Cryptocurrency coins are actually a long series of random numbers and letters in the form of a private and public address. If you have both public and private address in your possession, you own the coin. These are “mined” by advanced computers that look for keys and compete with one another in order to be rewarded in coin.

Fiat Currency

A government-backed currency required in order to buy a digital currency. The U.S. Dollar is the fiat currency of the United States.

Altcoins

Aside from Bitcoin, there are a myriad of cryptocurrencies to use, and if you choose, to invest your money in. All that is needed is a minimal working knowledge of computers, the internet, a crypto wallet and the exchanges to transfer fiat currency into cryptocurrency. We’ll start with bitcoin, since it is the most well known of all coins on the market today.

Is Bitcoin already dead?

Bitcoin has been pronounced “dead” over 144 times in major media publications. This is website gives a link to the obituaries from all the times bitcoin “died.” https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/bitcoin-obituaries/

If I had only had bought when….

Bitcoin is the gold standard for cryptocurrency. I cannot stress this enough. Many people feel the “If I had only…” when first finding out about the true nature of bitcoin. In fact, there is a highly entertaining website that shows how much money you would have right now if you had bought bitcoin at it’s very early stages. It’s worth a look: http://bit.ly/2i4wLP1

I have organized these coins in order of total market cap, ie. how much currency is in use.

Graphs and Data

The incredible graphs and data featured in the coin profiles listed were provided by coinmarketcap.com, an incredible resource for staying knowledgable in the crypto market.