Well, but what gives value to tokens? Why are they in demand?
It depends on the project. 90% of all the projects do not represent anything, but we will now talk about tokens that have real benefits and are really applicable.
As I have already said, tokens are often used as a means of motivating network members: a successful network involves many participants who contribute in the cause of decentralization and protection. The more participants, the more benefits network brings. This is exactly what the case of Bitcoin is. When Satoshi introduced it to the world, Bitcoin had zero value. At that time, Satoshi himself was the only member of the network. But now, as Bitcoin is becoming widespread, people increasingly agree that a Bitcoin token is useful as currency and therefore has intrinsic value for network participants.
In general, there are several classes of tokens, and each class has its own specific value.
Currency tokens: Bitcoin, Monero, Raiblocks and other.
Utility tokens allow performing some kind of activity in the network, examples are ETH and ZRX. Ether is used in the Ethereum network to perform smart contracts.
Asset tokens are actual asset or product.
Equity tokens function as securities. They give the right to vote and the ability to participate in decision making.
The value of currency tokens, such as Bitcoin, is mainly determined by their ability to function as currency and a means of preserving cost.
The value of utility tokens is determined by the popularity and usefulness of the network: for example, the amount of data that is placed in blockchain, as well as the amount of information being processed, because there are parties who want to pay processing, validation, transfer and protection fees. These may be decentralized exchanges or companies that place logistic chain data in a block etc.
Asset tokens can be tied to the value of the real assets they represent.
Equity tokens can be assessed based on the mood of investors and the progress of the project itself. Here it is important whether they are used in commerce and whether they are accepted by the real world, which voting right their owners have, what is the potential and direction of the company’s development, etc.
What influences the price of tokens?
Now when we know what the source of the value of tokens is, it’s time to ask this question.
Different projects and tokens may have different incentives or economic models that affect the price.
If we ignore speculation, then there are certain technical factors that influence the price regardless of investor sentiment.
Demand and consumption. Probably, this is the most significant factor in the token cost, especially nowdays, when the market is purely speculative.
Popularity / benefit. This factor is connected with the answers to the questions whether there is any activity in the network and how widespread the token is.
Burnout rate. Do tokens lose value over time? How fast?
Circulation and reserves. How many tokens are in circulation? Is there an “emergency store”?
Generation of secondary tokens. (such as NEO/GAS etc).
Mining / premining. How many coins have been released and what is the release schedule? Or have they all been already mined out?
Satoshi Nakamoto —
a human or artificial intelligence?
Satoshi Nakamoto is considered to be the creator of the blockchain and bitcoin technology. No one still knows whether it is one person, a group of programmers or artificial intelligence.
There are a lot of facts and rumors around this name. There were several attempts to find out who is hiding behind this name, but they were not successful.
According to one version, Satoshi Nakamoto comes from Japan but now lives in the north-east of the United States. Time to time, some people try to catch hype on this name and claim they are Satoshi. In the United States, journalist Liya Goodman spent several months investigating and looking for traces of Satoshi. She eventually managed to find a man of Japanese origin named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the random namesake of the cryptoworld genius admitted himself that he had never heard anything about Bitcoins.
From time to time, articles appeared in the media proving that the name of Nakamoto hides economic professor Nick Sabo (Sobo), the Japanese mathematician Motizuki Sinite, the owner of crypto exchange Ross Ulbricht and many others. The press also suggested that Nakamoto is Ilon Musk.
However, all these investigations have remained only as versions that are not supported by reliable facts. The candidates for “Satoshi” refute themselves their involvement in the creation of blockchain and Bitcoin.
What do we know about Satoshi Nakamoto now? It is known that he owns almost one million bitcoins, what makes him one of the richest people in the world. In 2008, when the blockchain appeared, he was 37 years old.
Since 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto has officially retired. No new publications and statements signed by this name have appeared again.
Technically, when creating Bitcoin, a limit of 21 million coins was set. And this rule also Satoshi provided.
If Satoshi Nakamoto decides to sell all his bitcoins at once, this will collapse the cryptocurrency market and devaluate bitcoin to almost zero.
We hope that this will not happen in the near future, Bitcoin will remain cryptocurrency “flagship” that helps the whole system to balance.
Is it possible to touch cryptocurrency?
You can’t touch bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency in real life; they are not minted by any mint of the world.
Although the most common and stable cryptocurrencies have their own symbols, along with dollar ($), pound (£), euro (€), ruble, etc.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exist only in virtual reality. But at the same time they can be exchanged to real money.
Another difference between crypto and fiat money is that they appear in the digital space themselves. And anyone can produce (mine) bitcoin. For this, no central bank or state is needed.
Cryptocurrencies appear with help of ICO (investment), as a result of mining (maintenance of special servers) and forging – the formation of new blocks (branches) in already existing digital currencies.
Nevertheless, nowdays bitcoin and other currencies quite realistically turn into real money – into houses, apartments, travels, yachts and other pleasures.
By the way, in the first year of creation of bitcoin, a legendary transaction was carried out – the first purchase of real goods for cryptocurrency. For 10,000 bitcoins, two pizzas were bought for a total of $ 41.
The American programmer Laszlo Hanyecz spent his savings so “wastefully”. Forum thread is still available on – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0
Now recount it according to the current rate and grab your head. Today (July, 2018 – ed.) 10,000 bitcoins are equivalent to 78 million US dollars.
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