Straight forward, witty and timeless. #TellItLikeItIs, is a blog for our generation 
We are, no doubt, in the digital era. The modern day climate has called for a move to doing business, schooling, and other activities online and it looks as if there will be no turning back.
In addition to more of our business and financial transactions being conducted online, we are now being made more aware of digital currencies. Currencies which we can’t hold in our hand, or physically put in the bank, called cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency, or crypto for short, is a digital currency where individual coin ownership and records of transactions are stored in a ledger existing in a computerized database using strong ‘cryptography’.
Crypto is different from traditional money in that what we use is disseminated by a Central Bank whereas crypto exists only in digital form and is generated, or created by computers and decentralized.
The most commonly known crypto currency which most people have heard of is Bitcoin. This is however just one type of crypto currency and there are several types of digital currency out there eg. Ethereum and Cardano.
The following is a basic introduction to crypto currencies and how it works, only for beginners who have probably heard the term before but would like to know how it works and or for those who have never heard of them at all before.
Owing to the fact that crypto currency is gaining traction on the global market, we figure we’d help you better understand how this works at the very core, so that you can decide if it’s something you want to invest in.
Now, bear in mind that crypto currency is fairly new hence still volatile, in that its value is not steadily pegged to the US dollar hence it fluctuates a lot. But on the flip side, you can convert crypto to cash and make (traditional) money off of it, which makes it worth exploring.
Firstly, in order to buy crypto, you’ll need a ‘wallet’ which is typically an online app that can hold your digital currency. There are also offline Wallets and it’s good to explore all the options for safely storing your cryptocurrencies. Basically you create an account on an exchange then you can transfer real money to buy cryptocurrency.
The term ‘exchange’ means a Crypto exchange platform or a broker. Kraken, CoinEgg, and Gemini are examples of some exchanges you can look into to create your digital wallet.
Now, the most direct way to get crypto is simply to purchase it on the Exchange and store in your digital wallet. Another way in which you can get digital currency is by mining. This is more time consuming and may not be as fruitful for some, but it still worth a shot. Bitcoin Mining or crypto mining is performed using sophisticated hardware that solves an extremely complex computational math problem. The first computer to find the solution to the problem is awarded Bitcoins or the currency you’re mining.
So,how do you earn real money now that you’ve purchased your crypto, or mined it?
You can trade your crypto for other crypto or for traditional money. A very simple straightforward way to get cash in hand, or currency in your account. Trading currencies is something that you will need to learn a little bit more about and there are platforms and tutorials available on the web for beginners to help you understand this process.
Also, you can lend, or stake, your crypto. By this we mean you secure your digital currency and the platform pays you something similar to how a bank would give you interest on your savings.
There is also the ‘buy and hold’ strategy, where you hold on to the currency until its value increases. That way you get significantly more conventional dollars for your crypto.
There is much more to the world of crypto than meets the eye and it’s more than you can learn in this one article. The good news is there are platforms and even schools out there to take you through understanding this new world if you have the time and interest to dive into it.
We sincerely hope this little taste has stirred up your appetite and helps you decide on your future involvement in crypto currency.
Written by: Andrea Louis
For: Generation Y Dominica
Generation Y Dominica 