How are Cryptocurrencies Changing The Way People Invest in 2017?

We have heard about Bitcoin and Ethereum extensively for the last two years. Now it is time for something new and something more dynamic. The freshest cryptocurrency in town is taking The FinTech world by storm. ICOs or Initial Coin Offering is the best way to raise money through altcoins for projects involving small tech companies and startups.

What is the latest grub from the ICO front?

The most recent news talks about Kik, the $1 billion Canadian messenger app that is about to raise $125 million only though ICO by September this year. Kik is currently being used by over 40% of the American teens and young adults in the South East Asia, in place of or along with WhatsApp. Associating the name of a reliable cloud app like Kik with ICO automatically builds trust in the process. That means you can raise money using the blockchain tech from over 300 million people who are currently using this app.

Many experts think of the ICO market growth as a bubble. However, the history of bitcoin and Ether is enough to show us that the valuation of these altcoins has a nebulous growth. This growth might slow down once in a while, but it soon picks up after a brief period of lull. Some of the more popular cryptocoins are worth over eight figures right now. For example – Ether started off at $0.40 per unit, which became close to $14 per unit in the mid-2016. Such an expansive growth in the altcurrency market has made millionaires out of inquisitive teenagers and young adults who were looking for a new way to invest.

What is cloud mining?

Bitcoin has the advantage of cloud mining. Bitcoin Cloud Mining is ideal for those who do not like technological nitty-gritty. Cloud mining enables you to mine for your altcoins without having specific hardware or niche software. Choose a contract term by reading the fine prints. You can pick one based on its term. Most common ones lock a major portion of your assets down for about a year. Some are infinite, while with a little work you can find providers who offer shorter Bitcoin and ICO contracts. These range between 6 months and 24 months.

Why is cloud mining losing popularity?

Cloud mining is made easy with transparent contracts, and you can pay the cost in real dollars or equivalent value altcoins. While some mining providers are likely to charge you a fee, you can pick a provider based on your priorities, and they may forego the processing fee for mining. Even ICOs have similar principles, and you can mine the invested ICO remotely in the cloud, bypassing electricity issues, heating issues, installation and hosting issues.

Make the best of the opportunity

According to Moore’s Law, altcurrencies are going to lose value in far future. Here are a few things you can do to make tons of money before the prices drop and ICOs lose all the heat.

• Pick a term, which is rather short to intermediate for your investment.
• Do not invest in mining equipment. Once the altcoin prices drop, you will have scores of useless mining equipment and software that no longer hold monetary value.
• Investing in a milieu of new alternate cryptocurrencies keeps your money flowing, and you can always convert between the altcoin forms before you finally sell off in the most profitable one.

ICOs vs. Bitcoins: big difference in investment and returns

ICOs are quite similar, yet very different from bitcoins. Initial Coin Offering are virtual and digital tokens. These are not company shares or equivalents, which indirectly make you part owner or financier of a company. More simplistically speaking, if a startup needs money for a project, they can organize a fundraising campaign for the same. During this campaign, the company distributes cryptocoins or initial coins for you to buy. You can buy these initial coin offerings using fiat or actual currency. You can also use Bitcoins or Ether for buying ICO.

You must note that these are unregulated and may be reinforcing the blockchain altcoin system, but these are outside of the government’s jurisdiction. Some legal anomalies surround this cryptocoin system. If you are interested in investing in the shares of a particular company, it is entirely your discretion. However, if the firm’s project falls through, it is liable to return the invested currency to the buyers within a given period.

It is important to note, that there is also the possibility to invest in mining ICOs. A nice mixture of both the ICO and the cloud mining world offers an upcoming Austrian startup – HydroMiner.They shall utilize eco-friendly mining to increase the return on investment for the people who commit to their venture.

Keep your eyes open while looking for ICOs

You cannot guarantee the honesty and trustworthiness of a company simply by the value of their ICOs. You need to look into their background, ratings, public forum discussions and a history of their investments before you go ahead and invest your money. In most cases, the company locks down a bigger portion of your investment for the better part of a year. It is so that the value of your altcoin grows and your investment assumes more value over time. You might find it similar to IPOs, but let us remind you that IOPs deal with investors. ICOs bypass the hassle of investors and directly deal with supporters. It is much similar to crowdfunding rather than an IPO event. The supporters function with the idea of a rewarding return and the funds remind us of crowdsales rather than crowdfunds. In case of crowdfunding, the funds bear more similarity to donations.

Is the end of Bitcoin mining near?

Unlike Bitcoins, you do not need special hardware or software to mine ICOs. In fact, calling the process of cashing in your “share” of ICOs as mining or cloud mining is highly debatable. It is rather similar to selling off a share, rather than cloud mining for bitcoins. As we have already discussed before, the latter process involves a lot of experience, training, and expertise.

• Cashing ICOs is quite simple.
• It involves much lesser chances of frauds.
• It includes high returns.
• It offers a more transparent ecosystem, with better control and flexibility.

Therefore, ICO shows more promise and growth. It may even replace cloud mining in the future. Smart financiers are already converting their ETH and BTC into ICOs for a more secure future.