Should I buy bitcoin ? That’s something that people ask a lot. The answer will depend on who you speak to. Those that don’t understand it will say no, you must not, it’s a scam. They are the same people that said the internet was a fad, that email wouldn’t last and that the internet shopping was a scam. The most powerful human emotion is fear and the most powerful fear is that of the unknown. This is where a lot of this comes from. The other negative narrative is from the banks and governments. Why would the banks and governments be anti Bitcoin? Because it’s something they can’t control. That they don’t issue. As much as they’ll tell you they don’t like Bitcoin, they banks have been secretly buying it since 2015.
Why would the Banks lie?
Well we wouldn’t want to say they are lying, but they certainly are not telling the truth. But why? Well the banks want control of your money.
How much do you know about banking? Ever heard of the BIS, the Bank of International Settlements? Who are the banks, banks?
The most powerful banks and governments in the world make money form using your money and offering you lending, so why would they want you putting your money somewhere they can’t control. Secondarily of course the more they can limit the public choosing it as a financial system the more time they have to buy as much as they can and ultimately have enough of a market share they can have some control.
So should I buy bitcoin?
The answer from those in the know is always a yes… but we would first ask why are you buying? If you’re buying because you think you can turn $10 /£10 into $10,000,000 in two weeks, well I’m afraid it won’t and Bitcoin is not for you. If you’re looking for a long term investment or speculation or a hedge against inflation, then maybe it’s for you.
But hasn’t the price gone down? Yes and no. The most important thing to understand is like any asset, Bitcoin goes up and down but over time, currently goes up. Currently the price is around the $30,000 range and sits just above or below this range. Of course the stock market is down right now too, so what will the price in five years from now when the economy has stabilised? That is the question you need to ask yourself.
Which companies have Bitcoin in 2023?
The world of cryptocurrencies is constantly evolving, and Bitcoin remains at the forefront as the most well-known and valuable digital asset. It’s no surprise that many companies have taken notice and have started holding significant amounts of Bitcoin in their portfolios. In this article, we will take a look at the top 10 bitcoin-holding companies that are currently investing in Bitcoin.
- MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy, a business intelligence firm, has been one of the most vocal advocates for Bitcoin investment. MicroStrategy owns 132,500 bitcoins as of December 24, 2022. The average purchase price was $30,415 per bitcoin with a total cost of $4.027 billion USD making it the largest publicly traded company to hold the digital asset.
- Galaxy Digital
Galaxy Digital, a digital asset management firm, holds a significant amount of Bitcoins in its portfolio. The company, founded by former Goldman Sachs partner Mike Novogratz, specializes in cryptocurrency investments and has made several high-profile investments in the space. Galaxy Digital holds a large amount of Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, in its portfolio.
- Square
Square, the payments company founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has also made a significant investment in Bitcoin. The company purchased 4,709 Bitcoins in the fourth quarter of 2020 for a total of $50 million. Square’s investment in Bitcoin is part of its larger goal to support financial inclusion and democratize access to financial services.
- Tesla
Tesla, the electric vehicle and clean energy company, made headlines in February 2021 when it announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. The company made the investment as part of its efforts to diversify its assets and maximize returns on its cash. Tesla has since then also started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its products.
- Grayscale Bitcoin Trust
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is a digital currency investment fund that holds a significant amount of Bitcoin. The trust, which was created in 2013, allows investors to gain exposure to the price movements of Bitcoin without having to hold the underlying asset.
- Stone Ridge Asset Management
Stone Ridge Asset Management is a digital asset management firm that holds a significant amount of Bitcoin in its portfolio. The company has invested in a variety of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. Stone Ridge is one of the largest institutional holders of Bitcoin and has a strong track record of delivering solid returns for its investors.
- Pantera Capital
Pantera Capital is a digital asset investment firm that has made several high-profile investments in the cryptocurrency space. The company holds a significant amount of Bitcoin in its portfolio, as well as other cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Pantera Capital has a strong track record of investing in promising digital assets and has been a leader in the industry for several years.
- MassMutual
MassMutual, one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States, has made a significant investment in Bitcoin. MassMutual’s investment in Bitcoin is part of its larger effort to diversify its investment portfolio and maximize returns for its policyholders.
- Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners, a global investment firm, has also made a significant investment in Bitcoin. The company announced in December 2020 that it had allocated a portion of its investment portfolio to Bitcoin, citing the digital
- Fidelity Digital Assets
Fidelity Digital Assets is a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Fidelity Digital Assets offers a range of services for institutions looking to invest in digital assets, including Bitcoin. The company holds a significant amount of Bitcoin in its custody solutions for its clients and has been a leader in the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
In conclusion, these top 10 companies represent a growing trend of corporations and institutions investing in Bitcoin as a way to diversify their portfolios and maximize returns. With the continued growth and maturity of the cryptocurrency market, it is likely that more and more companies will follow in their footsteps in the years to come.
But what is Bitcoin?
What is Bitcoin? You’ve heard about it, you know someone that has i and now it is at the point you feel you can’t ask. So… what is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is often the term used for all cryptocurrencies but that’s not the case. Bitcoin is one type of crypto but there are thousands of others. Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency created. There is no central authority that controls Bitcoin. It uses blockchain technology to create secure digital currency transactions. Instead of trusting a bank that an account has funds available to transfer, Bitcoin makes account information and transaction history public. This allows users to confirm the availability of funds before making a transaction.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is not tied to any countries’ currency or subject to regulations, which along with the potential for a criminal element to flourish has caused some countries to move to ban it and other cryptocurrencies. This can make international transactions easier with bitcoin. There isn’t even a central server that stores the information. The bitcoin network uses a peer-to-peer network. The ledger that tracks bitcoin transactions is distributed and anyone can obtain a copy.
Anyone can create a bitcoin account or bitcoin address. There is no approval process. Transactions are tied to this bitcoin address. The owner of the bitcoin address is not recorded in the transaction record. The owner is also not required to link real-world information to their account. This makes purchases with bitcoin private.
But bitcoin is not completely anonymous. If public information can link someone to their bitcoin address, then all their transaction can be linked back to them. Similarly, if a transaction can be traced back to an IP address, location information can be linked to a bitcoin address. Therefore, bitcoin is considered pseudonymous because a user’s identity is hidden, but it is not truly anonymous.
Explain Bitcoin
Bitcoin was created in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is widely believed that the name Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym, so the true creator or creators are unknown. Nakamoto released a white paper that outlined the structure of Bitcoin and explained the benefits of cryptocurrency.
In the paper, Nakamoto argues that the problem with current banking systems is that they rely on trust. Financial institutions act as a trusted third-party intermediaries to process payments. The flaw of this system is that financial institutions can not make non-reversible transactions. Because the financial institutions act as a trusted intermediaries, they also have to mediate any disputes that arise over a transaction. So, financial institutions can reverse a transaction.
Such a system requires a lot of trust in our financial institutions and is expensive to maintain. It also requires a lot of personal information as that information is used to establish trust. When Bitcoin was created, there was no way to make a digital payment more analogous to a cash transaction without a trusted party facilitating the transaction.
Bitcoin was created to meet this need. Nakamoto explained, “What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers.”
Payments or Transfers are verified using blockchains. Each transaction links to the next in the chain using a cryptographic hash. The hash is created using information from the transaction record it links to. This means that if any information in the record is changed, the link would no longer be valid. This mechanism protects against fraud.
All the transaction records are public. This allows anyone to verify that a transaction was processed. In fact, all bitcoin addresses are public. This allows anyone to check the balance of an account before a transaction is made. Allowing users to check account balances and verify transaction on their own remove the need for a trusted intermediary to vouch for someone when making a transaction.
To make transactions too “computationally impractical to reverse,” Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work (PoW). For a transaction to be posted to the ledger, a problem that is difficult to solve but easy to verify must be computed. The problems require substantial processing power and a network of computers race to solve the problem. The first computer to solve the problem adds the transaction to the ledger and receives a small payment.
This system makes the cost of creating fraudulent transactions much more than the possible reward. To reverse a transaction, the attacker would have to not only redo the problem required to post the transaction but also do that work for every subsequently linked record.
By the beginning of 2021, BItcoin had gained popularity and held an interesting spot in finance as not just a transactional medium to pay for things, but as an investment. The high prices of a single bitcoin has rocketed to price many people out of owning even a fractional bitcoin. The volatility of the value makes it riskier than some investors are comfortable with, while its price fluctuations happen independent from the stock market, making it a good way to diversify for others.
The safest way to buy and keep Bitcoin is NOT on an Exchange, but instead on a non custodial wallet. What is that? That is one that no one else has access to, that only you do. An example of this is CoinSafe.
Get your FREE CoinSafe Wallet here
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This article and the other articles, posts and pages on this site are for informational purposes only. This is not advice nor financial advice and we strongly encourage everyone to do their own research and make their own choices as to what actions to take.