Cryptocurrency, simply put, is digital currency. And while much of the population is skeptical about making their money digital, cryptocurrency rather stands the tide and promises security.
The how's and whys of this, you will know below. Read on!

‍What is Crypto?

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With cryptocurrency, transactions can be verified digitally without the involvement of banks. Since this is a peer-to-peer system, anyone can transmit and receive payments from anywhere. Cryptocurrency payments only exist as digital entries to an online database that describe specific transactions, as opposed to being carried around as tangible money and used for trade in the real world. Transactions involving cryptocurrency assets are tracked in a public ledger and the cryptocurrency is kept in digital accounts.

The fact that it employs encryption to confirm transactions is how cryptocurrency got its name (Crypt ~ Encrypt, get it?). As, security and protection are the main objectives of encryption the storage and transmission of cryptocurrency data between wallets and to public ledgers require sophisticated coding.
History of Crypto?
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Surely humankind would have felt the need of a digital currency. And When I say humankind, I am pointing towards American cryptographer David Chaum who developed ecash, an early form of electronic money. He is a pioneer in privacy-preserving technologies and has been referred to as "the godfather of cryptocurrency".

The next major development came with the release of Bitcoin in 2009, developed by an anonymous entity, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Following Bitcoin, many new cryptocurrencies came into the market It is estimated that currently there are more that twenty one thousand cryptocurrencies as of 2023!
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What is Crypto used for?

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A product is worthless if it doesn’t have a use. Thank god for crypto, for it has many! While crypto is still pretty juvenile, its understanding by the public even more so, it is important that we look at its uses. To most people, cryptocurrencies are thought of as high-risk investments. Due to significant investor losses as a result of scams, hacks, and bugs, cryptocurrencies have developed an image as unstable assets. Although the underlying cryptography is typically secure, new users may be seriously endangered by the technological complexity of using and storing crypto assets.

But crypto is here to revolutionize the financial infrastructure. Take a look below at some of the uses of cryptocurrencies.

Low-cost money transfers

When using traditional currency, a middleman, such as your bank or a digital payment provider, gets a cut of every transfer you make. In comparison, the transaction fees of cryptocurrency are extremely low. A recent $99 million Litecoin (LTC) transaction, for instance, processed in just two and a half minutes and cost the sender only $0.40 in transaction costs. This money transfer would have cost much more and taken longer if it had gone through a financial intermediary, especially if it was a cross-border deal.
Therefore, if you wish to transfer money across borders, crypto may be your friend.

Reducing Corruption

The blockchain technology used in crypto makes sure that the power over the money does not belong to only one entity, rather it belongs to all the members in the network.

To Eliminate Extreme Money Printing
Governments have central banks, and when confronted with a pressing economic issue, central banks can just print money. A government may be able to restructure its debt or devalue its currency by creating more money. This strategy, though, is equivalent to bandaging a broken limb. It rarely fixes the issue, and sometimes the negative side effects are even worse than the initial problem.

As an Alternative Store of Wealth
We store our money in banks, partly giving ownership of our savings to a third party. This third party, with their own interests in mind, can take actions such as freezing the assets. While this does not happen without rhyme or reason, it may happen that someone gets falsely accused of financial misconduct.
Herein lies one of the most innovative and potent applications for cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin serve as a censorship-resistant alternative form of safekeeping money that only the owner of the wallet's secret keys can access. As a result, officials can never freeze a user's Bitcoin wallet.

Insurance
AXA, a Swiss insurer, revealed in April 2021 that it had started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for all insurance lines other than life insurance (due to regulatory issues). The US-based home and auto insurance broker Premier Shield Insurance also takes Bitcoin for premium payments.
You can even use a cryptocurrency debit card, like BitPay in the US.

Generate Profit
Since profitable cryptocurrency trading takes a lot of time, expertise, and knowledge, many cryptocurrency owners choose to hang onto their coins for future profit. But there are methods to consistently make "interest" on cryptocurrency. Lending your cryptocurrency to a reputable platform is undoubtedly an option given the historically low interest rates provided by traditional bank accounts. Some highly liquid cryptocurrencies offer annual interest rates of 12%.

Indulge in Luxury
Travel and a Tesla are the current most desired items on anybody’s list. Guess what? You can indulge in both with cryptocurrency. It is now possible to travel the world using cryptocurrency thanks to the cryptocurrency ecosystem's explosive development over the last ten years.
Booking flights, hiring cars, and lodging with Bitcoin is possible through reputable travel agencies like CheapAir and Destinia. Travelers can now exchange their cryptocurrency for local money in most major cities around the globe thanks to the expansion of the bitcoin ATM market.
Last but not the least, luxury car brands now accept crypto currencies. So if you become ‘crypto -rich’, a Lambo or a tesla, whichever your taste, is all yours!

Crypto: Here to stay

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Regardless of the many uses of crypto, one cannot deny the hesitations harbored by the public. After all, the digital currency boasts of anonymity, and in the minds of the general population, the words ‘anonymous’ and ‘money’ rather not be used in the same sentence.
The only solution to this is, if one does their homework. Crypto is a fairly new technological product. However, seeing its widespread use and growing popularity, we can say, it is here to stay.