Unlocking the Mystery of Cryptocurrency

It’s ironic that a digital currency with its roots in the “black market” is now one of the biggest tools of black economic opportunity. Cryptocurrency@coinmarketcap has taken over the airwaves with it’s promises of immediate wealth and decentralized trading options. A byproduct of bitcoin, everyone from your grocer on Alberta Street to the big shots on Wall Street are taking a shot at it. But what really is cryptocurrency? And how can digital currency be used to encourage wealth creation within the black community?

In its simplest form, cryptocurrency is a digital asset that works similar to paper money as a medium of exchange to smoothly facilitate transactions. However it cuts out the middle men of banks and instead uses cryptography@cryptography to verify and regulate “units” as well as keep an unhackable ledger of transactions. The idea of bitcoin uses the method of selling participation in an economy, otherwise known as a “token sale@tokensale.” Once a currency is successfully crowdfunded@crowdfunding, it’s open to public trading and appreciation. Cryptocurrency takes the power of information, data, and finance from a single authority, like a bank, and democratizes it for anyone with a computer and a bit of tech know-how. That means the obstacles that currently face minorities in traditional marketplaces are democratized on a new digital platform. Many are now referring to the power of cryptocurrency as being the largest transfer of wealth in human history.

There are many examples of cryptocurrency balancing the playing field and improving the lives of it’s traders at all levels—especially in the black community. Arthur Hayes@ArthurHayes claims to be the Goldman Sachs of digital trading and owns the bitcoin marketplace exchange (BITMEX), Chrissa McFarlane@ChrissaMcFarlane has started her own crowd-funded currency to create a healthcare tech platform, and Niran Babaloloa@Niran Babalola at ConsenSys used his journalism experience to create a cryptocurrency platform that empowers people by giving them control over their financial success. In every field, digital currency is demonstrating its relevance to and adaptability in meeting modern day demands.

Like any new field, there are lots of new terminologies to explore and markets to research before jumping into the fray. The Black Business School@theBBS offers a specialized cryptocurrency course for beginners, while the facebook page run by Dr. Boyce Watkins@therealboycewatkins called blackcryptoinvesting is another great resource for minority entrepreneurs@economicsurvival. Reddit@reddit also boasts a huge community in the blockchain space@blockchain, with subreddits like r/ethereum, r/ethertrader, and r/cryptocurrency all offering helpful learning platforms. 

If you still can’t wrap your head around this new digital currency, don’t worry. Bitcoin@Bitcoin has only been around since early 2009 and there are already 1,384 different types of cryptocurrencies today. The market is still defining itself and welcoming in new players. But for those looking to take advantage of an unconventional market with huge investment possibilities, cryptocurrency seems to be the trend of future finance and a viable ladder towards black wealth creation.