Is crypto real money?

 It's no secret that cryptocurrency is the talk of the town these days. The value of some digital currencies has gone as high as 100 times their original price in a single year and reached an all-time high of over $19,000 per coin earlier this month. If you want to take part in this trend, you'll need to separate fact from fiction and learn how to participate in cryptocurrency investing prudently.

Just like with stocks and other investments, there's no guarantee that a particular cryptocurrency will go up or down in value. The whole purpose of investing in digital currencies is to speculate, so you should be prepared to take a loss if the coins you purchased don't make it back to your original investment.

Today we'll discuss the basics of why cryptocurrency is becoming so popular, how to buy different cryptocurrencies and explain how they work.

Cryptocurrency: A Brief History

Many of the world's online casinos and gaming platforms use cryptocurrency to manage transactions. In fact, Bitcoin has become so popular in the gambling industry that there are even attempts to create a "Bitcoin casino" and other gambling-focused sites. The reason for such a rapid increase in popularity is that digital currencies offer an alternative way to pay for goods and services, thus reducing transaction fees for users. Some countries already recognize Bitcoin as a legal currency.

However, the recent surge in cryptocurrency prices has prompted investment banks, financial services companies and Wall Street brokers to get involved in the space. They're eyeing blockchain technology – which powers digital currencies and acts as their main network – for use in their own systems. It's not just gaming companies that are adopting blockchain technology; a handful of large firms have already announced plans to launch digital currency trading platforms. These huge investments may result in an increase in cryptocurrency values if these financial institutions decide to use blockchain platforms for their businesses.

Types of Cryptocurrency

Although there are hundreds of digital currencies available, most of them are variations on Bitcoin's code. This is because Bitcoin is the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, so all other digital currencies are based on its code. The complete list of such altcoins can be found here. As new coins come to the market, they usually get created as a variation on Bitcoin's code or a fork from it.

Most of the newer altcoins are little more than Bitcoin clones, modified to either add new features or correct perceived shortcomings. However, there are some coins that are considered equal to Bitcoin but with major changes to the code. One of these is Ethereum. The platform operates in a somewhat different way than Bitcoin and has its own currency type called ether.