I’ve been getting messages as of recent with the following question: “Should I invest in Bitcoin?”.
Firstly what is Bitcoin? You Trade it like stock; Spend it like cash; Store it like gold. Best performing asset of 2015, 2016, and 2017. The longer version is Bitcoin is not a stock or a company, it’s a currency. If you invest in Bitcoin you are buying the currency. This currency is fixed on a public ledger known as the “block chain”, which makes it difficult to commit fraud. Want more information about Bitcoin watch this video.
Cryptocurrency
Never invest more than you are willing and able to lose. Cryptocurrency is a very risky investment and you should keep in that in mind at all times. Don’t take anyone’s advice about what will happen with the cryptocurrency, as with anything do your homework. A few pointers for buying, holding and trading:
Buying
The most common form of “investing” in Cryptocurrency is buying the currency in hopes it will appreciate in value. You need to decide for yourself if you think now is a good time to buy. Meaning, do you think the price will continue to rise.
Holding
After buying any Cryptocurrency make sure to move them into your own personal wallet and never leave them at the exchange. You can use a hardware wallet to store your Bitcoins. If you can’t afford a hardware wallet, try a paper wallet.
Make sure to buy Bitcoins only from exchanges and markets that have proven their reputation. I suggest bittrex.com and binance.com as your main exchanges to buy and trade cryptocurrencies and coinbase.com or QuadrigacCX for purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin. Please be very careful with fake and scam sites pretending to be exchanges or marketplaces.
Buy Bitcoins through cost averaging. This means buy a fixed amount every week or month annually. This way you average the price over the course of a year.
Trading
Cryptocurrency trading is different than buying and holding and takes place on marketplaces and you trade Bitcoin for different altcoins.
Investing and Mining
Mining is getting difficult and is proving to only be profitable if done at large scales. This means you will need to get expensive mining equipment and hopefully have access to free electricity. Want more information about Mining watch this video.
It’s most effective to buy Bitcoins with this money instead of buying mining equipment. Most miners are very dedicated and interested in the technology behind the Cryptocurrency. With that said there is always exceptions and I would suggest researching if mining is right for you.
There are many sites that allow you to mine Bitcoins through them. This is known as cloud mining and these sites fall into two categories:
i. Scams that will take your money and don’t actually use the investment to mine.
ii. Not scams, but are bad investments as you will get more Bitcoins if you just use that money to buying cryptocurrency.
Note the average return on any form of mining is based off several factors, but you are looking at 12 months minimum on return of investment from mining.
So should you invest?
The answer is not that simple. Historically, cryptocurrency has been extremely volatile. There is huge speculations by experts in the scene regarding price. Most agree now that Bitcoin will hit $500,000, but no one agrees on the timeframe. Current Cryptocurrency Prices
I strongly believe it’s not just a matter of should you invest, but also a matter of how to invest. Learn about the currency, what affects it, what are its advantages and disadvantages.