Since it’s currently en vogue right now, I’d like to announce that I’m launching my own cryptocurrency next week.

Let’s call it “kingcoin.”

Nah, that’s too self-serving.

How about “muttcoin”? I’ve always had a soft spot for mixed breeds.

Yeah, that’s perfect – everybody loves dogs.

This is going to be the biggest thing since fidget spinners.

Congrats! Everyone reading this is going to receive one muttcoin when my new coin launches next week.

I’m going to evenly distribute 1 million muttcoins. Feel free to spend them wherever you like (or wherever anyone will accept them!).

What’s that? The cashier at Target said they wouldn’t accept our muttcoin?

Tell those doubters that muttcoin has scarcity value – there will only ever be 1 million muttcoins in existence. On top of that, it’s backed by the full faith and credit of my desktop computer’s 8 GB of RAM.

Also, remind them that a decade ago, a bitcoin couldn’t even buy you a pack of chewing gum. Now one bitcoin can buy a lifetime supply.

And, like bitcoin, you can store muttcoin safely offline away from hackers and thieves.

It’s basically an exact replica of bitcoin’s properties. Muttcoin has a decentralized ledger with impossible-to-crack cryptography, and all transactions are immutable.

Still not convinced our muttcoins will be worth billions in the future?

Well, it’s understandable. The fact is, launching a new cryptocurrency is much harder than it appears, if not downright impossible.

That’s why I believe bitcoin has reached these heights against … Read more

Well, it’s been a crazy 10 years for Bitcoin. Actually it’s over 10 years since Bitcoin was first created by Satoshi Nakamoto. Whoever, he, she or they were, they’ve had a profound effect on the world. They no doubt predicted that which is why they chose to disappear from the limelight.

So over a decade later Bitcoin is still alive and stronger than ever. Thousands of other crypto coins have come along since all trying to imitate the king of Crypto. All have failed and will continue to fail. Bitcoin is one a kind. Something that can’t be replicated. If you don’t know why then let me explain.

If you don’t know what Bitcoin is I’ll just give you a few brief key points:

• Bitcoin Is An Online Cryptocurrency
• It Has a Maximum Supply of 21 Million
• It Can’t Be Forged
• Not All Coins Are in Circulation Yet
• It Is Fully Decentralized Without Anybody Controlling It
• It Can’t Be Censored
• It is Peer to Peer Money
• Anyone Can Use It
• Bitcoin Has a Fixed Supply Which Decreases Every 4 Years

What Makes Bitcoin Different?

So what makes Bitcoin different to all the thousands of other coins which have been invented since?

When Bitcoin was first invented it began to spread slowly among a small group of people. It grew organically. When people started to see the benefits of Bitcoin and how the price would increase due to it’s fixed supply, it began to grow faster.

The Bitcoin blockchain is now … Read more

Bitcoin (BTC) is a new kind of digital currency-with cryptographic keys-that is decentralized to a network of computers used by users and miners around the world and is not controlled by a single organization or government. It is the first digital cryptocurrency that has gained the public’s attention and is accepted by a growing number of merchants. Like other currencies, users can use the digital currency to buy goods and services online as well as in some physical stores that accept it as a form of payment. Currency traders can also trade Bitcoins in Bitcoin exchanges.

There are several major differences between Bitcoin and traditional currencies (e.g. U.S. dollar):

1. Bitcoin does not have a centralized authority or clearing house (e.g. government, central bank, MasterCard or Visa network). The peer-to-peer payment network is managed by users and miners around the world. The currency is anonymously transferred directly between users through the internet without going through a clearing house. This means that transaction fees are much lower.
2. Bitcoin is created through a process called “Bitcoin mining”. Miners around the world use mining software and computers to solve complex bitcoin algorithms and to approve Bitcoin transactions. They are awarded with transaction fees and new Bitcoins generated from solving Bitcoin algorithms.
3. There is a limited amount of Bitcoins in circulation. According to Blockchain, there were about 12.1 million in circulation as of Dec. 20, 2013. The difficulty to mine Bitcoins (solve algorithms) becomes harder as more Bitcoins are generated, and the maximum amount in

… Read more

Here is a question that comes up often: How do I choose which crypto currency to invest in – aren’t they all the same?

There is no doubt that Bitcoin has captured the lion’s share of the crypto currency (CC) market, and that is largely due to its FAME. This phenomenon is much like what is happening in national politics around the world, where a candidate captures the majority of votes based on FAME, rather than any proven abilities or qualifications to govern a nation. Bitcoin is the pioneer in this market space and continues to garner almost all of the market headlines. This FAME does not mean that it is perfect for the job, and it is fairly well known that Bitcoin has limitations and problems that need to be resolved, however, there is disagreement in the Bitcoin world on how best to resolve the problems. As the problems fester, there is ongoing opportunity for developers to initiate new coins that address particular situations, and thus distinguish themselves from the approximately 1300 other coins in this market space. Let’s look at two Bitcoin rivals and explore how they differ from Bitcoin, and from each other:

Ethereum (ETH) – The Ethereum coin is known as ETHER. The main difference from Bitcoin is that Ethereum uses “smart contracts” which are account holding objects on the Ethereum blockchain. Smart Contracts are defined by their creators and they can interact with other contracts, make decisions, store data, and send ETHER to others. The … Read more

“Mommy, where do Bitcoins come from?” Well, you see, when a shiny young Bitcoin catches the eyes of an ambitious miner, and because they love each other very much…

Wait, that’s obviously too difficult to solve here. Besides, my whole goal is to keep things simple. Anyway, Bitcoins are made by solving complex math problems. This is done by a powerful machine that is built to solve these math problems. This process is called mining. People who own these machines to make money mining Bitcoins are called miners. When a batch of problems is solved it becomes known as a block. Blocks are verified by other users and once they are verified, they get added to what is called the block chain. This chain continues to grow with a new block being added to it roughly every 10 minutes. This chain is really just a master ledger that will continue to grow and never end.

The very powerful machines that mine zap a lot of power and drive up the miner’s monthly utility bill. The reason it takes so much power is the genius of the mathematics involved. It requires the mining machine to perform complex cryptographic algorithms. Once a math problem is solved by the machine, a block of coins is birthed. Every time 210,000 blocks have been created, the reward to the miner is halved. It takes 4 years to accomplish this. So it’s kind of like a Bitcoin Olympics. Currently the block reward is 12 Bitcoins (on … Read more

For virtual currency investors, the more important question is whether this round of currency price rises is a restart of the bull market or a bear market trap.

Yesterday evening, Bitcoin experienced a soaring price in just one hour. The price rose from the violence of about 6,800 U.S. dollars to a maximum of 8,100 U.S. dollars. It rose by nearly 20% during the day. Under the leadership of Bitcoin, other virtual currencies also ushered in a strong rebound, with single currency gains even exceeding 50%. Faced with the collective warming of the virtual currency market, many investors shouted that “the bull market is back.”

According to data from the CoinMarketCap website, Bitcoin’s market value increased by nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars within a day, and the entire virtual currency market also experienced general market growth. There was no “seeking” effect. According to the daily transaction volume of Bitcoin exceeding 9 billion U.S. dollars, there should be billions of incremental funds entering the market yesterday, instead of stock funds.

In fact, in the time of the booming of Bitcoin, Bitfinex, a digital currency trading platform, also recorded a number of large purchases. With the increase in buying Bitcoins, many shorts were forced to close their positions, further expanding the market’s upward trend. For this phenomenon, Nick Kirk, data director of Cypher Capital, also expressed his approval. At the same time, he also believes that this sharp rebound is more likely to be the response to the release of early regulatory … Read more