"It is too risky". "It is a ponzi scheme". "It has no value". "Be ready to lose all your money". "It is harming the environment". "Regulations will kill it". Sounds familiar? Then it is also true that basic study and understanding is missing on this subject.
One of the only constants that has stood the test of time is CHANGE!; And change has always had its reasons for resistance - be it 'fear of the unknown' or because those who are in control, cannot control it. If you believe in the future, then the future is being driven by technology; and one of the most advanced enabling technologies of our time (blockchain and distributed ledger technology) are powering cryptocurrencies. Hence, if you are making investment decisions with the future in mind, cryptocurrencies cannot be shrugged off.
Cryptocurrencies go way beyond just being a store of value or a medium of exchange. They are fueling a decentralized world and are revolutionizing not just the payment industry, but several others. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies out there; some with great utility and some with none (also known as sh*tcoins). It is all about the time you are willing to put in to research a cryptocurrency. Just like the time you would put in to research a company/stock (if at all you do) before investing in it. To explain this in the simplest way possible, let's touch upon some cryptocurrencies and their projects that all of us as consumers would be able to relate with.
Audius: (AUDIO): https://audius.co/
Audius is a music streaming platform, just like Spotify or SoundCloud. However, there are major differences in the way the platform is built, the technology it uses, and the reasons for its existence. To know more, you can download its whitepaper from here: https://whitepaper.audius.co/
Theta: (THETA): https://www.thetatoken.org/
We all know of YouTube. However, there are some major challenges such as (and not limited to) bandwidth for video streaming quality, costs for content delivery and monetization for content creators. Theta is a peer-to-peer video streaming platform that is decentralized, using unused bandwidth of its users (smart tv/computer/mobile phone) in exchange for rewards. Viewers/users can also earn rewards by viewing advertisements from advertisers who fund ad campaigns. Theta also has YouTube's co-founder - Steven Chen on its board of advisors and already has Samsung, Google, Sony (to name a few) as validators on the Theta blockchain. (if you do not know what a 'validator on a blockchain' is, google it). To know more, you can read Theta's whitepapers on https://docs.thetatoken.org/docs/whitepapers
Enjin: (ENJ): https://enjin.io/
Enjin is a blockchain game development platform for game developers to build games that allow players to tokenize items in a game, own them and monetize/trade them in a marketplace if needed. It is also building a gaming multiverse where players can move their game characters and items that they build over time, from one game to another. This is a paradigm shift to the way games will be built and played in the near future.
and the list can go on... The above examples barely scratch the surface, touching very few industries. If you want access to a comprehensive list of cryptocurrencies, you can visit https://coinmarketcap.com/. It then boils down to due diligence on a specific cryptocurrency of interest.
For those of you who are passionate about trading/investing and have not started your crypto journey yet, I would highly recommend to begin by opening an account with a crypto-exchange. It is free and almost all have simple digital KYC registration procedures. Verifications happen within minutes. You will get to witness some really cool and sophisticated trading apps/platforms. You will also get to learn of new alternative ways of making money (defi/staking/liquidity pools etc.). Over the past four years, as a part of the discovery and learning process, I have opened accounts with several exchanges (Koinex, BitOasis, Kraken, Rain, crypto.com, Coinbase, etc.), but my personal favorite is Binance. The platform has great liquidity, has a wide range of listed tokens, and keeps on adding new innovative features. The speed at which they are expanding their product offering is phenomenal. The learning never stops. Binance also has its own token (BNB), which again, has great utility. If you are keen to explore the Binance platform right away, you can open a Binance account by clicking here. I assure you that you will not regret it.
If you are based in India and want to easily utilize INR for trading/investing, I recommend using CoinDCX (unless you know how to carry out P2P on Binance). Again, verifications are pretty quick and you can easily link your bank account for fund transfers. You can open a CoinDCX account by clicking here.
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay and we are right at the beginning of the bell curve. Over the next 10 years, existing organizations will be forced to transform their business operating models in order to survive this shift. These are exciting times and we are privileged to have the opportunity to witness the transition. Make the most of it.
All the best and happy investing!
Ali Godrej Patel
Disclaimer: I hold all of the above mentioned cryptocurrencies in my personal crypto portfolio. The above is based on my own research and opinion.