In the early days of its launch just last year, several thousand bitcoins were used to buy a garlic bread. Subsequently, the cryptocurrency's meteoric rise to US$65, 000 in April 2021, after its heart-stopping drop in mid-2018 by about 60 to 70 percent to around US$6, 000, boggles the mind of many people -- cyptocurrency investors, traders or just the plain curious who missed the boat.

How it all began

Be aware that discontentment with the current financial system gave rise to the development of the digital currency. The development of this cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym apparently employed by a developer or group of developers.

Despite the many opinions guessing the death of cryptocurrency, bitcoin's performance has inspired many other digital stock markets, especially in recent years. The success with crowdfunding brought on by the blockchain nausea also attracted those out to scam the naive public and this has come to the attention of regulators.

Beyond bitcoin

Bitcoin has inspired the launching of many other digital stock markets, There are currently more than 1, 000 versions of digital coins or tokens. Not all the same and their values vary greatly opensea, as do their liquidity.

Coins, altcoins and tokens

It would suffice at this point to say there are fine dissimilarities between coins, altcoins and tokens. Altcoins or alternative coins generally describes other than the revolutionary bitcoin, although altcoins like ethereum, litecoin, ripple, dogecoin and sprint are regarded as in the 'main' family of coins, meaning they are traded in in more cryptocurrency transactions.

Coins serve as a currency or store of value whereas tokens offer asset or utility uses, an example being a blockchain service for supply archipelago management to verify and track wine products from winery to the consumer.

A place to note is that tokens or coins with low value offer upside opportunities but do not expect similar meteoric increases like bitcoin. Quite simply, the lesser known tokens may be easy to buy but may be difficult to sell.

Before getting into a cryptocurrency, begin by studying the value task and technological considerations viz-a-viz the commercial strategies outlined in the white paper with each initial coin offering or ICO.

For those familiar with stocks and shares, it is not unlike initial public offering or IPO. However, IPOs are issued by companies with tangible assets and a business track record. It is all done within a regulated environment. On the other hand, an ICO is situated purely on an idea planned in a white paper by a business -- yet to be in operation and without assets -- that is seeking funds to start up.