Cryptocurrency has just turned into an excellent digital asset, ideal for investment, and a great base to start a business. In 2020, with a pandemic crisis ahead the options for investments have declined so now the mission is to determine which digital currency should be ideal; the sole purpose of this article is to guide you with some recommendations so you can choose the right digital currency to invest in.

Some coins still possess a good potential for making quick and long-term ROI, even after 2019’s devaluation, so the strategy resides in not paying attention to the rate.  Why? The reason is that this can change abruptly, and a drop or a rise can happen suddenly and without any Plan B.

These indicators will lead you through the right path:

• When there is balanced liquidity, the digital currencies gain a balanced flow in the market, enough to be sold fast and safe.
•  The market prices remain generous and the trading activities on exchanges remain constant.
• The liquidity rate in popular digital currencies like Ripple or ethereum makes them desirable for customers at the time of investment; the reason is the liquidity level.

Is Cryptocurrency ideal to invest in?

 Cryptocurrencies are always a controversial theme, mainly because it raises a general concern about a successful investment. People are used to saying that digital currencies are the ineffable future of finances and the economy.

Digital currencies offer a whole catalog of features that can be useful to the client in these times that does not happen with traditional money, there is a higher sense of security, and maybe the most important fact is that the transactions can be done faster.

Which Cryptocurrency to Invest in?

Once you start getting used to the fact that investing in Cryptocurrency is the best you could ever have, here you have granted access to a list based on the potential and sustainable cryptocurrencies at the top of the market in the latest months.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is at the top, there is no other coin that can match this one. It is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, and the main feature of this coin resides, in fact, in its popularity which can turn into an advantage against any rival in the market.

The liquidity level that this coin offers is very attractive for investors; its volatility always in rising also makes this digital currency a very juicy fruit in the market. Awesome peaks are the predictions after this 2020; investors expect a big rise on the peaks once the pandemic starts to give in.

Ripple (XRP)

 This another cryptocurrency has the potential to be a big favorite in the market this digital currency is probably the most promising and great investment you can find in this shortlist, the reason is that the technology behind Ripple (XPR) grant it with pretty solidity in international fields, the payment networks also give praises to this coin, 2020 can be a very good year for this currency to rise and increase its price in a very solid way.

Ethereum (ETH)

We all already know it, this digital currency is also a very popular one, and its influence on the market makes this cryptocurrency a very competitive and valuable item to commerce and to invest in.

Experts say that shortly we can see this cryptocurrency gain a more huge reputation than it already has, even if he still can’t match with Bitcoin.

By Jenson Nuñez

Bitcoin has had very few variations in recent months. However, Grayscale says that institutional investors are still betting on it.

Up until now, this has been a very particular year for Bitcoin. Whether it was the momentum that it had in January, the big drop in March, or the side market that it has maintained after halving in May, the truth is that the main cryptocurrency has varied a lot.

However, this has not prevented institutions from investing money in Bitcoin. According to new Grayscale reports, institutional investment reaches USD 57.8 million in Bitcoin every week.

Data on Institutional Investment in Bitcoin, according to Grayscale

According to a new Grayscale analysis, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has been seeing mass institutional inflows, averaging USD 43.8 million per week during the first half of 2020.

It is striking that most of these inflows occurred in the second quarter. Although Bitcoin recorded more notable gains in the first months of 2020, as the previous paragraphs state.

Global money printing and lax economic policies are leading investors to bet on alternatives like BTC. For that reason, it is possible to affirm that institutional participation in the cryptocurrency market is growing significantly.

As proof of this, it is enough to remember the headlines in which  the name of legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones appeared. At the time, Jones announced that he is investing a remarkable percentage of his net holdings in Bitcoin. Likewise, he explained that he believes that BTC will be the biggest beneficiary of current world inflation.

However, Jones is not the only notable investor who is adding cryptocurrencies to his investment portfolio. According to data from Grayscale’s second-quarter and half-year report, its product BTC Trust has seen mass inflows.

Investment within BTC Trust in Recent Months

In the first half of the year, institutions invested a total of USD 1.4 billion in all Grayscale products, averaging USD 43.8 million worth of Bitcoin per week.

Likewise, weekly inflows into the product grew in the second quarter of the year, in which they averaged USD 57.8 million. One possible reason for this is that, while there are a global crisis and recession, there are investors who are looking for hard or diverse assets right now.

The company also stated in its report that the amount of Bitcoin that investors are buying through its products has exceeded the production rate of the cryptocurrency.

After the Bitcoin halving in May, second-quarter 2020 investment inflows into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust exceeded the amount of Bitcoin mined during the said period.

This has reduced pressure on the supply of the cryptocurrency and is an overwhelmingly positive sign for its macro perspective, especially in terms of bullish prospects.

The growing number of institutional investors makes the importance of the first cryptocurrency increasingly evident. The ability to recover from all-time highs is proof that Bitcoin is the best option for those who want to venture into the cryptocurrency world.

By Alexander Salazar

The cryptocurrency market is full of transaction data. Knowing what Bitcoin Days Destroyed is crucial to have a consistent investment strategy.

Like any financial market, the cryptocurrency market is full of metrics that allow understanding the situation it is in. From the volume of transactions per day to price variations and the ranking of the main exchanges, all these data allow users to plan a better investment strategy.

However, the Bitcoin Days Destroyed is one of the most important metrics in the crypto world that few people know about. The following explanations can help readers understand its meaning and importance.

Bitcoin Days Destroyed (BDD)

The crypto world is full of so many data and figures that sometimes it is difficult to locate the necessary information to know how to act within the market, at a given time. To make matters even worse, users can find data that they do not know for certain. This is the case, on many occasions, of the Bitcoin Days Destroyed (BDD).

The Bitcoin Days Destroyed is a measure to visualize the volume of transactions conducted in the crypto market. Multiplying the amount of Bitcoin traded during any operation by the number of days that have elapsed since the last movement of that same amount allows users to measure this value.

In other words, if an investor buys 100 BTC on Monday and sells that amount on Friday, five days have passed. By multiplying this period by 100 BTC, it is possible to obtain a total of 500 BTC. However, if the person who bought the cryptocurrencies re-sells them on Sunday, two days will have passed, so the BDD value will be 200 BTC.

Usefulness of the BDD

Although the concept of the Bitcoin Destroyed Days is not difficult to understand through an example like the previous one, it is still necessary to clarify its usefulness in practical terms. At the end of the day, knowing the multiplication between the amounts of Bitcoin traded and the number of days since their last operation is not at all obvious for users.

In this sense, the importance of the BDD is that it is a metric of the collective behavior of investors in the long term. Thanks to the use of Bitcoin Days Destroyed, any user or investor in the cryptocurrency world can observe the trends of large Bitcoin holders.

Therefore, when this metric begins to increase, it is possible to know that holders are trading with their cryptocurrencies. If it decreases, there is a tendency for users to save rather than trade. All this allows them to be more effective in planning their investment strategy.

This information, in addition to other metrics shown in previous Crypto World Journal articles, helps users to make more consistent decisions when investing. By being able to visualize the trading volume of the main cryptocurrency in the market, they can predict how much they can earn from their operations.

By Alexander Salazar

The attack on Twitter highlights Bitcoin’s qualities as an Internet currency. Despite there being anonymous alternatives like Monero, hackers chose Bitcoin.

The historic and abominable attack that the social network Twitter suffered in recent days made clear the dangers that centralized platforms pose. The hackers compromised the accounts of many users, who included prominent personalities such as former US President Barack Obama, Tesla, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and tycoon Warren Buffet.

When comparing the hack to other episodes involving cryptocurrencies, it is evident that this scam was not as successful, since the criminals only stole 28 BTC (around USD 250,000). The most striking thing is that they chose Bitcoin as a payment method.

They did not use the US dollar because it is centralized and easy to censor. Apart from cash trading, there is no other way to transfer US dollars without the risk of freezing, reversal, and confiscation. Banks, payment platforms like Paypal and card processors like Visa work together with governments.

There are characteristics of the system that may make Bitcoin’s qualities as digital cash questionable (such as the potential reduction in fungibility in the face of stained transactions/coins). However, The hacker knew that no one can stop a legitimate transaction with the first cryptocurrency. The term “legitimate” simply refers to a transaction valid for the consensus rules of this network.

By transferring Bitcoin from address Z to address H, the owner of Z is giving money to the owner of H (who can be himself). In this case, the intermediary (the network) is open, electronic, automated, and follows specified rules since its creation. These are difficult to change and ensure the effectiveness of transactions. Thus, stopping Bitcoin transactions means stopping its network.

Unlike bank accounts, traditional financial platforms, and even renowned stablecoins, Bitcoin has no mechanisms that allow a government, company, or individual to freeze and/or appropriate someone else’s money. The way to confiscate Bitcoin comes down to using physical force, the same as with cash.

No other digital currency, or copy of Bitcoin, has been able to reach the critical mass of users that the first cryptocurrency has been able to accumulate. Only Bitcoin, the Internet’s currency, would be able to draw everyone’s attention to something known and plausible, giving more importance to the scam on Twitter and allowing the hackers to produce some real victims.

Although Monero could have provided hackers with anonymity by default, its use would have nullified the effectiveness of the theft. Any other cryptocurrency would have raised skepticism and reduced the number of possible victims since none has the network effect or global recognition of Bitcoin, much less its market liquidity.

Other cryptocurrencies did not qualify for such an attack simply because of their centralization, be it code- or community-related. Tether and other stablecoins would have confiscated the funds, while Ethereum and other altcoins would have forked the network. Only Bitcoin provided the certainty that the transactions made would be final and no one would invalidate them.

In conclusion, Bitcoin is the most successful, recognized, safe, and valuable digital currency in the world. Government currencies in their physical form are no match for one that was born on the Internet. While other cryptocurrencies may have superior technical qualities, none has achieved a global status as a currency.

By Willmen Blanco

A blogger who made the allegation on Twitter was the one who detected the error. In 2018, IOTA had to change its algorithm when detecting that it caused collisions.

Twitter user @SoatokDhole presented a study on the Kerl crypto algorithm on his blog website. He shows that he currently uses IOTA to encrypt his operations. However, he found that it causes collisions on the output.

A collision occurs when an encryption algorithm produces equal outputs after receiving different inputs. This is especially sensitive if people use the algorithm to create wallet addresses, where they store their funds.

If two people have access to the same address due to a collision, either person can use the funds associated with it. The fact that an algorithm causes collisions does not make sense in the field of cryptography.

Saotok explains in his post that Kerl is a variation of another encryption algorithm: Keccak-384. Keccak has proven to be effective but, in the case of IOTA, it has a collision problem.

This happens because IOTA has the feature of encoding its inputs in a ternary numeral system {-1, 0, 1} instead of a binary system {0,1}. In balanced ternary numeral systems, like the one that IOTA uses, the smallest unit of information is called “trit” (trinary digit), equivalent to a bit in a binary system.

According to the blogger, the collisions seem to be a consequence of always resetting the last “trit” before passing the input to Keccak-384. Then he posts a set of inputs that produce the error, but there may be many more.

IOTA Representative’s Response to the Error

The IOTA Foundation, through its Director of Alliances, Holger Köther, has responded to these allegations. Wolfgang Welz, a user who is a “Senior Computational Scientist”, provides an explanation

According to Welz, the algorithm Kerl has resistance against pre-images, since it runs on a traditional Keccak function. However, Kerl is not a general cryptographic hash function. Therefore, no one should use it for general purposes outside of the IOTA Protocol.

Who Found the Crypto Error?

Soatok wrote on his Twitter account that one reason not to use IOTA is that these two inputs to its Kerl hash functions collide.

The blogger considers this to be an important of a pattern that IOTA developers have. In this regard, Soatok provides three possible explanations:

1. It is a back door intended for those who designed the IOTA network to exploit it, as happened with its previous algorithm, the Curl-P-27.

2. They made a critical error in the design of the algorithm Kerl, which Kerl users may exploit.

3. The justification that IOTA representatives give is true and there is no way to exploit this vulnerability.

Soatok insists that it is impossible to exploit this error within IOTA. However, he says that it is still a major flaw in the design of Kerl.

IOTA has received complaints of vulnerability since 2018. That year, a group of researchers discovered that the Curl-P-27 algorithm, which IOTA originally used, had collisions on the output. IOTA had changed its algorithm and offered rewards to those who were able to breach its network.

This year, hackers attacked the network again and it was disconnected for almost a month. The project continues to have defenders and detractors. However, it has not been able to recover from the 2018 reputation crisis.

By Alexander Salazar

The cryptocurrency market is full of transaction data. Knowing what Bitcoin Days Destroyed is crucial to have a consistent investment strategy.

Like any financial market, the cryptocurrency market is full of metrics that allow understanding the situation it is in. From the volume of transactions per day to price variations and the ranking of the main exchanges, all these data allow users to plan a better investment strategy.

However, the Bitcoin Days Destroyed is one of the most important metrics in the crypto world that few people know about. The following explanations can help readers understand its meaning and importance.

Bitcoin Days Destroyed (BDD)

The crypto world is full of so many data and figures that sometimes it is difficult to locate the necessary information to know how to act within the market, at a given time. To make matters even worse, users can find data that they do not know for certain. This is the case, on many occasions, of the Bitcoin Days Destroyed (BDD).

The Bitcoin Days Destroyed is a measure to visualize the volume of transactions conducted in the crypto market. Multiplying the amount of Bitcoin traded during any operation by the number of days that have elapsed since the last movement of that same amount allows users to measure this value.

In other words, if an investor buys 100 BTC on Monday and sells that amount on Friday, five days have passed. By multiplying this period by 100 BTC, it is possible to obtain a total of 500 BTC. However, if the person who bought the cryptocurrencies re-sells them on Sunday, two days will have passed, so the BDD value will be 200 BTC.

Usefulness of the BDD

Although the concept of the Bitcoin Destroyed Days is not difficult to understand through an example like the previous one, it is still necessary to clarify its usefulness in practical terms. At the end of the day, knowing the multiplication between the amounts of Bitcoin traded and the number of days since their last operation is not at all obvious for users.

In this sense, the importance of the BDD is that it is a metric of the collective behavior of investors in the long term. Thanks to the use of Bitcoin Days Destroyed, any user or investor in the cryptocurrency world can observe the trends of large Bitcoin holders.

Therefore, when this metric begins to increase, it is possible to know that holders are trading with their cryptocurrencies. If it decreases, there is a tendency for users to save rather than trade. All this allows them to be more effective in planning their investment strategy.

This information, in addition to other metrics shown in previous Crypto World Journal articles, helps users to make more consistent decisions when investing. By being able to visualize the trading volume of the main cryptocurrency in the market, they can predict how much they can earn from their operations.

By Alexander Salazar