In the grand sense of things, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are still relatively new, they are still in their infancy and so there are still a lot of things that we do not really understand about them. Due to this, there are a lot of people out there that don’t know a whole lot about them. There is also a lot of information out there that is getting things wrong or giving people the wrong idea about what Bitcoin is and how it can be used. Let’s take a look at some of the things that the majority of people are getting wrong about Bitcoin.
It’s for Criminals
One of the major misconceptions that seem to be out there is that Bitcoin was designed to be used for criminals. This is most likely due to the fact that it is advertised as being anonymous and very difficult to track. This idea is most likely cemented into the minds of some because… it is used by criminals. You now see that malware that locks you out of your computer, asking you to end a certain amount of bitcoin somewhere, people see that and instantly link Bitcoin with that sort of activity Yet this is not entirely the case, while some criminals do use it, hey also use normal fiat money, that was not designed for criminals and neither was Bitcoin. The majority of Bitcoins are owned by everyday people, in very small amounts. It was designed to be used as an asset that can be bought, sold, and traded. Shops are taking it up and it is becoming far more mainstream, not just for criminals but for everyone.
It’s a Scam
Due to what we mentioned above, a lot of people also seem to think that things like Bitcoin are a scam. Let’s be honest though, a lot of the times where people call something a scam is simply because they do not understand it, not understanding it is certainly not a reason to call something a scam yet it is what a lot of people do. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of very high profile scams that have involved forex, where people invest their money with promises of returns only for the to less everything and the company in question to quietly (or not so quietly) disappear. We have to remember though that those scams are individual, they are done by the company or person that ran them. It is not the actual Bitcoin ecosystem that is a scam, that was just used by those individuals. Bitcoin is certainly not a scam due to the fact that you can buy, sell and trade it wherever and whenever you want, you are not locked in at all.
It Has No Real Value
Something that you hear thrown about a lot is that Bitcoin doesn’t actually have any value. This is something that you often hear from people that are part of the older generations, similarly to the above, this is often through a lack of knowledge or understanding of what Bitcoin is and what it offers. These same people are also the ones that will call Bitcoin a bubble, they will mark it down as being similar to the dot-com boom that happened in the past. Where there was a lot of hype, prices skyrocketed, and then the bubble burst, the majority of companies and stocks lost the majority of their value, that is what a lot of people think will happen with Bitcoin. The difference though is that Bitcoin actually has a use. It can be used to buy, sell, and trade, many larger businesses from pretty much every industry are starting to take it up, starting to accept it which makes it a very viable currency. The value of Bitcoin is based on supply and demand, the demand is increasing and so are the uses, so while the final price of Bitcoin will certainly be $0, for the time being, it certainly has a lot of value.
It’s Difficult to Obtain
If we look back 5 or 6 years ago, then this statement would be true, it was very difficult and actually quite risky to try and get Bitcoin. There weren’t many places that would allow you to buy them, for the majority of people you had to buy directly from someone else, a random person on the internet that more often than not didn’t even want to give you their name. The good news is that things have changed, as Bitcoin grew in popularity, as did the ways to get access to it. These days pretty much anyone can buy it, you can still buy directly from other people but the majority will now look to things like exchanges or dedicated websites for purchasing. Some of them you can simply sign up, and then buy your Bitcoin with things like credit and debit cards, bank transfers and even PayPal are now offering you the ability to purchase them, it could not be any easier and could not be any quicker, often taking just seconds for your Bitcoin to be available. So yes it certainly used to be hard to get, but now it is as easy as buying anything else on the internet.
It’s Risky
There certainly are a lot of risks involved when holding or trading Bitcoin, but there is when you hold onto any sort of asset or stock, yet it is not putting people off buying stocks and shares. Bitcoin comes with risks simply because it is new, people do not know a lot about it and this can scare people. Yet this is also where the most opportunity comes from, look at its explosive growth over the last few months, that sort of growth can only come from newer assets ( apart from TESLA of course) those growth explosions are from people taking it up or discovering new uses. Of course, there will be a drop from those large jumps, but that is known and that is expected. Bitcoin can be risky if you do not understand it, so that just means that you should learn about it before investing, much like any other asset too.
Those are five of the things that everyone is getting wrong about Bitcoin, as the industry continues to grow and develop we will begin to learn a lot more about it, we will get a lot more comfortable with it and we will, of course, see ups and downs. If you have a misunderstanding of Bitcoin then that is fine, just do a little reading, a little research to find out what it actually is.