Crypto Guide

Cryptocurrency has become increasingly popular among investors. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and there are sudden ups and downs in the price of cryptocurrencies. However, investors tend to jump on the crypto bandwagon because the return on investment is good. Since cryptocurrencies are a new concept in India, trading with them is not widely known. For beginners, investing in crypto can be a difficult and complex process.

Crypto trading is different from trading in shares and bonds. With crypto, there is no third party involved. The crypto community controls the market. One of the most important aspects of the market is that it is highly volatile and once you initiate a transaction, you cannot back out.

For first-time crypto investors, there are some tips before you put your money in the crypto market.

Picking A Crypto Trading Platform

There are several crypto trading platforms in India such as Coin DCX, topit.africa, CoinSwitch Kuber, WazirX, etc. The first step for the first-time investor is to open an account on one of the above trading platforms.

Uploading Documents and KYC

The KYC process for crypto exchanges or trading accounts is the same as for regular banks. Documents such as identity proof, address proof, PAN card, etc. are required. It is done to ensure that your account is legal and to protect you from fraud. You will also need to provide payment options. Withdrawals and deposits will be done through the payment option you specify.

Trade Orders

The crypto trading platform will verify your credentials after the KYC process is completed and all the required documents are uploaded. After it's done, it will notify you and then you can begin trading cryptocurrencies. Unlike stock exchanges, crypto exchanges are open 24/7 with no opening or closing hours. You can either store the cryptocurrency you have bought in a digital wallet or choose to withdraw it as money.

Research the market.

Starting with small investments and carefully researching the market is always a good idea. Since the crypto market is highly volatile with sudden ups and downs, it is recommended to begin with smaller investments and then increase your investment after carefully examining the market. For beginners, it is also important to get guidance from experts. It is important to get an expert's opinion before expanding your investment.

Select One Crypto

Study the market thoroughly and then choose the coin that you feel most confident about. Before enhancing your portfolio, adhere to your decision and scan your progress.

Take it slow.

Don't invest in crypto after hearing that a particular coin has set a new growth record. You need to wait for some time to scan the market because after a high rise, any crypto will either experience a correction or a fall. A better strategy is to wait for a decline in the currency you want to buy and then buy it at the lowest price.

Venture into Other Altcoins

Bitcoin is not the best cryptocurrency to invest in at least at this time. You should think carefully before investing all of your money in one cryptocurrency, as we don't know what the future holds. Keep doing your research and see which coins are doing well.

1. Search for Reputable Sources of stories

2. prepare for volatility.

3. Consider other altcoins.

4. study Hot and Cold Wallets

5. Be Vigilant

Crypto Mania has not gone anywhere. Everyone, from enterprising millennials to major financial institutions, is scrambling to learn more about the capabilities of this incredible technology. More importantly, they want to know how they can cash in on the craze. That means choosing a cryptocurrency exchange.

As cryptocurrency grows and widespread adoption increases, more people will find themselves asking what platform they should use to begin buying and selling these assets. There are dozens of features to examine across exchanges and users have varying levels of cryptocurrency and investment knowledge.

Here are six things to consider when choosing a cryptocurrency exchange, regardless of experience:

1. Authenticity and security.

It is imperative to do research and guarantee you are choosing a legitimate and secure platform. The early example of Mt. Gox and the most recent hacking of Coincheck serve as serious warnings to prospective cryptocurrency investors to look into the exchange’s security protocol.

One of the biggest issues in the cryptocurrency industry today centres on pump-and-dump schemes. Exchanges are responsible for preventing this fraud. And, that’s where they get help from tokens. E responsibility t is on the exchanges with the help of tokens, to prevent this fraud.

2. Method of purchase.

The method of purchasing cryptocurrency varies between platforms. Some exchanges require deposits by bank transfer, some use PayPal, some accept credit and debit cards, and some solely use cryptocurrency for purchases.

If you do not have any cryptocurrency before joining an exchange, it is essential that you choose a platform that accepts fiat currency so that you may enter the market. It is also important to note how long purchases take to complete. Some platforms process transactions nearly instantly while others can take days or weeks.

3. Supported tokens.

Most exchanges support Bitcoin and Ethereum, but investors in cryptocurrency know that is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a significant variation in supported cryptocurrencies across different exchanges; some platforms, like Binance, trade a long list of altcoins, whereas Coinbase trades only four major cryptocurrencies.

You can further balance your bets with “stable coins,” often used by traders to hedge against the volatility common in the cryptocurrency markets. For example, TrueUSD is a USD-backed cryptocurrency that is directly collateralized across a network of banks. It uses custodial accounts to give token-holders legal protection and direct banking so that the company never directly touches the funds. Additionally, the custodian accounts enable regular auditing and deliver complete legal protection.

By being backed by the US Dollar, TrueUSD offers a common, stable currency across digital exchanges. Since Tether, the incumbent USD stable coin, was subpoenaed by the SEC, a new alternative is badly needed.

Regardless of your risk appetite, make sure you choose an exchange or exchanges that support all of the cryptocurrency tokens that you want to purchase. Metrics, including 24-hour volume and market cap, influence these exchange rates and should be monitored.

4. Trading platform, P2P exchange, or broker.

There are three main types of cryptocurrency exchanges, so you need to know what they are before choosing a cryptocurrency exchange.

Trading platforms are the most common and include Binance and Coinbase. They are marketplaces where users can place buy or sell orders for cryptocurrency. Each user only interacts with the platform. Additionally, there is a fee for each transaction.

P2P exchanges, such as Cointal, connect buyers and sellers to interact directly, relying on both parties to agree to any given transaction. P2P exchanges help mitigate network congestion and maintain a secure, trustless system for the exchange of cryptocurrencies.

Control is the first multi-currency P2P exchange. Council's CEO Mohammed Imad explains, “Dealing on a P2P basis helps alleviate any issues and problems that can arise from traditional exchanges.”

Cryptocurrency brokers, like AvaTrade, operate similarly to forex brokers. These brokers set prices and buyers can purchase cryptocurrencies through the platform.

5. Fee structure.

Transaction fees and fee structures differ across various exchanges, which is critical when choosing a cryptocurrency exchange. Some exchanges offer discounted fees. This occurs when an exchange's own token is used to complete transactions. Also, it can relate to how many tokens are held. Others only charge a transaction fee on sales, permitting purchases free of fee.

6. User interface and user experience.

For the average cryptocurrency investor, one of the most important aspects is the user interface and functionalities. Whether you are a seasoned cryptocurrency trader or buying bitcoin for the first time, an intuitive interface and good user experience aid user actions on the exchange to be more informed and more efficient. User experience is subjective and different people will enjoy different interfaces.

However, the exchanges with the “best” user experiences will see the largest growth in transaction volume in the coming years. As an exchange’s value is largely tied to its user numbers, exchanges are able to boost their user numbers and transactions via their user experience. Kucoin has demonstrated this level of growth since they offer users free tokens in exchange for using their exchange.

Weighing All Factors

When choosing a cryptocurrency exchange, it is important to balance a number of different considerations. Exchanges are all different and different ways of building security precautions, regulating users, building their network, and building a user experience.

According to the report, Africa’s on-chain cryptocurrency activity has consolidated further onto the 10 largest services in the region by volume, with those services’ share of overall activity in the region rising from 67 per cent in October 2019 to 78 per cent in 2020.

Most of the activity from Africa is going to Binance – the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of the trading volume. It provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies.

Binance’s share of all cryptocurrency activity in Africa has risen sharply since the beginning of 2020, the report says. Retail-sized transfers (transfers under $10,000) make up a larger share of Africa’s cryptocurrency activity than any other region, and the need for remittances is a big part of this.

Yet, the Nigerian Central Bank recently directed banks to stop offering services to cryptocurrency providers.

“Adoption was just beginning to take off in Africa, and in Nigeria specifically things were blowing up last year,” says Buchi Okoro, co-founder and CEO of Quidax, a platform that allows people to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. “Trades are still happening on exchanges [where] you’ll see trickles but it’s nothing close to the volumes we saw.”

With Nigeria excluded from what Mr Okoro calls "global prosperity,” a lot of its people are now diverting to peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges instead. Unfortunately, a lack of regulation in some of the countries could create problems when it comes to ownership of assets.

“We’re seeing a lot of activity through P2P exchanges, and then other exchanges also trying to navigate the issues around getting money,” he says. “But essentially, it’s still about being able to find a way to be compliant.”

Indeed, P2P trading is a major trend in Kenya as well. Even though the country’s central bank issued a cautionary notice warning investor about cryptocurrency platforms, that did not stop a few people from diving in headfirst.

“A lot of people tweeted about banks shutting their accounts with their funds still there because they were in one way or another facilitating a cryptocurrency transaction,” says Roselyne Wanjiru, Director of Growth and User Acquisitions at Pesabase, a platform that allows people to send money and make payments. “But people also felt that if they could make money from this in the middle of a pandemic, it’s something they were going to do.”

Understanding the world of cryptocurrency

Part of the problem surrounding cryptocurrency adoption in Africa, besides the lack of reliable and affordable internet, particularly beyond urban areas, is the varying level of financial literacy.

Most people are not conscious of investment types beyond the basics like real estate or stocks. Even those who hear about certain billionaires probably don’t know much about how they built their wealth, beyond thinking that it has something to do with money.

“The longer it takes this information to get to the general public, especially the younger generation, the less likely they will be to aspire to this in the first place,” Ms Wanjiru says. “That means decentralized finance and cryptocurrency could be at risk of being extremely niche in the future.”

Making cryptocurrency more mainstream starts with breaking down the concepts into one’s local language. But although Ms Wanjiru has seen some efforts to translate educational material into Kiswahili, there are still hundreds of other languages and dialects across the continent.

“More needs to be done to translate this to different local languages so that the elder population and those who may not be in urban areas can have access to the information,” she says.

“At the same time, various platforms need to make it easier for people who are completely new to cryptocurrency to understand it better.

The need for regulation and trust

Given the constantly changing nature of the cryptocurrency world, one of the biggest risks is the lack of proper regulation in some African countries. This could put companies out of business overnight through no fault of their own, yet regulation is exactly what the industry needs most.

“We have no regulatory framework. We follow the policies given to banks about things like minimum capital and transaction limits,” Mr Okoro says. “But anything can happen at any point in time. So, in terms of what we’ve been doing right now, we’ve written several letters begging for regulation.”

Tied to the need for regulation is the need for trust. As someone who’s spoken about cryptocurrency for years, Ms Wanjiru has seen her friends go from mild curiosity to a strong desire to get involved.

Ms Wanjiru believes that achieving mainstream adoption, especially when there are so many conflicting views on the subject, requires more consistency from the industry.

“If they didn’t trust me or didn’t see my consistency, that trust wouldn’t have been worth much,” she says.

If people do not buy into your platform or download your app, or sign up to be part of your community, you must still be present in terms of being an authority by engaging with them and answering any questions they may have, says Ms Wanjiru: “Just be present, be consistent and build the trust that will allow these people to come (even if it’s two or three years down the line) and be some of your most loyal customers.”

Although the continent still has the smallest cryptocurrency economy of any region analysed in the report, with just $8.0 billion worth having been received and $8.1 billion sent on-chain that year, that relatively small amount of activity is creating life-changing value for users in the region facing economic instability, offering low-fee remittances and an alternative way to save.

We can speculate on what value cryptocurrency may have for investors in the coming months and years (and many wills), but the reality is it’s still a new and speculative investment, without much history on which to base predictions. No matter what a given expert thinks or says, no one really knows. That’s why it’s important to only invest what you’re prepared to lose and stick to more conventional investments for long-term wealth building.

“If you were to wake one morning to find that crypto has been banned by the developed nations and it became worthless, would you be OK?” Frederick Stanfield, a CFP with Lifewater Wealth Management in Atlanta, Georgia, told NextAdvisor recently.

Cryptocurrencies have long been discussed and debated, but they’re only now coming to light as financial tools that can be accessible and useful to more than only die-hard connoisseurs. Cryptocurrencies have the potential to enable social and economic growth throughout the world, including in developing countries, by offering easier access to capital and financial services.

Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular have a highly utilitarian, yet also disrupting quality that has slowly, but steadily started to interfere with the way the traditional financial system works.

1. A Beneficial Rise in Economic Activities

There is already an entire industry built around cryptocurrencies and it’s held by institutions dedicated to supervising all the digital coin exchanges taking place throughout the world. The rate at which the cryptocurrency industry is growing is earth-shattering and this can be confirmed by early adopters that became rich overnight and found opportunities to grow financially. Bitcoin, the most famous of these cryptocurrencies, has already permitted many people and companies to develop and flourish, while many also rely on trading as their source of income. The economy is slowly shifting to adapt to these needs and cryptocurrencies have a great potential in satisfying them.

2. Great Opportunities for Poorly Banked Countries

More than a third of the world population does not have access to basic banking services that can help them out in case of a personal financial crisis - loans, checking accounts and the list can go on. These people who in most cases are already financially disadvantaged typically resort to doubtful and dangerous lending practices. The interest rate of these practices is anything but fair, which consequently leads to more instability among the people who requested the loan. This is where cryptocurrencies come in with their high volatility and ease-of-use.

There are now many apps and programs that facilitate the use of cryptocurrencies and bring them closer to a wider audience. An added benefit of cryptocurrency use is that it’s completely decentralized, so trading can be done freely across borders. The use of technology will facilitate a financial revolution that will leave everyone more financially connected, empowered and enabled.

3. Low Transaction Costs

Because cryptocurrencies and blockchain don’t need an actual brick-and-mortar building to exist, the costs associated with their transaction are minimal. There is no need for employee wages, utility bills or rent to be paid, so these savings naturally morph into low transaction fees. This in turn encourages more and more people to trust these new financial tools and start transacting, allowing for the global economy to be more closely intertwined. And depending on the broker you choose, you can even trade with no minimum deposit requirements - as offered by CryptoRocket, for example.

4. Increased Transparency of Transactions

Since all blockchain and cryptocurrency transactions are automated and digitized, they are all tracked in a distributed ledger. The best part about it is that it cannot be manipulated by either people or companies, which greatly diminishes the risk of fraud and corruption. This means that underdeveloped countries also have a greater chance of entering the financial transactions game and boost their own economy and social prospects. What’s more, citizens will be able to keep track of where state funds will be oriented and will thus have a say within their own political climate.

5. More power to entrepreneurs.

There’s never been a more prosperous time to do business than it is now, in the sense that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies can help entrepreneurs receive payments in more currencies. BitPesa is one such company that helps business owners in Africa make financial transactions with European, American and Asian companies. The aim is to help small and medium businesses everywhere get better financial coverage and a liberated financial connection with the rest of the world. By using BitPesa and TenX’s digital wallet, entrepreneurs are able to quickly convert altcoins into fiat currencies that they can later redirect to business investments, purchases and payments.

The world is changing and it’s changing quickly. The speed at which cryptocurrencies are taking over is a clear indicator that traditional financial institutions can no longer hold the fort so well and that other financial needs are arising and need to be addressed. Similarly, the world is facing a growing need to tear down borders, in search of complete social and financial inclusion - this blockchain technology has everything it needs to address such issues.

1. Bitcoin has user autonomy

2.Bitcoin transactions are pseudonymous

3.Bitcoin transactions are conducted on a peer-to-peer basis

4.Bitcoin transactions do not incur banking fees

5.Bitcoin payments have low transaction fees for international payments

6.Bitcoin payments are mobile

7.Bitcoin transactions are irreversible

Crypto transactions can be made easily, at low cost, and in a manner more private than most other transactions. Using a simple smartphone app, hardware wallet, or exchange wallet, anyone can send and receive a variety of cryptocurrencies.

For many a millennial, grabbing a pack of Airheads candy was a childhood staple. The fruity candy snack is one known to many for its unique chewy texture and packaging, featuring a red balloon with a smile you can guarantee is as happy as the candy has made us. Airheads have only been around for a short few decades, so far, but the memorable treat has had a history just as fun-filled as the candy itself. 

During the 1950’s, Africa was a continent awakening to the prospects of independence.

In the 1960’s, Africa was a continent in transition for during the decade 31 African countries South of the Sahara became independent, 17 of them in 1960 alone. Notable progress was school enrolment and some industrialization.

In the 1970’s, Africa was a continent in Limbo. Development proved difficult, and regional and ethnic conflicts became rampant. The cold war placed African countries between the USA and Russia. Increases in oil prices by OPEC in 1973 affected the economic development of African countries. The 1970’s were also periods of Sahelian drought and famine.

During the 1980’s, it became clear that Africa was a continent in decline. Hunger and starvation in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. Civil wars in Angola, Sudan, Mozambique and Southern Africa.

In the 1990’s, Africa was a continent in crisis. Economic stagnation continued to deteriorate. Rapid spread of AIDS threatens families and general societies.

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA

1. Africa is attached to Asia at its northeast Sinai corner by an Isthmus (Suez Canal) 70 kms wide.

2. Africa is the most centrally located of all the continents. The prime meridian (the Greenwich meridian) 0o passes through the Atlas Mountains and cuts through the coast of West Africa close to Accra, while the Equator (latitude 0 degrees) also divides the continent into 2 equal parts North and South. Africa is yet to take advantage of its Centralized location in the world.

3. Africa is the most tropical of all continents. It straddles the equator and incorporates both the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. The climate south of the equator mirrors that of the north of the equator but the shape of the northern half of Africa reduces any maritime influence

4. The landmass nearest to Africa is Europe separated by the Mediterranean Sea only 9 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar.

5. Africa is the world's second largest continent after Asia.

6. It is the most compact of all the continents in terms of shape and comprises the oldest rocks pertaining to the Precambrian Era.

7. Africa is as long as it is broad. It measures approximately 7,500 kms from South to North as well as in its east-west extent.

8. Most of the surface of Africa consists of the world’s oldest Pre-Cambrian rocks planed down to an upland plateau.

9. Africa comprises 54 countries with a population of 654 million in 1992.

10. Sahara desert, (the largest expanse of dry land in the world) is

Over 10.4 million square kilometers

11. Evidence points to a common human ancestry originating in

Africa from the emergence of a humanlike species in eastern

African some 5 million years ago. From Hadar, Ethiopia, the

3.18 million year-old remains of "Lucy" were unearthed in

Blockchain or fintech continue to make news with headlines ranging from people becoming millionaires overnight to opinion pieces about how industries view financial transactions. Often viewed as a volatile market for investment, it is still attracting a high volume of interest with Coinbase reporting that 70,000 to 100,000 new crypto trading accounts are being opened daily on their platform. However, in spite of so much press, due to the technical nature of the topic, there is often a fair amount of uncertainty around cryptocurrency. As US Senator Thomas Caper said, “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.”

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is the joining of two words: cryptography and currency:

Currency This channel of exchange allows people to convert their work into something of value that can be exchanged for goods or other services.

Cryptography This is the process of converting understandable text into unintelligible text and vice-versa for confidentiality, integrity, and authentication purposes.

Cryptocurrency Put the two together, and you get a word that means a medium of exchange that is digital and uses encryption to make the transactions secure.

Useful cryptocurrency terms to know:

Block Each record or series of records on the blockchain.

Block reward When a person who adds a new block to the blockchain is paid in bitcoin.

Blockchain A digital public ledger on which every transaction in the network is recorded.

Proof of stake A consensus algorithm that allows miners to 'put up a stake’ in their currency to verify a block of transactions.

Proof of work A hash – an algorithm that turns a large amount of data into a large number that is of a fixed length, typically written as a hexadecimal – that is so difficult, it could only have been solved through significant work or power.

Cryptocurrencies are quantified entries in a database or ledger that no one can change or exchange unless specific conditions are met. Cryptocurrencies are like virtual accounting systems and allow you to transact like you would typically with cash, credit cards, or cheques in order to make purchases, invest, or accept payment. The transactions are recorded within digital blocks, and then cryptographically signed (hence “cryptocurrency) making them entirely secure. When Satoshi Nakamoto – a pseudonym for the person or group – introduced Bitcoin in 2009, it was described as a ‘peer-to-peer electronic cash system’, a completely decentralised system, with no servers or central controlling entity involved.

Double-spending solved

The reason why this was so revolutionary, is that blockchain – the technology that underpins cryptocurrency – solved one of the most critical challenges digital payments faced; that of ‘double spending’, which is a fraudulent technique of spending the same amount twice. Blockchain released digital platforms from having to depend on trusted third parties to prevent double spending, as the decentralised network uses a universal public ledger that visibly displays every transaction within the network. If someone tries to spend the same cryptocurrency more than once by making two separate transactions with the same input in the same block, then the two transactions cancel each other out.

The key is key

When you buy or receive cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, you’re given a secret digital key, or password, that proves to anyone on the network that a certain amount of bitcoin is yours to spend or use as you wish. When you spend that bitcoin, the entire network will know that you have transferred ownership of it, and your key is proof that you have authority to do so. The history of every transaction made is a permanent record of who owns what. That record is called “blockchain”.

Use wallets for assets

It’s important to keep your key or password safe, as anyone who discovers your key can gain total, irreversible control over your cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency wallets allow you to keep your cryptocurrency safe. There are a variety of online and offline cryptocurrency wallets to choose from, where you can ‘download’ your cryptocurrency to, such as desktop wallets, mobile, paper, and hardware wallets.

How to buy cryptocurrency

The disclaimer that is often attached to cryptocurrency investments serves as a stark reminder that this is an unstable investment environment. “Investing in crypto coins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.”

Here are some tips for when investing in cryptocurrency:

Start slowly. Risk and investment go hand in hand, and it’s wise to bear in mind that digital currency is still in the early stages of development when compared to investments such as stocks or bonds. Tim Enneking, managing director of Crypto Asset Management, suggests being patient and allowing the Bitcoin price to come to you, and once the price is right, investing a little at a time in varying stages.

Diversify investments. Diversifying investments means that, when one component declines, another will improve. Consider an investment portfolio of an equal amount of Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash, plus traditional stocks and bonds, in order to mitigate fluctuations.

Use your wallet. Exchanges are a good place to buy digital currencies, but assets should be stored in online and offline crypto wallets in order to prevent being hacked.

Buy and hold. The strategy of invest-then-wait is used successfully for all investments, not just cryptocurrency, and is advocated by legendary investor Warren Buffett.16 Gavin Yeung, founder and CEO of digital asset management firm Cryptomover, offered a similar point of view. “We at Cryptomover believe that a passive investment style will outperform active strategies in the long term,” he stated. “Not only is passive investing inexpensive and simple, it also lowers trading fees leading to much lower operating expenses.”

Being street-smart as a crypto-newcomer

Although digital-ledger technology, or blockchain, has never been hacked, cryptocurrencies are vulnerable to theft and hacking. The most infamous theft occurred in 2014, when someone assumed another person’s identity and 850,000 bitcoin was taken from the Mt. Gox exchange. More recently, in January 2018, $530 million was stolen from a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange in a single hack.

But losing your investment could be simpler than someone hacking your account. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) warns of “pump and dump” schemes that target inexperienced crypto investors. This is where large groups of people coordinate to push the price of a certain coin up by buying into it at the same time, and making it look more attractive to new, naive buyers. When the price is high these scammers sell their coins at the same time, dropping the value of the coin drastically, and making the newcomer lose significant investment value.

There’s also the threat of the ‘51%’ attack. This hasn’t happened yet, but threatens to happen from time to time. This is where a group of miners controls over 50% of a network’s computing power and can deny verification of transactions and refuse to pay users.

Success stories of cryptocurrency adoption

While the prices of individual cryptocoins have a tendency to fluctuate freely, blockchain-based currency is here to stay, and there are some investors and fintechs who have made huge successes of their investments. Here are the top five people listed on Forbes’ list of cryptocurrency millionaires:

Chris Larsen, well-known for co-founding a host of fintech apps, saw his net worth reach nearly $20 billion in early 2018, thanks to his ownership of 5.2 billion XRP, the tokens of Ripple, the company he founded. XRP has since crashed dramatically but Larsen still tops the Forbes list.

Changpeng Zhao, the Chinese-Canadian coder who runs Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange that can process a lightning 1.4 million transactions per second, has a personal fortune worth as much as $2 billion.

Joseph Lubin, the founder of the 600-employee business ConsenSys, home to the Ethereum ecosystem, began his career working in robotics, machine vision, neural nets and software engineering. He is now estimated to be worth $1 billion – $5 billion.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the twins famous for suing Mark Zuckerberg for $65 million for stealing their social media platform idea, bought cryptocurrency in 2012, during its infantile stages. They also started a successful New York-based cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini, where investors can buy and sell digital currencies. The twins are estimated to be worth $900 million-$1.1 billion each.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

2. Ethereum (ETH)

3. Binance Coin (BNB)

4. Tether (USDT)

5. Solana (SOL)

6. Cardano (ADA)

7. U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)

8. XRP (XRP)

9. Terra (LUNA)

10. Polkadot (DOT)

The Stock-Market

Real Estate

Your Health

Your Career

Side- Hustle

Your Knowledge

Investing in bitcoin and avoiding scams

With celebrity endorsements and Youtubers pitching “How to capitalize on cryptocurrency,” many people are trying to learn how they can get a piece of the crypto action.

Nowadays, you can find cryptocurrency on nearly every continent. But how big is cryptocurrency in Africa? This article will help you understand more about cryptocurrency from an African perspective.

Thanks to the internet, those in Africa–and Africans abroad–can get a slice of the cryptocurrency pie. This is made possible by the many crypto trading platforms that are verified and approved by financial bureaus.

So, how exactly do you get started?

Crypto for beginners

What is cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency is a digital platform to buy, sell, and trade digital currency that is not backed by a country's monetary denomination.

For example, if you buy a share or portion of cryptocurrency in naira, you can buy and sell cryptocurrency in dollars.

Consider this currency as a form of buying digital tokens that you can use to buy real-life items. A person would have to have real money to buy the cryptocurrency. As of now, there are only a few countries in Africa that have a global presence on international trading platforms, those countries are:

Ghana

Kenya

Zimbabwe

Nigeria

Botswana

South Africa

These are the countries with considerable regulations and laws that allow their citizens to trade.

In order to create a cryptocurrency account, you need to register with a trading platform. There are many crypto platforms that people in Africa can use, such as Coinbase and Paxful, which are two platforms that can help you enter the crypto world.

Knowing the difference

After creating your bitcoin account (and you are approved to buy and trade), one of the questions you might have is, “How do I make money?”

Note that there is a difference between investing in cryptocurrency and buying cryptocurrency.

The difference between the two is when investing in cryptocurrency, money is used to buy shares in a company that sells/trades cryptocurrency. While buying cryptocurrency is just that, you are buying digital currency to spend.

Putting money aside

African currencies fluctuate due to currency exchange. However, this should not be a deterrent for buying cryptocurrency. For instance, in Nigeria or Zimbabwe’s recent inflation, during times of economic uncertainty, a person that set money aside through crypto trading would have untouched money that wouldn’t be impacted by the physical inflation rate of the country.

How is this possible?

Those that are buying or trading cryptocurrency will buy at the global bank rate. The reason being is that inflation is created when there is an increase in a country's physical money supply because platforms like Bitcoin are digital, there can never be inflation since there will never be more than 21 million bitcoins produced for a very long time.

Is cryptocurrency a wise decision for Africans?

One of the major issues with African economies has been corrupt government regulations. What can often happen in Africa is that money is typically circulated amongst the wealthy, thus preventing the creation of societal money flow. When this happens, those that are not as wealthy will be impacted by inflation.

On the bright side, cryptocurrencies are blockchain-based systems that can yield profits with just a small amount of money. This means your small investment will be on the same global market as highly competitive currencies.

The future of cryptocurrency is still developing, but countries like South Africa have proven that digital currency can assist with economic advancement because at any moment a person can sell their cryptocurrency once they have made the desired profit, and put that money towards the economy where they live.