A Great Way To Diversify Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are a form of electronic money. It only exists in virtual form. So there are no coins or notes. You can pay with its cash, but digitally without the need for a bank or other third party. Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Dash, Ripple, Litecoin, and Monero do not have 1 owner but are owned by everyone who uses them. The underlying, secure technology that makes all of this possible is called Blockchain. If you are interested visit this site ()

Success Stories

So you can pay with cryptocurrency, but most stories in the media are about people who have invested in it. To illustrate: anyone who bought Bitcoins for $50 in 2009 – the year they were first offered – is now a multimillionaire. But even those who ‘only’ started at the beginning of 2017 will have a profit of almost 2000% (!) in the digital wallet a year later.

‘Anti-government, anti-regulation

Proponents of Bitcoin like to draw the comparison with gold. That too has no social benefit and no economic basis. It is only worth a lot because of its scarcity. Cryptocurrencies are hot. ‘Investors feel smart. They understand things that no one else understands,” said leading economist Robert Shiller. “The Bitcoin is anti-government, anti-regulation. It’s a beautiful story.’

Cryptocurrency Risks

It is therefore not surprising that more and more people are becoming nervous, especially now that it is no longer possible to earn dry bread with savings. Of course, investing always involves risks, but with cryptocurrency, this risk is quite large. For example, if you buy a share, you purchase a part of the underlying company. Cryptocurrency lacks such intrinsic value. The value is determined only by the demand of speculators. If you step out, it can be over in no time. In addition, your wallets can be hacked online or the digital key can be lost. Then you lose all Bitcoins, or you can’t get to them anymore. After all, no banks also mean no supervisor you can turn to.

AFM advises against investing

That is why in the past both the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) warned about the risks of ‘the umpteenth new Bitcoin’. According to financial regulators, these are vulnerable to deception, fraud, and manipulation. The AFM even advises consumers not to invest in new cryptocurrencies that are not under its supervision. Pieter Hasekamp, ​​director of the Central Planning Bureau, goes one step further. In an article in Het Financieele Dagblad (June 11, 2021), Hasekamp argued that the Netherlands should ban bitcoin as soon as possible.

Similarities with the stock market crash

Also, 2 former winners of the Nobel Prize in economics spoke out against Bitcoin. According to Joseph Stiglitz, the digital payment method is only popular because of the possibilities for money laundering and does not serve any social benefit. The aforementioned Robert Shiller sees similarities with the situation before the stock market crash of 1929. ‘The value is rising. Just like the stock markets in the 1920s. In the end, 1929 is reached. Then the coin comes down. Not to zero, but he will fall for sure,” Shiller predicts.

Politics tightens the reins

Cryptocurrencies are also not well on the Dutch political scene. This is evident from a bill from Minister Hoekstra (Finance) from 2019. It states, among other things: ‘The anonymity of virtual currencies also makes it possible to abuse them for criminal purposes, such as laundering criminally obtained income.’ Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved this bill. Companies that offer services for exchanging between virtual money (cryptos) and ‘ordinary’ money have therefore come under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft) since 21 May 2020. That also applies to companies that offer crypto custodial wallets. This means that:

Bad for the Environment

Another argument against Bitcoins is that ‘mining’ costs a lot of electricity. Worldwide at least 40 TWh. That is as much as Hungary uses in a year. To be profitable, the special mining computers have to run permanently, which is bad for the environment.

Advice Consumers’ Association

We are not necessarily anti-cryptocurrency. But only put in money that you can afford to lose. This is no different from other forms of investment. And make sure you spread your risks. So never invest more than 10% of the assets that you have available for investments.

Posted by Lyndsey Annabel