The rise of the digital currency

Need to store bitcoin? These wallets make it as easy, or secure, as you want With cryptocurrency technologies, trends and v alues changing on a near daily basis , it can often be hard to keep track of the latest best practices. One of the most important considerations to make as a bitcoin (or alt-coin) investor or owner is where to store them. For that, you need to know the best bitcoin wallets. Do you use a wallet linked to an exchange? Do you use a software wallet that’s local to your machine? A hardware wallet specifically designed for keeping your coins safe? Or even put it on a piece of paper and lock it in a fire-proof safe? There are  various approaches to the cryptocurrency  wallet, and all of them have their benefits and drawbacks. Online wallets The best option for those just getting started with bitcoin, online wallets let you store your cryptocurrency in a place that’s easily accessible from anywhere in the world, on any device you choose. Often linked...

Late Saturday, bitcoin traded near $15,600 according to Coindesk. About 12 hours later it traded around $12,900, a drop of 17%. Since last Monday bitcoin was down about 30%. The good news is that since Saturday’s low, bitcoin has regained about 11% of its loss since Sunday. Watching the price of bitcoin could give a person whiplash. If bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies were traded like equities or commodities or even gold, then we’d expect to see sizeable gains followed by a correction that retraces part of the recent gain. But the cycle is usually longer than a few days or a week. In late November,  CoinMarketCap.com  reported than some 1,274 cryptocurrencies had a market cap of $283 billion. A week later the total market cap was $333.82 billion and total market cap rose another $50 billion the week after that. On December 17, the total market cap of 1,325 cryptocurrencies rose to $590.2 billion and a week later the total had dropped to $566.17 billion. Bitcoin ...

Bitcoin’s  meteoritic rise over 2017  has put the cryptocurrency into the spotlight for the last several months. People are  buying houses with it . Experts are  warning   that a crash is inevitable . Hackers are trying to steal it — and in some cases,  becoming very successful . And of course, celebrities are getting on the Bitcoin bandwagon. Here are 11 of the biggest celebrities who have expressed interest in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies over the years. Ashton Kutcher Kutcher has already made his mark as an actor in everything from  That ‘70s Show  to Netflix’s  The Ranch , but he’s also become a formidable  technology investor  with his venture capital firm  A-Grade Investments , which has funded Uber and Airbnb, among others. At a  TechCrunch conference  several years ago, Kutcher  spoke glowingly  of the “decentralized technology” that makes Bitcoin possible. “The notion that we could ci...

Bitcoin down 13% after rebounding from Friday’s mini-crash The price of bitcoin veered as sharply as Santa’s sleigh in pre-Christmas weekend trading, plunging more than 14% Sunday after Saturday was spent making up much of the 30% loss from Friday’s cryptocurrency mini-crash. On Sunday afternoon, bitcoin  BTCUSD,  +5.45%    was last trading at $13,200, after starting the day above the $15,000 mark. Bitcoin wasn’t alone: Every major cryptocurrency was suffering double-digit-percentage losses as of Sunday afternoon, according to CoinMarketCap.com, with ethereum down 12% to $662 and bitcoin cash — bitcoin’s rival offshoot — down $19% to $2,762. On Friday, bitcoin plummeted nearly 30% to $10,834.94 at its low point, ethereum fell as much as 33% and bitcoin cash fell as much as 37%. Trading recovered somewhat Saturday, with  bitcoin rallying about 8% . Just one week ago, bitcoin hit an all-time high price above $20,000 — it’s lost almost a quarter of tha...

Bitcoin seems to do nothing but get more valuable, but it could certainly go the other way. Bitcoin is up by roughly 1,800% in 2017 as of this writing, and  experts have projected  that it could reach as high as $1 million. However, that's just one side of the argument. Any responsible investor needs to consider both ends of the realm of possibilities -- in this case, it's certainly possible for bitcoin to go much higher if things go well, but there are several reasons it could come crashing down, so let's take a look at some of them. Also, keep in mind that a $1,000 bitcoin value was seen as high not too long ago. In fact, bitcoin's rise has been so rapid that the digital currency could crash to $1,000 and  still be higher  for 2017. And under any of these circumstances, or a combination of them, it's not inconceivable for bitcoin to give back its gains and then some. 1. Profit-taking Bitcoin's price has gone nearly straight up for much of 2017, so it...

Cryptocurrencies have captured international attention this year. Although trading currency is nothing new, it certainly feels like an ancient concept being renewed by novel technology. The rapid price increase of almost all digital tokens, which is most noticeable in Bitcoin’s 1,600 percent improvement this year, and their surprising integration into mainstream investment markets through futures contracts, has made crypto trading an appealing pursuit for many investors. In fact, with a  total market cap of more than $400 bln , crypto trading is becoming one of the hottest investment opportunities available. Unfortunately, many traders are finding that the technological advances or even basic  trading needs found on traditional investment exchanges are utterly lacking on crypto  exchanges . This could be a big problem. While cryptocurrencies have never been more popular or more in-demand, the exchanges that are intended to facilitate the buying and selling of cryptoc...