The virtual currency was defined in 2012 by the European Central Bank as a "type of unregulated digital money, which is issued and usually controlled by developers, used and accepted among members of a specific virtual community." It was briefly defined by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2013 as "a medium of exchange that functions as a currency in some environments, but does not have all the characteristics of real currency." The main feature of a virtual currency according to these definitions is the lack of legal tender status.
#EthereumFuture Digital currency is a financial balance recorded electronically on a stored value card or another device. Another form of electronic money is network money, which allows value transfer over computer networks, particularly the Internet. Electronic money is also a claim on a private bank or another financial institution like bank deposits.
Digital money can be centralized, where there is a central point for the money supply, or decentralized, where the money supply can be controlled from different sources.
Most indicators suggest that official digital currencies issued by central banks will represent "the money of the future" in the near future. Rapid technological advancements are forcing countries to largely align with it to launch digital assets that are backed by central banks and hold values equivalent to real money, achieving important goals such as financial inclusion and privacy protection.
Since the invention of "Bitcoin" before the end of the first decade of this century, cryptocurrencies have flourished and their market value has reached over one trillion dollars.
In a notable development indicating a potential change in market direction, the Ethereum (ETH) cryptocurrency has witnessed a significant increase in activity on its network, coinciding with its breakout above a technical resistance level that had limited its gains over the past two weeks, bolstering expectations of a new bullish wave.
Analytical data published by the expert on the "CryptoQuant" platform, Carmelo Aleman, revealed that the number of active addresses on the Ethereum network increased by nearly 10% during the period from April 20 to April 22, rising from about 306,000 to over 336,000 addresses. This increase is viewed as a sign of renewed interest from users and investors, especially in light of supportive price movements.
Solana (SOL) outperformed its competitors among the top five during the past week, as the buzz surrounding Fartcoin led to increased trading volumes.
Solana (SOL) topped the five cryptocurrencies by market cap in terms of weekly gains, providing its investors with gains of 4.4% during this period, supported by a wave of enthusiasm for some meme coins. Some, like Fartcoin (FART) and Popcat (POPCAT), attracted significant investments that boosted their trading volumes on decentralized exchanges based on Solana last week, defying the bearish trend in the markets and providing their investors with gains exceeding 10% and reaching up to 100% in a short period.
The market value of the world's most famous cryptocurrency "Bitcoin" rose to 1.872 trillion dollars during trading on Wednesday, making it the fifth largest asset in the world in terms of market value.
This increase in the market value of Bitcoin came thanks to the strong jump it recorded during today's trading, with the easing of the trade war between the United States and China, following U.S. President "Donald Trump's" statements about the possibility of reducing tariffs on Beijing if a trade agreement is reached between the two countries.
Thus, Bitcoin surpassed "Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)" whose market value reached 1.859 trillion dollars, which is now in sixth place as the largest global asset in terms of value.
$BTC Cryptocurrency exchanges may accept payments via credit cards, transfers, or other forms of payment for digital or cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that usually takes the spread between supply and demand as a commission on transactions, or a matching platform that charges fees.
Cryptocurrencies have established themselves strongly in the global economy currently, especially with the increasing prevalence and trading of them around the world, including our Arab world, where the volume of transactions through cryptocurrency trading platforms reached about 2.5 trillion dollars in September, and it is continuously rising.
The encrypted one is a digital currency based on encryption technologies. Cryptocurrencies facilitate online payment processes without the need for third-party intermediaries, which is a feature and benefit among many of its advantages. Encryption is associated with a set of algorithms and protection methods, such as elliptical encryption and the public-private key pair, and hash functions.
Blockchain technology is a major attraction and essential effectiveness for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The blockchain is essentially a chain of blocks that contain information, linked to the digital ledger. Each block verifies a set of transactions that are independently verified by each verifier on the network. Each new block must be verified before being confirmed, making fraud difficult. Approval of the contents of the digital ledger must be obtained from a network of individual nodes, or computers that manage the ledger.
Digital currencies are part of a rapidly evolving new industry; however, they are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. Given the limited scope of digital currency usage in retail markets, online platforms have created business activities aimed at speculators looking for short-term profit.
Most cryptocurrencies are not backed by a central bank or a national or international organization, but their value is precisely determined by the market. This may mean that a loss of confidence can lead to the collapse of business activities and a sharp decline in the value of your investments in digital currency.
In a short period of time, the world has witnessed a tremendous transformation in the concept of digital currencies; they have moved from being just a new idea to a practical application and a competitive option to traditional currencies, and they now directly impact central banks and the global economy as a whole, offering new investment opportunities that did not exist before. Moreover, it is expected that reliance on them will significantly increase across various sectors in the future, and that they will become part of daily and professional life.
The value of many cryptocurrencies today exceeds one thousand dollars, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies at the end of 2021 is estimated at around 2.3 trillion dollars. Thus, it has become an integral part of the global financial system. Many cryptocurrencies today are used for financial transfers, especially international ones; to avoid the high fees of traditional transfers through banks and financial institutions, in addition to their core feature of hiding the identity of the sender and receiver. Many people also buy cryptocurrencies as an investment with the aim of profiting by selling them later when their price increases.
#TRXETF One well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, which was established by a person - or a group of people - under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009, after issuing a founding statement titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System". Achieving notable success for Bitcoin took several years, as it needed time until early 2011 to rise above 1 dollar, then it gradually began to rise to reach values of tens of thousands of dollars currently.
#BinanceAlphaAlert Stable Coins are a type of cryptocurrency, but they are designed to have a stable value and are linked to fixed assets, such as traditional fiat currencies or gold, which makes them more stable and less volatile in the market compared to traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Some prominent examples of stable digital currencies include Tether and Binance USD.
In a short period of time, the world has witnessed a tremendous transformation in the concept of digital currencies; they have transitioned from being just a new idea to a practical application and a competitive option to traditional currencies, and they now directly impact central banks and the global economy as a whole. They offer new investment opportunities that did not exist before, and it is expected that reliance on them will increase significantly across various sectors in the future, becoming a part of daily and professional life.
#TrumpVsPowell The disputes between Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which revolve around monetary policy and interest rates, will have a significant impact on cryptocurrencies. Trump insists on lowering the interest rate, while Jerome believes the current interest rate is appropriate.
In this regard, Dan Koutsouras, an investment analyst at "AJ Bell", told BBC News: "Many people have become wealthy because of the rise in the value of cryptocurrency this year, but investing in these high-risk assets is not suitable for everyone.".