Right now, the digital currencies that exist are not without their flaws. Bitcoin, the first such currency, has been around for almost seven years. In that time it has suffered from volatile price fluctuations and concerns over the security of the digital wallets in which Bitcoin funds are held. However, despite being declared as “dead” on numerous occasions by numerous authorities, Bitcoin has endured and furthermore, has grown in credibility. Bitcoin is accepted today by more well over 100,000 merchants across the globe and has been formally recognized as a valid currency by at least one developed country (Australia).
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If you’re concerned about the issues that have smeared Bitcoin on occasion, it’s important to remember that the Internet too, ran into its share of problems in the early years. All disruptive technologies have teething troubles. However, when the founders of massively successful Internet enterprises such as Netscape and LinkedIn invest millions in a technology, as Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman have both done, you better believe it’s a technology that’s going somewhere. The only thing that stands in the way of a currency being a currency is its adoption. Key authorities such as Andreas Antonopoulos are explicit in their views that currencies such as Bitcoin will reach a critical mass of adopters, from which point on, they will begin to seriously disrupt the banking system as we know it. In response to the (opportunity?) threat, banks have tried to block the technology, to dismiss it as having no future, and most recently, to investigate how digital currencies might be regulated.
However, as Antonopoulos states, regulation of digital currencies is simply not going to happen, since there is nothing to regulate. The users of digital currencies, those that buy it, sell it and hold it, are the ones who determine its value and as for keeping it secure, it secures itself by way of the network that records and validates all transactions made. Perhaps the biggest barrier to the success of digital currency is the difficulty in explaining its mechanics to the layman. However, that’s a temporary drawback. Few people actually understand how money works, but we all know how to use it for the things we need to use it for. The same will be true of digital currencies as they gain credence.
In fact, for those willing to make a little effort to learn the ins and outs of digital currency, the general lack of knowledge among the masses is something of an advantage. The one thing digital currency needs and that the world’s financial systems can benefit from is a population of people educated in its use. Becoming one of the knowledgeable few is an advantageous move while digital currency is in its adolescence.
Like any disruptive product, technology, or business model, the best way to profit from digital currency is to be in at the outset. Just like those who got involved with the six disruptions of television, the Internet, email, ecommerce, mobile tech and social media, getting into digital currency early is the way to access golden opportunities. Digital currency billionaires will emerge as the concept matures and those billionaires are most likely to be people who learn to understand the technology and its markets, which of course are as lucrative as is possible for any to be. Unlike previous disruptions, which have all passed their golden days when the most courageous pioneers reaped the biggest rewards, the Disruption is just beginning, heralding an entirely new age of banking and finance. This will be an age in which anyone can play the money market and succeed, because digital currency is for anyone, even those who have no access to conventional banking.
That’s the purpose —to encourage you to get involved with digital currency NOW, while it’s poised to upset a banking system ripe and ready for disruption. In the final chapter, you can find out how to get involved and ahead of the trend right now, by learning about digital currency through practical experience and positioning yourself to help others do the same.