Why Cryptocurrency is the Best Gift for this New Year
The Christmas season is coming, and the most frequent question that arises not only among users of the crypto segment but also among those not so involved: what can I get for my loved ones? Truth be told, there are plenty of options. But, wouldn’t you ever want to gift something that could help your loved ones not only put a product on the shelf after a while but also become a useful asset in the long run?
And you have a chance to win some crypto while learning something new about it!
The digital asset’s popularity
The last hundred years of world history have been marked by the explosive development of the financial and banking sector, which predetermines the emergence of cryptocurrency. Many economists tend to believe that in the future paper money will disappear altogether and be replaced by crypto, i.e. the essence of money will remain unchanged, but its form will change: money will move into the sphere of virtual reality. The place of cryptocurrencies in modern monetary theory is still debated, but in practice, virtual cash has become the currency of the world economy and its financial markets. In 2020, BTC significantly outperformed other crypto-assets despite the volatile market situation. Performance highlights the nature of BTC as an effective hedge against global risks and stagnation, as well as a high-yielding asset.
With a simple buy-and-hold strategy, BTC could give investors 90% annualized returns in 2020. By comparison, the Nasdaq, one of the most popular market indexes in the world, was up 38%, while the SPX was up about 30% per year. While quite outstanding, these numbers look small compared to BTC’s returns. There was also an opportunity to observe a similar story in the commodities space. WTI and gold have performed well in 2019, especially in 2Q 2019. The top two commodities have seen returns of 38% and 21% year-to-date, respectively. Nevertheless, these numbers are much lower than what BTC provided. Already in 2021, the cryptocurrency market has crossed the three trillion-dollar mark in terms of capitalization and counts more than 8,000 assets.
Gift that will continue giving
Just as the “gold rush” attracted hundreds of thousands of miners to California in the mid-1800s, today’s miners are looking for digital gold in the form of cryptocurrencies. Gold or token, depending on how you look at it, Bitcoin - the most iconic of the 8,000 digital currencies on the market. When it was created in January 2009, BTC was worth less than a dollar, in 2017 it almost hit $20,000, the following year it dropped to $3,200, in 2019 it jumped back up to $13,800 and is now around $40,000.
Was it profitable? According to the economics publications of Bloomberg, those who bought them initially had profitability of 9,000,000%.
Educational purposes
On the educational side, there are some interesting aspects. Cryptocurrencies allow your friends to find themselves in a very interesting world at the intersection of decentralization and the market. Cryptocurrencies are essentially like traditional currencies, they are based on people’s trust. Their rates are entirely dependent on supply and demand. However, there are several other conditions that indirectly affect the prices of virtual currencies. This is why it is recommended that investments in cryptocurrencies are made by people who constantly monitor quotes. That way they can react quickly to any fluctuations in exchange rates. And we’re pretty sure that if your friends have crypto they will definitely monitor them.
All cryptocurrencies or digital currencies operate in specific systems, and changes in the standards of those systems can affect their valuation. In other words, the information that a country or institution may recognize and use for a particular cryptocurrency, or the technology on which it is based, can affect its valuation. These types of variations can cause large fluctuations in value, increasing the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies.
Despite this, cryptocurrencies are considered easy money makers and a proven alternative investment. But it must not be forgotten that these investments come with risk just like any other. The market is promising and very dynamic, which implies large and constant price fluctuations as well as much economic educational stuff.
It is easy
According to the World Bank, two billion people worldwide do not have a bank account. The number of current account holders is also declining. In addition to the big holders who control crypto, more and more retailers are accepting bitcoins, but their ability to pay for purchases is still limited. Part of the reason is price volatility and high transaction costs. There is also a high level of uncertainty about these types of payments.
So why are cryptocurrencies so important and easy?
First, they challenge the existing ways businesses make money. ICOs, IEOs, IDOs see startups selling digital tokens or vouchers as a way to raise capital. In theory, these vouchers should increase a company’s value, but while it is a quick and easy tactic, it is also very risky and unregulated. It is not the same as with cash, which is regulated and maintained by the central banks of each country. Second, many people say that the system supporting cryptocurrencies has great potential: the blockchain. This system eliminates intermediaries that verify transactions, such as credit card companies, banks, etc. This makes payments much easier and faster.
One day, it can ease our life in such a format (with smart contracts) that a smart refrigerator can order and pay for fresh milk. And, more broadly, a delayed plane can automatically compensate passengers.
How to Gift Cryptocurrency
In order to give a gift of cryptocurrency, you do not need to think of different ways and somehow invent something new. We, at Guarda, have already prepared everything for you.
Wallets
Guarda is a multi-currency cryptocurrency wallet that offers online, desktop, and mobile wallets. Guarda can be synced with the Ledger hardware wallet for increased security, it does not store your private keys and is very easy to use. These are the most important things to know before gifting cryptocurrency. There are two elements that define crypto wallets. The first is the public address, which allows you to know the balance of the wallet. The blockchain registers the transactions performed, and the total amount is set in the public address. The second consists of a private key required to make transfers between the two wallets. It is a hexadecimal code composed of ten digits and the first six letters of the alphabet, as complex as it is secure. In order to give your friend cryptocurrency, it’s enough just to enter the public key into the sending window or scan the QR-code and enter the sum.
Crypto gift card
Guarda’s main task is to remove the technological barrier between the average user and the very complex technological aspect of the cryptocurrency world. We are constantly developing our products to give our customers the ability to use all the innovative features of the cryptocurrency world in a couple of clicks, and that is why we announced our prepaid card - Guarda Visa Card.
In terms of benefits, cryptocurrency credit card rewards could rise in value even further and become more attractive than the fiat cashback and rewards offered by traditional credit cards. As cryptocurrencies rise in value, cryptocurrency rewards that have yet to be redeemed also increase in value. In contrast, cashback and goods purchased with traditional credit cards rarely have value, and users typically cannot sell them at a profit in the future. Consequently, encrypted credit card rewards can be seen as passive investments on which savings can be made.
ATM
Bitcoin ATM is a convenient way to top up your BTC wallet with fiat money without using any online banking services. You can simply walk up to a bitcoin ATM, enter your BTC wallet address, put the desired amount of money into it, and you’ll receive the newly purchased cryptocurrency to your address! You can do this either by card or in cash - it will depend on the format of the ATM. More information by Guarda on it in the Bitcoin ATM article.
Which Cryptocurrency Would Make a Good Gift?
And now we will tell you about the cryptocurrencies that are clearly worth watching out for next year, and therefore, it would be a good idea to gift them to your relatives before Christmas.
Harmony (ONE)
Harmony is a public blockchain with a fragmentation infrastructure focused on speed and security of decentralized applications. Blockchain uses Proof of Stake as its core technology. The core network, launched in 2019, consists of four shards, each with 1,000 nodes that produce blocks in eight seconds.
The Harmony team, which calls itself Harmonauts, consists of several software and blockchain engineers from top universities and companies around the world.
Hedera (HBAR)
Hedera Hashgraph is a cryptocurrency network that aims to serve as a platform where anyone can perform transactions and deploy applications, but where a group of companies control the software.
To this end, Hedera makes notable design concessions that set it apart from other platforms. For example, the network supports high transaction rates for its HBAR cryptocurrency, but only allows approved nodes to participate in determining transaction history.
By limiting the number of nodes involved in key functions such as timestamping and transaction sequencing, Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) can achieve its goal quickly, reducing the likelihood of transaction status changes later.
Algorand (ALGO)
Algorand (ALGO) is a high-level blockchain project developed by cryptographer Silvio Micali and focused on high-speed transaction processing and high-level smart contracts for decentralized finance (DeFi). The goal of this network is very clear: to be a network designed and built to be scalable, cost-effective, extensible and well-programmable. And today this network is one of the third generation blockchain projects that has grown the most in recent years.
Monero (XMR)
Monero (XMR) is now considered the cryptocurrency with the highest level of privacy and resistance to censorship in all its transactions. It is the cryptocurrency in which all users are anonymous by default thanks to the implementation of various privacy-enhancing technologies that ensure their anonymity. It is also one of the preferred cryptocurrencies for many shady sellers, as all transactions made in Monero are untraceable and completely confidential.
DigiByte (DGB)
DigiByte is a blockchain that can be used to create cryptocurrencies, Smart Contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), and even authentication security processes. DigiByte aims to solve some of the problems present in Bitcoin and Etherium by creating a fast-growing and highly decentralized public blockchain.
Storing & Using Cryptocurrencies
We often say that cryptocurrencies are “stored” in wallets; However, this is technically incorrect. The funds are stored on the blockchain: that great decentralized book that is the foundation of the crypto world. Wallets contain essential data that allows the user to access these funds on the blockchain and, if properly managed, should ensure the safe storage of these assets. In this piece, we will tell you a bit about Guarda, hackers, and FIO protocol.
Easy-to-use and secure wallets
One of the best ways to work with cryptocurrency is to use an easy-to-use and secure wallet - Guarda. Why? Well, Guarda is a multifunctional open-source cryptocurrency wallet that supports most of the cryptocurrencies on the market. It is essentially a universal wallet that allows you to store various cryptocurrencies in one place. Guarda platform can store the most prominent cryptocurrencies, as well as thousands of tokens and a large number of stable cryptocurrencies. In addition, the wallet also allows you to easily buy and exchange cryptocurrency on its platform, which means it can serve as a single source for all your cryptocurrency needs.
In fact, there is nothing difficult about the process of setting a wallet. We will now explain step-by-step in detail how to get involved and gift crypto for its intended purpose.
- First, you need to have your own Guarda Wallet. To do this, you need to go to the main page and click on the “Sign In” button
- Then, you need to click on the button “Create a new wallet”. By the way, you will already be noticeably closer to the process of gifting.
- Set your own password. Be sure to write it down or memorize it, and don’t give it to anyone else. Guarda is a non-custodial wallet, we do not have access to your private keys, so you are fully responsible for the safety of your funds.
- Congratulations! At this point, you are already a full member of the Guarda community. It’s just a matter of time before you can start buying crypto with us.
Hackers
Increased interest in cryptocurrencies was accompanied by an increase in hacking and fraud in the digital currency market. In particular, there were 32 incidents in 2021 with a value of more than $3 billion. The average value of the attacks this year is $93.3 million. If this rhythm continues, they will soon exceed the 38 cases reported in 2020. A figure that, in turn, also represents an increase in incidents of more than 40% compared to 2019. According to experts, the possible record for the number of attacks this year will be unparalleled in the collection. This position holds for 2017 when hackers stole a total of 4.7 billion. The biggest gap to date is Mt. Gox’s problem with $615 million stolen, which eventually led to the platform declaring insolvency in 2014.
Transaction errors
The FIO Protocol is a decentralized network to serve the entire blockchain ecosystem and aims to improve usability by developing a standard for interaction between various blockchains, crypto exchanges, wallets, and other cryptocurrency services.
However, the platform does not integrate these systems and does not interfere with the internal processes of other blockchains. The FIO protocol works on the basis of the delegated proof-of-stake ( DPoS ) consensus mechanism and uses it to improve the scalability of the blockchain.
Key features of the FIO protocol:
- FIO addresses. Instead of a complex cryptographic address, users will see the usual readable addresses, similar to website domains instead of the server IP address.
- FIO requests. To perform a transaction, the recipient creates a request to the sender. This allows you to issue invoices to users to pay for goods and services.
- FIO data. Network transactions can store various data, such as account details, payment details, and more.
Crypto Education
Also, in addition to investments, philanthropy, and technology, you can always read current news and technology articles at Guarda Academy. Only the most interesting aspects about the world of cryptocurrencies are selected there, and if you want to learn something new for yourself, don’t forget to follow the link above
Crypto Charity
With the exponential growth of blockchain, the world is finally witnessing the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for social purposes and nonprofit organizations. There has been a positive movement in this space, as various projects have begun to donate some of their proceeds to charity.
However, there are very few direct connections between blockchain projects and nonprofits that can actually benefit from transparency. technology. As a solution, EnGiven or the Given Block, allows both investors and organizations to donate to charity using cryptocurrencies. Likewise, the $1,000 CryptoExperiment was a proof of concept for GiveCrypto, a charity launched by Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase as a way to distribute cryptocurrency wealth directly from millionaire crypto space donors.
Since then, GiveCrypto has conducted many cryptocurrency charity experiments, most of them in Venezuela, in its year and a half of existence and in other countries around the world, as evidenced by its monthly reports published on its official website.
