The most famous coin in cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – has been in the news recently, both good and bad. It is still very new and relatively unknown. There are many questions about cryptocurrency and the protection debate.
"My opinion is that this is probably the biggest value driver I've seen in my life outside of the internet," said Jeremy Knopp, director of CryptoHedge, a private cryptocurrency hedge fund, which helps accredited institutions and investors navigate this field. new world.
Upon leaving college, Knopp became fascinated with the idea of cryptocurrency and crypto assets, which became his life.
“I fell in love with the technology side, as well as the investment capabilities,” he added. "I think there are a lot of people who don't know where to start, frankly, because the information is overwhelming."
Her stepfather, Doug DeMarche, is like many Americans. Maybe his neighbor or his friend made money in Bitcoin, but other than that, he doesn't know much about it.
So DeMarche, who wants to get into investing, asks Knopp for help.
“I think most people now realize the upside potential and the asymmetric upside risk. You know, there's a lot of noise out there as well,” Knopp said.
So Knopp suggests people start at the beginning and learn the basics. Think of it as digital gold, he said. He thinks most people have probably heard of a few of the most popular cryptocurrencies, Etherium, Dogecoin and, of course, Bitcoin.
These are digital pieces that only exist online. They can be traded like stocks and, in some cases, can be used to make actual purchases.
“There was, literally, no better investment you could have made from 2009 to 2022 than Bitcoin,” Knopp said.
When you buy Bitcoin or any other crypto, you are actually buying a digital code that only exists on the Bitcoin blockchain. You access this code via a private key to a digital wallet that you alone hold.
“I see blockchain technology and, you know, this type of value disintermediation as the next wave of technology,” he added.
The technology is known as blockchain, essentially a digital ledger or ledger. Blockchain is an open-source, decentralized digital ledger shared with everyone. It records transactions and tracks assets 24/7 and in real time. It is tamper-proof, while removing the nodes, the intermediaries that we often see in finance and business, reducing the risk of foul play and fraud and also reducing the costs, the fees of this intermediary.
Many non-miners use nodes – a third party – to acquire the coin.
“It brings a lot of efficiency. It offers a lot of technological capabilities outside of what exists today,” Knopp added.
An efficiency that is now disrupting banking and finance, games and even music.
Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, who recently performed a private show in Syracuse, released their latest album as NFT, a non-fungible token, digital asset that allowed the band to skip the traditional label, make the music he wanted and sell the album – and extras – directly to fans and not pay label fees.
"So you're removing all those middle layers, which has always been a barrier for creators in terms of distribution, monetization but also community building," said Raine Maida, lead singer of Our Lady Peace, adding that the Blockchain's ability to track asset transactions empowers creators. to earn royalties every time an NFT or other channel creation sells from fan to fan.
“Especially from new, unproven artists trying to make a name for themselves. They have to agree to terms that are not very beneficial to them,” Knopp added.
That's what he means when he says change the game.
But as much as some like the idea of what crypto can be, others aren't so certain. In the third part of this series, Spectrum News 1 examines the questions many are asking, the scandals that have erupted, and the balance between a decentralized concept and the possible need for government regulation.