The first appearance of a cryptocurrency dates back to 2009, when Bitcoin emerged on the international scene, still today perhaps the best known virtual currency.
Since their appearance in the financial sector, cryptocurrencies have experienced moments of great popularity, followed by periods of profound uncertainty, but always with one constant: representing the safe alternative to traditional money. The purpose for which they were born is essentially to escape the control of central banks, relying instead on technologies such as the so-called blockchain, in which all the stakeholders are on an equal footing. From issuance to transactions, everything happens simply online, in a collective way; an aspect that also makes it more difficult to suffer cyber attacks of any kind.
The first appearance of a cryptocurrency dates back to 2009, when Bitcoin emerged on the international scene, still today perhaps the best known virtual currency. Over the years, its value has progressively changed, reaching as much as $ 69,000 in 2021, when Elon Musk’s Tesla bought it for a billion and a half dollars. It didn’t take long for other cryptocurrencies to appear on the scene, which over time became highly competitive and, in some cases, preferable to Bitcoin: let’s think for example of Ethereum or Cardano.
But what exactly are these virtual coins for? The uses are in fact multiple and extend to different areas of interest. There are, for example, online stores that allow you to use them to make purchases – the first Bitcoin payment was made to buy two pizzas – or internet pages that allow you to convert them into gift cards. But also travel agencies and some airlines allow you to use Ethereum and Litecoin to make reservations. In the United States, it is even possible to use Bitcoin to purchase Windows and Office licenses.
Another of the sectors involved in the use of cryptocurrencies is that of gaming, so much so that the term “crypto gaming” has even been coined. We are talking about the possibility that some online poker or sports betting platforms offer their users, directly or indirectly, to use Neteller and Ethereum, for example, instead of traditional currency. It is probably one of the most known and used areas of application by users, as if it were an almost natural and almost automatic merger; you just need to have a secure wallet, a device with which to play and register on the site you prefer.
But the sector that perhaps attracts the greatest involvement on the part of those interested in financial issues is, without a doubt, that of investments. More than for an effective practical utility, in fact, cryptocurrencies are seen in particular as a possibility to increase one’s personal treasure through the income and the value that these virtual currencies acquire over time. Those who managed to buy Bitcoins during their heyday, for example, then resold them at an exorbitant price. Can we therefore say that the real purpose of those who buy and invest in cryptocurrencies is to convert them into real money? We would probably not be proven wrong in declaring that this is the most profitable use.
Like any trading operation, it naturally presents its risk, but we are talking about a market that still offers several opportunities, given above all by its fluid and ever-changing nature. There are now dozens of platforms in which it is possible to invest in security thanks to the support of expert brokers, or by using the exchange method, that is to say that of buying and selling, which however requires rather high knowledge and skills. In short, the ways in which cryptocurrencies are exploited today are truly innumerable; they will never replace real money, but they nevertheless represent an alternative in many sectors and could change the future of online transactions, just as they have already greatly contributed to giving new life to financial markets and investments. Whether it is buying goods and services, playing games or trying to increase their savings, they have already conquered an important role in the monetary landscape and, in all probability, more and more people in the future will approach this technology and this alternative way of carrying out. transactions or investing capital.