[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ryptocurrency prices are steadily rising and smart investors have started smiling to their banks. Let’s look at the most popular cryptocurrency till date—the Bitcoin. Smart risk takers who invested $100 in Bitcoin seven years ago have seen their investments grow to $75 million. Wow! In fact, experts have predicted that prices will reach $10,000 per Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts often argue that only early investors are making huge profits. If only they could invest in a new cryptocurrency, which held as much promise as Bitcoin… Well, I have good news for you. There is such an altcoin and every cryptocurrency enthusiast has been talking about it. It is called Ethereum.
So what is Ethereum?
Ethereum is the latest cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that uses smart contracts. One can also regard it as an open-source computing platform. Ethereum is unique because it can be used to codify, decentralize, secure and trade pretty much everything. For instance, it can be used to make financial exchanges, manage voting exercises, secure and trade domain names, handle crowdfunding, corporation governance and agreements.
Announced by its inventor, Vitalik Buterin in 2014, the currency was originally known as Ether. In other words, Ether is the currency of the Ethereum platform. But people often confuse Ether and Ethereum. Ether (ETH) is mined and traded just like other cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin). If you want to build upon or use the Ethereum platform, you would need Ether. This currency is widely traded mined and traded on the internet.
Ethereum was launched in beta in July 2015. Its production version was released in March 2017. Ethereum operates Turing-complete smart contracts, perfectly suited for applications that depend on if-then situations to carry out fixed conditions of a treaty.
In other words, a smart contract ensures that when an agreed term is fulfilled, the corresponding item entrenched in the agreement is met.
Studies have revealed that a lot of users have started capitalizing on the plethora of options available on the Ethereum platform. Not only are they developing a wide range of applications that can be used to design ridesharing apps, they are also using the platform to manage sports betting and investment schemes.
Because it is an open source framework, organizations are also encouraged to build private Ethereum-based blockchains.
One of the questions beginners often ask is: who determined the overall supply of Ether and the issuance rate?
Research has shown that all these were determined by the total donations collected on the 2014 presale of the currency.
So How Does The Ether Market Work?
According to the founders, Ether is more of a crypto-fuel so to speak. What this means is that: the sole purpose of Ether isn’t to function as a global digital currency. Ether was designed to pay for actions or services on the Ethereum platform. For instance, developers who want to build and store apps on the Etherum platform would have to pay using Ether. Investors can buy it and store it for the sole purpose of trading it when the price increases.
Further investigation has revealed that the Ether market and the Bitcoin market are supported by similar transactions and framework. This means that it is easy to trade Ether on most web-based platforms.
During the 2014 pre-launch of Ether, Ethereum raised over $14m in their informal initial public offering (IPO). The entire sum not only determined the initial supply, it also influenced the issuance. All the presale contributors were allotted the total sum of 60 million Ether. Twelve million Ether was ploughed into the development fund. The remainder went to Switzerland-based non-profit Ethereum Foundation.
The protocol of the Ethereum platform allowed the creation of 5 Ether per block mined. And each year, only a maximum of eighteen million Ether will be produced.
The rules may change though. According to the non-profit Ethereum Foundation, the Ethereum platform will abide by the rules of Casper, once the consensus algorithm is ready for use.
How To Buy Ethereum
You can pay for Ethereum via credit card, wire transfer and cash.
Everyone wants the easiest way to make a purchase. One stress-free way to buy Ethereum (also known as Ether) is through one of the popular Bitcoin exchanges that also supply Ethereum. You can also buy through Coincentral, Coinbase, Coinmama, Coinhouse, and many others.
How Can Ethers Be Stored?
There are very many reliable options available. Just like Bitcoin are stored on hardware wallets, Ethers can also be stored in a hardware wallet that supports Ethers.
Another well-known option is the official electronic wallet/browser known as Mist. However, Mist can only be used on desktops, but Jaxx.io smartphone wallet app is the option for Android and iPhone. Jaxx.io is a popular option for Ethereum investors as well. What’s more: even Bitcoin can be stored on the trendy Jaxx mobile wallet.
This is quite exciting. But Is Ethereum Secure?
Discussing the prospects and downsides of cryptocurrency investments can be both exciting and daunting. My heart literary summersaults every time I imagine all the profits a small investment could accrue over time. But I often wonder about the risks involved. How secure is the platform? And how long can it possibly last?
History has shown that cryptocurrency markets can be dangerously volatile. Unlike traditional fiat currency markets, cryptocurrency markets can be incredibly uncertain. But every investor who is worth their salt will want to partake in the boom of its heydays. If not for anything, at least for the efficiency and fairness of the cryptocurrency markets. It is incredibly easy to be hopeful that you’ll rake in as many profits as you deserve.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum operate on open source codes and so expert developers are constantly reviewing and improving upon the existing framework.
We live in a courageous world where a new breed of investors is taking their destinies into their hands by building a whole new economy; nothing like the world has ever experienced before. And millions of reasonable people are confidently using digital currencies like Ether because the benefits outweigh the risks.
On the other hand, critics have argued that the Ethereum network hasn’t suffered quite as many security attacks as Bitcoin has. These critics seem to have moderate confidence in the altcoin, probably because its technology is quite new and because it hasn’t been tested as much as older digital currencies have.
In other to strengthen the security of the network, software developers have stayed committed to developing newer and more attack-proof editions of Ethereum. You can either ignore the prophets of doom who predict tougher days for Ethereum or you can remain optimistic enough to invest, if not for anything, to at least see how it goes. The choice is yours.
So far, Ethereum has proved to be formidable and secure.
Cryptocurrency technologies have come to revolutionize the financial world, as we know it. This revolution is a welcome development.
Ohh, cool week! Thanks for sharing that! I think prior to the last “storm” I went through, I have always felt hopeless during those harder times. But I’ve had some break through’s and now I understand how this all works. Hard times come but they don’t last forever. I can appreciate the harder times now because I know there’s A LOT to learn during them too!