Chances are before reading this article, you’d heard about cryptocurrency, and if not, then you’ve one way or another certainly heard about Bitcoin, the most popular of them.
With our latest update, you can now utilise this technology in line with our promise to provide you with modern financial services.
In this article, we will get you up to speed with this technology and how you can make the best of it with SaVests.
Let’s dive in.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies have been quite the buzz for a few years now and rightly so. It has often been speculated to be the future of finance.
But what exactly is cryptocurrency? A cryptocurrency is a virtual (non-physical) currency designed to work as a medium of exchange (just like regular money). It uses advanced technology to secure and verify transactions.
Simply put, you can think of cryptocurrency as digital money that can do everything regular money (FIAT currency) can do but faster and sometimes better.
Why Crypto?
Just as there are multiple FIAT currencies, e.g. United States Dollar, Nigerian Naira, Japanese Yen, etc. there are also different cryptocurrencies. Here are a few you may or may not have heard of: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple.
But this begs the question, do they have actual value? Yes, cryptocurrencies have actual value that can be expressed in terms of FIAT currency as well.
As at the time of writing this article, 1 BTC (Bitcoin) is worth $12,344.40. 10 years ago it was worth about $0.003. This trend is given to the fact that unlike regular currencies which a government can always print more notes of, cryptocurrencies have a limit to how many units can exist.
Because of this limit, the price of a cryptocurrency is bound to increase over the following years as fewer and fewer crypto units become available.
Using Crypto
To make actual transactions with a cryptocurrency, you’ll need to open an account with a cryptocurrency exchange. Think of a crypto exchange as you would think of a regular bank.
With a crypto exchange, you can buy, sell and send cryptocurrency.
Introducing Bitcoin and USDT Support
In our latest update, we’ve added a feature with which you can buy cryptocurrency with money in your wallet and sell cryptocurrency for NGN.
The question is, why should you want to buy/sell crypto? The same reason investors trade foreign currency — to capitalise on the changes in the value of currencies.
For instance, BTC was worth $6,603 in April 2018. Today it is worth more than $12,000. Doing the math, if you bought any amount of BTC in April 2018, it would be worth 100% more today if you chose to sell.
This makes crypto a high-yield (and high-risk too) investment to have on hand because of how unpredictable the price trends can be.
However, If you are not for high-risk price bets, we have added support for a more stable cryptocurrency: USDT (also called Tether). It’s a currency in which each token is backed by $1. This means buying 3 USDT is as good as buying $3. This could be considered a safer, lower-risk investment option.
However, you stand a chance to make gains when your local currency falls against the dollar and if not, storing your funds under a stronger currency is always a smart thing to do.
In the next article, we will show you how to make your first crypto purchase with SaVests.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media @savestshq to stay informed of product updates, offers, and financial tips.
