenticated receipt proving that they are the only owner of the asset. Furthermore, unlike traditional works of art, NFTs cannot be destroyed since they are recorded on a blockchain identical to cryptocurrencies.

Despite the fact that they have been present for nearly a decade, NFTs are gaining attention rapidly as a popular means to buy and sell digital artwork. Initially, NFTs existed as digital artworks in a variety of forms, such as video clips of memorable sporting events or digital artworks reproductions of high value that were maintained under strict protection.

However, NFTs gained popularity in 2021 and made news when the auction house Christie’s produced a record-breaking NFT sale of 69.3 million dollars for Mike Winkelmann’s digital art “Everydays: The First 5000 Days.”

So how Does an NFT work?

NFTs are a component of the Ethereum blockchain, which houses the vast majority of the world’s NFTs. Ethereum, like bitcoin and Dogecoin, is a cryptocurrency, but NFTs include extra information that allows them to operate differently than cryptocurrencies.

NFTs are supported not just by the Ethereum blockchain, but also by other block chains, such as Tron’s NFT TRC-721, which was launched on December 20, 2020.

Because the majority of the people in the world is unfamiliar with the realm of NFTs, here are some examples of NFTs that exist at the moment.

• Graphic Art
• Videos
• Digital Collectibles
• Game skins
• Music
• Designer sneakers

NFTs are essentially digital collector’s items, like actual collector’s items. So rather than receiving a genuine painting or a unique piece of sculpture, the buyer receives a digital file that only belongs to the owner.

In essence, if an individual possesses an NFT, the person can easily verify that they are the owner using your private key, which is the evidence of ownership that the NFT owner obtains from the NFT creator, which is the certificate of authenticity. The NFTs are built in such a way that future resale provides a possibility for the developer to receive a royalty share.

On the other side, if you are an NFT creator, you get to define the scarcity of the digital objects and have the ability to sell in any NFT market or peer – to – peer, rather than being confined to any platforms or middlemen.

What is the purpose and where is it used?

Increases the earning capacity of Creators

The most common use of NFTs nowadays is in the field of digital content. This is due to the fact that the industry is now in a state of disarray. Platforms are sapping content producers’ income and earning potential.

When a creator shares their work on social media, the platform earns money by selling adverts to the artist’s followers. They earn exposure in exchange, but exposure alone does not cover the artist’s expenditures.

However, NFTs pave the way for a new creator economy in which creators retain control of their work rather than handing it over to the platforms that promote it. Ownership is ingrained in the content and the creator has the advantage.

When a creator manages to sell their work, the money goes straight to them and If the NFT is sold by the new owner, the original creator may indeed be entitled to royalties. Since the creator’s identity is part of the token’s metadata, which cannot be changed, this is ensured every time an NFT is sold.

Potential to improving the game experience

Game makers have shown a lot of interest in NFTs. NFTs may be used to keep track of who owns what in-game items, drive in-game economies, and deliver a variety of other incentives to players.  

Like In many regular games, you may purchase in-game items that can be used in your game. However, If the item was an NFT, you can recover your investment by auctioning it once the game is over and if the creator is lucky and that item is more appealing at that time, the creator can even make a profit.

As producers of the NFT, game makers can receive a royalty every time an item is bought and sold on the market. As a result, a more mutually advantageous business model emerges, in which both players and developers profit from the subsequent NFT market. 

This also implies that even if the creators stop supporting a game, the items you’ve gathered continue to stay as yours. As a result, in-game artefacts become digital collectibles with a significance beyond the game.

Making Domain names more notable 

The Ethereum Name Service employs NFTs to provide Ethereum addresses the flexibility to names like thisismywallet.eth that are easier to remember. This implies that instead of a more technical domain like 0.X098781, you might ask someone to pay you ETH via the customised address

This functions in the same way as a domain name on a website does, in that it makes an IP address more relevant to the company. ENS names, like domain names, have a particular value based on their length. Unlike domains, ENS does not require a domain registry to permit ownership transfer. Instead, you may use an NFT marketplace to sell your ENS ids.

NFTs in the world of Advertising and Branding

Nothing has sparked as much interest in the marketing of brands as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the past year. Some companies are utilising NFT collectables or special editions to generate new income streams, increase brand loyalty, and raise funds for a great charity, while others have used them to promote their brand, tell a narrative, or reach more customers

While they gained interest in 2021, they are expected become mainstream instrument in the marketing industry in 2022. Brands like Asics, Clinique, Taco Bell, Coca- Cola regardless of their industry have started using NFTs in novel ways to advertise new product launches, increase social media following, support a campaign, or demonstrate support for a charity or cause.

Coca-Cola produced four NFTs, animated, one-of-a-kind digital artworks that give multi-sensory experiences and unlock surprise goods for the first owner upon purchase. The surprises included a ‘Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket Wearable’ that can be worn in virtual reality platform Decentraland, which was designed to build anticipation and provide entertainment value.

How to buy NFTs

Getting your first NFT can be summarised into these simple 4 steps.

Step 1: Purchase Ethereum from a regulated broker or exchange, such as Binance, eToro

Step 2: Create a Metamask wallet and deposit your ETH into it.

Step 3: Link to an NFT marketplace like  Crypto.com

Step 4: Using the ETH in your metamask wallet buy your first NFT

Setting up a cryptocurrency wallet is the first step in purchasing an NFT. There are many of alternatives to select from, but an Ethereum compliant wallet is the best place to start.

The following are some of the websites that sell NFTs like Rarible, Foundation, OpenSea.io

There are two approaches of selling NFTs. You can do it by owning an NFT. An NFT can also be minted by the person selling it. NFTs may be created on sites like OpenSea, SolSea, and others. After minting the NFT, it may be listed for sale on any of the sites.

The future

Even as NFTs rise in popularity, there is always the chance that the bubble may burst, just as there is with any other asset class. NFTs may be the hottest thing in town right now, but they still have a long way to go before being generally accepted and become mainstream, just like any new technology. Despite the staggering amounts of money injected into the economy, NFT remains to be a niche commodity that may prove to be a passing interest.

However there is still more that is yet to be explored in the realm of NFTs with major developments coming through. If you are looking for more information on NFTs or seeking to invest the below mentioned podcast could be a good start

Sources:

Codedesign. 2021. How brands are using NFTs?. [online] Available at: <https://codedesign.org/how-brands-are-using-nfts> [Accessed 12 April 2022].

ethereum.org. 2022. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) | ethereum.org. [online] Available at: <https://ethereum.org/en/nft/#ethereum-and-nfts> [Accessed 12 April 2022].

Kane, I., 2022. TRON introduces NFT standard TRC-721. [online] Dappradar.com. Available at: <https://dappradar.com/blog/tron-introduces-nft-standard-trc-721> [Accessed 12 April 2022].

Sardana, S., 2021. NFTs: what are they and why are they so popular?. [online] Moneyweek.com. Available at: <https://moneyweek.com/investments/alternative-finance/bitcoin/602928/what-are-nfts-non-fungible-token> [Accessed 12 April 2022].

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