Bitcoin is still King

We have all heard about digital currency but many of us are too intimidated to actually buy it, use it, or invest in it. And yes, you can do all three because cryptocurrency is an effective way to make online transactions in buying anything from groceries to gadgets. Now keep in mind that there are over 2000 digital currencies available and they are all trying to unseat Bitcoin as the king of the digital currency world. Over 100,000 merchants worldwide accept bitcoin, from Microsoft to Experian and many in between.

In fact, the online gambling industry was one of the first early adopters of digital currency and many of them happily welcome the major players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin as a vehicle to fund customer accounts [Source: SBR].

Bitcoin was launched in 2010 and began at a price of roughly 12 cents per share once it hit the open market. But if you want to purchase a coin today, you’d have to cough up north of $11,700! That’s right, the goliath of digital currency has not only hung around for 10 years but has thrived in doing so. Like a typical stock, it’s value increases and decreases but its staying power throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic has been inspiring.

Michael Saylor, chief executive of MicroStrategy, recently added 21,000 bitcoin to its portfolio and stated, “Our investment in bitcoin is part of our new capital allocation strategy, which seeks to maximize long-term value for our shareholders is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash.”

The attractiveness of bitcoin is that the traditional investment houses are starting to look at digital currency as a viable asset to add to their portfolios. Acceptance and adoption by investment houses and retailers is the holy grail of bitcoin backers because having both would not only be a tailwind towards mainstream approval but a declaration that digital currency is no longer the orphan child of government-backed securities.

BTC Not Only Game in Town

Bitcoin might be the oldest, most expensive, and most popular of all the cryptos but it certainly is not novel…anymore. If Bitcoin is the gold standard then we might say that Litecoin is the silver standard. Currently, Litecoin is trading at $62.75 per coin and that’s a lot more tolerable to the average investor who is looking for a bit more diversity but without paying a price that is already in the stratosphere.

Litecoin has recently added an upgrade which will include a privacy protocol known as Mimblewimble, which shields the identities of both parties, sender, and receiver, of a Litecoin transaction while increasing the network’s capacity for more transactions. It’s more technical than most people want, but suffice it to say, it’s a marked improvement that should be a welcome improvement to all who are either invested or are contemplating investing in Litecoin.

“There’s some stigma against privacy coins, and some exchanges have delisted them,” Litecoin founder Charlie Lee told CoinDesk in a recent interview. “But from what I can tell, the exchanges are OK with this Litecoin privacy upgrade as an extension block because it’s kind of on the side. The exchanges don’t have to support the extension block side of things.”

David Schwartz, project director at Litecoin Foundation, tweeted, “Its (Litecoin’s) average usage has doubled since the start of the last bull run & is gaining steam. So much so, that transactions have outpaced historical price, which means price is not showing its true value.”

Connor Abendschein, a research analyst at Digital Assets Data, shared his opinion regarding the upgrade, “The recent pickup may be attributable to the upcoming upgrade but greater bullish sentiment across the entire crypto market has driven prices of most assets higher over the past few months. As the upgrade draws closer, we will see whether Litecoin is just rising bitcoin’s coattails, or if it can find some legs and run on its course.”