Cryptocurrency: Pros and Cons

1. A cryptocurrency is a form of digital asset based on a network that is distributed across a large number of computers. This decentralized structure allows them to exist outside the control of governments and central authorities.
2. Experts believe that blockchain and related technology will disrupt many industries, including finance and law.
3. The advantages of cryptocurrencies include cheaper and faster money transfers and decentralized systems that do not collapse at a single point of failure.
4. The disadvantages of cryptocurrencies include their price volatility, high energy consumption for mining activities, and use in criminal activities.

 

Understanding Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies underpinned by cryptographic systems. They enable secure online payments without the use of third-party intermediaries. "Crypto" refers to the various encryption algorithms and cryptographic techniques that safeguard these entries, such as elliptical curve encryption, public-private key pairs, and hashing functions.

Cryptocurrencies can be mined or purchased from cryptocurrency exchanges. Not all e-commerce sites allow purchases using cryptocurrencies. In fact, cryptocurrencies, even popular ones like Bitcoin, are hardly used for retail transactions. However, the skyrocketing value of cryptocurrencies has made them popular as trading instruments. To a limited extent, they are also used for cross-border transfers.

Types of Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency. An anonymous person called Satoshi Nakamoto invented it and introduced it to the world via a white paper in 2008. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies present in the market today.

Each cryptocurrency claims to have a different function and specification. For example, Ethereum's ether markets itself as gas for the underlying smart contract platform. Ripple's XRP is used by banks to facilitate transfers between different geographies.

Bitcoin, which was made available to the public in 2009, remains the most widely traded and covered cryptocurrency. As of November 2021, there were over 18.8 million bitcoins in circulation with a total market cap of around $1.2 trillion. Only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist.3

In the wake of Bitcoin's success, many other cryptocurrencies, known as "altcoins," have been launched. Some of these are clones or forks of Bitcoin, while others are new currencies that were built from scratch. They include Solana, Litecoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and EOS. By November 2021, the aggregate value of all the cryptocurrencies in existence had reached over $2.1 trillion—Bitcoin represented approximately 41% of that total value.

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency (Pros and Cons)

Cryptocurrencies were introduced with the intent to revolutionize financial infrastructure. As with every revolution, however, there are tradeoffs involved. At the current stage of development for cryptocurrencies, there are many differences between the theoretical ideal of a decentralized system with cryptocurrencies and its practical implementation.

Some advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrencies are as follows.

 

Advantages:

Cryptocurrencies represent a new, decentralized paradigm for money. In this system, centralized intermediaries, such as banks and monetary institutions, are not necessary to enforce trust and police transactions between two parties.

Thus, a system with cryptocurrencies eliminates the possibility of a single point of failure, such as a large bank, setting off a cascade of crises around the world, such as the one that was triggered in 2008 by the failure of institutions in the United States.

Cryptocurrencies promise to make it easier to transfer funds directly between two parties, without the need for a trusted third party like a bank or a credit card company. Such decentralized transfers are secured by the use of public keys and private keys and different forms of incentive systems, such as proof of work or proof of stake.

Because they do not use third-party intermediaries, cryptocurrency transfers between two transacting parties are faster as compared to standard money transfers. Flash loans in decentralized finance are a good example of such decentralized transfers. These loans, which are processed without backing collateral, can be executed within seconds and are used in trading.

Cryptocurrency investments can generate profits. Cryptocurrency markets have skyrocketed in value over the past decade, at one point reaching almost $2 trillion. As of Dec. 20, 2021, Bitcoin was valued at more than $862 billion in crypto markets.13

Though they claim to be an anonymous form of transaction, cryptocurrencies are actually pseudonymous. They leave a digital trail that agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can decipher. This opens up possibilities for governments or federal authoritiesto track the financial transactions of ordinary citizens.

Cryptocurrencies have become a popular tool with criminals for nefarious activities such as money laundering and illicit purchases. The case of Dread Pirate Roberts, who ran a marketplace to sell drugs on the dark web, is already well known. Cryptocurrencies have also become a favorite of hackers who use them for ransomware activities.

In theory, cryptocurrencies are meant to be decentralized, their wealth distributed between many parties on a blockchain. In reality, ownership is highly concentrated. For example, an MIT study found that just 11,000 investors held roughly 45% of Bitcoin's surging value.

One of the conceits of cryptocurrencies is that anyone can mine them using a computer with an Internet connection. However, mining popular cryptocurrencies require considerable energy, sometimes as much energy as entire countries consume.

The expensive energy costs coupled with the unpredictability of mining have concentrated mining among large firms whose revenues run into billions of dollars. According to an MIT study, 10% of miners account for 90% of their mining capacity.

Though cryptocurrency blockchains are highly secure, other crypto repositories, such as exchanges and wallets, can be hacked. Many cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets have been hacked over the years, sometimes resulting in millions of dollars worth of "coins" stolen.

Cryptocurrencies traded in public markets suffer from price volatility. Bitcoin has experienced rapid surges and crashes in its value, climbing to as high as $17,738 in December 2017 before dropping to $7,575 in the following months.3 Some economists thus consider cryptocurrencies to be a short-lived fad or speculative bubble.

Getting into crypto is difficult as cryptocurrencies themselves are volatile. if you are a beginner this is the best way to get started trading cryptocurrencies.