cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency
On 6 August 2014, the UK announced its Treasury had commissioned a study of cryptocurrencies and what role, if any, they could play in the UK economy. The study was also to report on whether regulation should be considered https://dr-stretchy.com/. Its final report was published in 2018, and it issued a consultation on cryptoassets and stablecoins in January 2021.
On 10 June 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision proposed that banks that held cryptocurrency assets must set aside capital to cover all potential losses. For instance, if a bank were to hold bitcoin worth $2 billion, it would be required to set aside enough capital to cover the entire $2 billion. This is a more extreme standard than banks are usually held to when it comes to other assets. However, this is a proposal and not a regulation.
The first cryptocurrency was bitcoin, which was first released as open-source software in 2009. As of June 2023, there were more than 25,000 other cryptocurrencies in the marketplace, of which more than 40 had a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion. As of April 2025, the cryptocurrency market capitalization was already estimated at $2.76 trillion.
Bitcoin’s founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, supported the idea that cryptocurrencies go well with libertarianism. “It’s very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly,” Nakamoto said in 2008.
Diversification is key to any good investment strategy, and this holds true when you are investing in cryptocurrency. Don’t put all your money in Bitcoin, for example, just because that’s the name you know. There are thousands of options, and it’s better to spread your investment across several currencies.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin price
Bitcoin has not been premined, meaning that no coins have been mined and/or distributed between the founders before it became available to the public. However, during the first few years of BTC’s existence, the competition between miners was relatively low, allowing the earliest network participants to accumulate significant amounts of coins via regular mining: Satoshi Nakamoto alone is believed to own over a million Bitcoin.
With a fixed maximum supply of 21 million BTC and a slowing supply toward that number as halvings take place, its value is evident as the network effect takes hold when compared to fiat currencies that have no supply limit and are controlled by the banks.
The top crypto is considered a store of value, like gold, for many — rather than a currency. This idea of the first cryptocurrency as a store of value, instead of a payment method, means that many people buy the crypto and hold onto it long-term (or HODL) rather than spending it on items like you would typically spend a dollar — treating it as digital gold.
Bitcoin has not been premined, meaning that no coins have been mined and/or distributed between the founders before it became available to the public. However, during the first few years of BTC’s existence, the competition between miners was relatively low, allowing the earliest network participants to accumulate significant amounts of coins via regular mining: Satoshi Nakamoto alone is believed to own over a million Bitcoin.
With a fixed maximum supply of 21 million BTC and a slowing supply toward that number as halvings take place, its value is evident as the network effect takes hold when compared to fiat currencies that have no supply limit and are controlled by the banks.
Cryptocurrency
Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, including Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), is called an altcoin. These alternative coins offer various improvements or different features compared to Bitcoin, ranging from faster transaction times to low transaction fees.
A 2020 EU report found that users had lost crypto-assets worth hundreds of millions of US dollars in security breaches at exchanges and storage providers. Between 2011 and 2019, reported breaches ranged from four to twelve a year. In 2019, more than a billion dollars worth of cryptoassets was reported stolen. Stolen assets “typically find their way to illegal markets and are used to fund further criminal activity”.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like fiat currencies or commodities to minimize price volatility. They are commonly used for trading or remittances. Examples of stablecoins include Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and Dai (DAI).
Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, including Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), is called an altcoin. These alternative coins offer various improvements or different features compared to Bitcoin, ranging from faster transaction times to low transaction fees.
A 2020 EU report found that users had lost crypto-assets worth hundreds of millions of US dollars in security breaches at exchanges and storage providers. Between 2011 and 2019, reported breaches ranged from four to twelve a year. In 2019, more than a billion dollars worth of cryptoassets was reported stolen. Stolen assets “typically find their way to illegal markets and are used to fund further criminal activity”.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like fiat currencies or commodities to minimize price volatility. They are commonly used for trading or remittances. Examples of stablecoins include Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and Dai (DAI).