Want to get rich quickly? Don’t bother dabbling in gold, rupees or dollars. What you should be looking at is cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero and others. While Bitcoin is the most talked about and watched cryptocurrency, other less-famous cryptocurrencies have been gaining traction in the past few weeks.
It is all very geeky, but if you are into it, you will realise that the interest in blockchains and coins of other cryptocurrencies is rising fast. And so is the value of these currencies. Interestingly, a Bloomberg report recently said that Bitcoin will no longer be the biggest digital currency.
The second most popular digital currency, Ethereum, could rise to the top in terms of market share within a year – because unlike bitcoin, it allows users to do more with it than just send value from one person to another.
But, for the moment, in terms of value, Bitcoin is way, way ahead of others.
As of writing this report, the value of one Bitcoin is Rs 1,65,654 or $2,574.
It has risen nearly Rs 50,000 from mid-May, at the time when the perpetrators of the Wannacry ransomware attacks were asking for ransom in Bitcoin.
That’s what makes these cryptocurrencies so lucrative and yet so difficult to regulate as no one can really put a value on it. That’s because unlike physical currencies, they are not valued against bullion or assets.
Look at the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation value today:
And now look at how they stack up on price per unit (one coin):
How Can I Make Money From Cryptocurrencies?
In India, it is still not legal to trade in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency directly, although you can have a digital cryptocurrency wallet and buy or mine these cryptocurrencies. You could even possibly sell them in the digital world, but for exchange with other cryptocurrencies only.
However, you cannot take physical delivery of money (imagine you had bought a few Bitcoin some months back and the value has tripled now), even if you got someone to sell your cryptocurrency and convert it to dollars or rupees. Doing that would land you directly in the tax net and on the wrong side of the law, as India is still debating legalising cryptocurrency trade.
As long as you are content trading or stocking up on cryptocurrency, you could strike it rich pretty quickly.