There is a new buzz in town for quite a time about the presence of bitcoin. Bitcoin which was assumed to be a failure and people didn’t trust in it but the same people are now the first ones to reap the benefit of this currency. Yes, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency this means you can deal in bitcoins just like any other currency of the world. The scenario is changing slowly and merchants are allowing and accepting payments in the bitcoins. This acceptance took a long time as there was no proper infrastructure to trade in bitcoins back then. I have been monitoring Bitcoins for quite a time and was noting the patterns of change in currency rates.
Bitcoins – What is it?
Bitcoin is a new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are made with no middlemen – meaning, no banks! There are no transaction fees and no need to give your real name. More merchants are beginning to accept them: You can buy web hosting services, pizza or even manicures. There are no fees to buy bitcoins but there are some middlemen who act as an agent to facilitate service to buying and selling bitcoins, for this service they charge commission anywhere between 0.4% to 2% on the transaction amount. This fee is levied because in India RBI has control in money related matters and buying cryptocurrency is taxable under GST (Goods and Service Tax) so the amount of GST is born by Investor.
How to Invest in them?
Investing in bitcoins is pretty simple but you need to complete the certain process by the Bitcoin service provider. In India, KYC is compulsory for Buying and selling Bitcoins. Without KYC you cant perform any action, you can monitor the rates that’s all until KYC is completed. Due to increased users and investors, the KYC process takes up to 6 days in some popular Service provider like – Zebpay. Once KYC is completed – Investing in Bitcoin is pretty simple you just enter the Amount in Indian Rupees and you would be able to see the number of Bitcoins you would be able to get. It works like Stock exchange. Rates are ever changing and 24*7.
You can invest in bitcoin by way of transfers. People can send bitcoins to each other using mobile apps or their computers. It’s similar to sending cash digitally.
There’s another not so recommended method – Minning bitcoin. Anyone can become a bitcoin miner but Minning bitcoins requires a powerful computer that is able to solve complex puzzles and get a share of bitcoins. People compete to “mine” bitcoin using computers to solve complex math puzzles. This is how bitcoins are created. Currently, a winner is rewarded with 25 bitcoins roughly every 10 minutes.
How to store them?
Bitcoin does not have the physical presence and hence they are Cryptocurrency (Digital Currency). You need to have a digital wallet to store them. There are many wallets in India which offer you buying and selling bitcoins at different rates. The wallet is a kind of virtual bank account that allows users to send or receive cryptocurrency, pay for goods or save their money. Unlike bank accounts, bitcoin wallets are not insured by the FDIC. The rates of these wallet providers are of major difference but the prices and profit ratio is at par with the Bitcoin exchange so if you get Rs.1000 profit in Wallet A then you would be Getting same Profit in wallet B provided that you buy at the same time in both wallets. So the price difference isn’t important if you aren’t planning to buy 1 BTC. At the moment 1BTC costs Rs.9,00,000 ( Nine Lac).
Recommended Apps to Buy and Sell Bitcoin in India
There are Many applications currently present on the play store as well as there are some applications which offer a Web-based interface to deal in bitcoins. As mentioned above in the post that all Exchange have some rate difference and I have observed the major difference in rates between Zebpay (Higher Rates) and Unocoin ( Lower Rates). Besides mentioned these apps there are also Trusted exchanges – Coinsecure, Coinbase, Koinex. As far I have studied these applications are safe to use and these applications provide a stable interface to do trading in Cryptocurrency. The problem sometimes in trading bitcoins is that at some point exchanges don’t allow you to buy or sell just because you are for profit. From my experience that can be a huge issue if you have invested big amount and all of sudden, the exchange doesn’t allow to sell or Book profit on investment.
Is it a Scam?
As a bona fide cryptocurrency skeptic, I’m of two minds on Bitcoin and other cryptos. One, I don’t think we know enough about them to invest in them as if they were stocks and bonds. The transparency isn’t there.
But I also think that the tide of technology and investors isn’t going to be stopped anytime soon.
Regulators, of course, are concerned about cryptos. Vehicles are started up every day to invest and speculate in them. According to the Financial Times, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority is eyeing new trading platforms that allow you to bet on crypto movements with as much as 30:1 leverage on derivative contracts linked to Bitcoin.
Where is this all going? As Bitcoin prices blow past $10,000 a share, millions of investors want a piece of the action. Yet there are far too many questions to answer before cryptos become mainstream investments. Bitcoin exchanges are prone to hacks and in recent past, many exchanges were targeted. The cryptocurrency replacing current currency is nowhere near. Most of the bitcoins in the past have been used to perform the criminal activity as tracking them is impossible. I can’t exactly it is a scam or not, it 50% Yes and 50% No to this Question.
What Time is Right Time to Invest in Bitcoin
It is a good time, however, to experiment.
What do I mean by that?
Let’s take a look at what investing would mean.
Investing in Bitcoin means that you log onto some of the exchange mentioned above and buy some bitcoin. You then hold onto it. The ups make you feel like you made a wise choice; you’re making money. Your family will be proud. The downs, on the other hand, make you feel like scum. How could you have wasted all that money? Better not tell anyone.
Investing is a rollercoaster. It’s a considerable amount of time spent watching the screen as the bars fill and dip, numbers increase and decrease, lines wave around — and in the end, except for maybe the truly seasoned day trader, it’s all for nothing but stress.
Experimenting, however, is quite different.
Experimenting with Bitcoin means that you log onto exchange-like Unocoin and buy some bitcoin. Same as before. But instead of buying an amount that makes you anxious you buy an amount that makes you only slightly anxious, haha. It’s true. A small amount of anxiety keeps things interesting.
So you purchase a bit of Bitcoin and … you start experimenting.
What can you do with that Bitcoin?
- How do you transfer your Bitcoin to a paper wallet? Or USB?
- How do you buy an Alt Coin?
- How do you convert your Bitcoin back to regular currency? What are the fees and transfer time?
All these are fantastic little experiments. And As you learn you’ll grow more comfortable. You’ll learn about BTC, how it works, why it works, and about the tremendous people in the Bitcoin community. No longer will it become this strange investment that mysteriously goes up, down, and sideways; this new hip thing all the “cool kids” are investing in. Soon it’ll be a fascinating new technology that you know something about. You’ll be able to share your knowledge with others. Best of all — and I know this next bit will sound terribly cheesy — best of all you’ll have something better than money — you’ll have an experience.
There is no Good time to buy Bitcoin, It’s just that you invest little amount and forget it for some time (Months) and Let it grow. What I have observed is that due to popularity more people are entering to earn quick money and get more than double, Agreed people have got 20x Returns but sometimes luck is on their side. Don’t invest too much in bitcoins, that you feel like stress and become anxious about it and develop new psychological problems. Instead start little and slowly and Let the money grow :).
That’s all I have to say about the buzz word and Please do let me know your thoughts on the post also, Post your queries and doubts if you have any. I will try to answer them all as many I can.
