What Is Bitcoin Investment And How To Invest In Bitcoin

Bitcoin is decentralized digital cash that eliminates the need for intermediaries like banks and governments, using instead a peer-to-peer computer network to confirm purchases directly between users. Fiat money (like the U.S. dollars in your bank account) is backed and regulated by the government that issues it.


What Is Bitcoin Investment And How To Invest In Bitcoin

Bitcoin Investment

To follow a bitcoin investment, you will need to have bitcoin. You can also use a credit card to buy bitcoin, although some websites require a small fee, or they don't work in certain regions (e.g. Canada and China).  Below are some of the ways to invest in bitcoin.  Buy Bitcoin With a Credit Card  You can also buy bitcoin through your credit card. However, if you plan to buy Bitcoin directly from the bitcoin exchange market, a purchase through your credit card might not be the best option because the purchase may involve an interest rate of 15% for a standard credit card.  Other Factors to Consider:  If you buy Bitcoin on a credit card, your purchase is also subject to fraud by "credit card thieves.


What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is an electronic "cryptocurrency," and it's not an actual currency. Rather, Bitcoin is a digital token based on a technology called blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto and released into the world in January 2009.  There is a supply of 21 million coins that will never be created; the last one will be created by 2140. Bitcoin is mined using special-purpose computers that solve cryptographic puzzles with algorithms that verify transactions. The first miner to solve a puzzle and verify the transaction gets rewarded with 25 newly created bitcoins for their efforts, and the problem must be solved in 10 minutes or the rewards are given to someone else. The same process is repeated for 25 bitcoins every 10 minutes.


Bitcoin Vs. The U.S. Dollar

Another way to compare how Bitcoin vs. fiat money works is with an example of two pictures.  Bitcoin vs. The U.S. Dollar  1. A Central Banker with The Fed has the power to print digital currency and has the ability to create U.S. dollars. The government owns the U.S. Dollar as it's money supply.  2. The government issues paper currency such as U.S. dollars. The government owns the currency but cannot print more.  A digital currency like Bitcoin has no central bank and is a market based currency. No other entity can issue digital currency other than the market or other users. It cannot be "printed" but must be "mined" with computers running a cryptocurrency platform.


How To Invest In Bitcoin

As an investment, Bitcoin is more complex and new than traditional stocks and can result in losing money for investors, as there are no guarantees with Bitcoin. However, to invest in Bitcoin, you need to purchase them. There are several ways to do this. You can buy Bitcoins directly from another person who is selling them to you for a price. You can use a cryptocurrency exchange, where you can buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a price set by the person who owns the exchange. (Coinbase is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges.) You can use an exchange that offers to buy Bitcoins on your behalf and sells them for you, like Biaffine.  As we described earlier, to sell Bitcoins, you need to buy a "BTC wallet," an account to keep them in.


Claiming Bitcoin As Income (IRS)

The IRS does not recognize Bitcoin as a currency or form of property. That means any income you receive that is in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency is taxable. Bitcoin revenue is taxed as a capital gain, which results in a 10% short-term capital gains tax plus a 3.8% Medicare surtax.  Of course, there are also other Bitcoin tax forms. But with the capital gains tax in place, most people opt to treat Bitcoin as the investment it is. For a great primer on Bitcoin taxes, see the IRS website.  Applying Bitcoin Tax Methodologies To Non-U.S. Investors  U.S. taxpayers are still responsible for their own Bitcoin income tax liabilities as long as they hold Bitcoin in their U.S. bank account, or electronically deposited in Bitcoin wallets like Coinbase.  However, non-U.S.


Bitcoin Taxes

Bitcoin is considered property, and therefore subject to capital gains tax.  Current Bitcoin Taxes  It’s generally accepted that the IRS is targeting big cryptocurrency exchanges as their growth has led to record profits. At last count, there are over 1,500 different kinds of cryptocurrency, and the IRS has issued a tax code for all of them, with their own tiers of tax. Because Bitcoin is a major player in the emerging world of money, the government is pressuring big exchanges like Coinbase to register with the IRS and to reveal the personal information of their customers.  Tobin Taxonomy  The IRS has two very different approaches to cryptocurrency.

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