Simple UNDERSTANDING of WALL STREET the STOCK MARKET!

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WALL STREET

   Located in lower Manhattan, New York City. Along a half mile long strip referred to as the financial district of America lies "WALL STREET".  

   America's major stock exchanges, a bountiful of headquarters to the largest financial & brokerage institutions in the country all reside here. 

   Books, movies and stories the likes none other. Wealth built and lost. Lives & legacies sprouting life of their own just as the $$$ signs have blown swiftly along this street for centuries. 

Wall street.....yes. I'm sure you've heard some of the stories!

   The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) & National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) are just a few of the renowned exchanges that are well established here.

   Wall streets central role, representing the backbone of American economic culture. An intense caterer to the billions if not trillions of dollars in high financial investments 5 days a week.

   It is this massive fluctuation of stocks each day that most interest investors and brokerage alike. Where buying & selling of major outstanding shares can make or break individual investors and companies. This intricate maze of regulations, speculation and estimation into the worlds business mechanics, engulfs one hopes to increase their cash flow within their portfolio.

   There are NO crystal balls, no clear cut path to predicting the ups or downs on the behaviors of a particular company. Any one element can effect the performance of said business.......the weather in one part of the world, a war in another, the politics of a country. Even the buying/selling or merging of companies ALL can funnel down line to cause movements, calculations and a frenzy amongst investors, brokers.

   It comes down to education........studying trends, past actions, research and more research. It's that gut feelings, knowing a little more about a part of that business that someone else missed. And there's a place to get all that in, call the "stock market"


STOCK MARKET

   Also known as equity or shares market, as mentioned in an earlier post, in it's simplicity.......the buying & selling (trading) shares of stocks & bonds in a company.  Giving private & public companies admission to additional capital through stock exchanges.

    These exchanges at one time use to trade through paper tickets and the investors would receive a certificates of stock from the company they've invested in. Due to technological advances certain indices like the NASDAQ are now traded completely digitally.

   Choosing these stocks is no simple task. The goal of any investor is to obviously profit. Stock exchanges will list shares of common equity as well as other securities such as corporate bonds & convertible bonds. More on these later on in the series.

   Companies do not always do well. This is where the different types of exchanges come into play. As we began to identify a few of the different index institutions. Let's take a look at these initial phases into the process of playing the markets.

   For instance, a private company is looking to expand it business. There is a process involved, a kind of two step stage for which it must proceed. 

1st - Primary market

     Primary Market  or New Issues Market (NIM) in where a private company decides to get listed (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission S.E.C.) on the exchanges enabling them to sell stocks to the public for the first time. Thereby issuing it's first shares in an Initial Public Offering, IPO aka "Going Public". Investors & investment banks purchase these shares at a price directly from the issuing company.

   Within this primary market there is what is known as "Rights Issues". And is where shares are first offered to investor at a reduced price who have already purchased shares. They are, let's say, privileged.

   Next, we have something called "Private Placement", the company issues a limited amount of stock privately to a limited number of qualified investors. Usually this happens if a company is newer, and has  not yet met public listing requirements, or simply just wants to remaining private.

   Yet, another preferred investor privileged offer is called similarly "Preferential Allotment".  Same as with private placement issued funding but with a different set of standards. Company acts vary per funding practices. 


2nd - Secondary Market

   Referred to as the secondary market, shares are brought from a second party involvement. Like a broker, seller and of course off the stock exchange.

Broken down further into two distinctive markets.

  1) AUCTION MARKET 

   Within the secondary market process, a trade is established when the buyer set their highest price and the seller has set their lowest price. A bid is agreed upon and a trade is contrived.

  
2) DEALER MARKET

   National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations  or NASDAQ is the shiny example of an dealer market. Is where trader who act on their own accounts and not a third party, buy & sell within specialized commodities. The ability to move swiftly on a trade when a value is met is the advantage to these market makers. 

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INDEX

How does one value a companies stock in order to decide which to invest?

   Index or indices, simply is a list. Life isn't that complicated so let's just not make it that way. It's a list of public traded companies that can have their stocks  performances track by selected groups. Some groups are tracked by payout (dividend) history, company growth or industry associations. It may be a combination of values. As we move forward, we will mostly identify with the more known indices. Yet, understand there are many many of them out there and worldwide.

   There needs to be a way in order to measure what the value of the stock market is. What baseline are companies gauged at so that the public, investors, regulators and financial institutions have a general knowledge of certain segment within the business world.

We find different stock indices widely followed, such as the S&P 500 index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, the Nasdaq  index or the Russell 2000. They all measure the changes (value) in different portfolios of securities.

   This is done through a weighted average structure. Involving a set of mathematical values, so as the values in this group of stocks changes so will the indicators. Whatever percentage the index does, whether it goes up or down, so does the total value of that stock of those particular group of securities.

   These index value are called“points. Which in it's name is of no value, just a way of gauging. As the most important aspect in index reading is how it performs within it's market. It may be a bonds market or the stock market. On how it compares to the previous day value's or points is the assessment. 

   When talking stocks, 1 point represents $1.00. Whereas within the context of the Bonds market, the price is valued to a percentage of $1000.00. 1 point is really the equivalent to $10


Index                                                         Follows

Dow Jones Industrial Index 30 Major US companies

S&P 500                                                  500 Major US companies

Nasdaq                                                     5000 Tech stock

Russell 3000/2000/1000                 respectively 3000 companies 

Market-Value Weighted or Capitalization-Weighted Index 

   - Size of companies weight in (influence) more over the index than smaller companies when factoring value with the markets.

Price-Weighted Index

   - Components (shares) with a higher prices receive a greater (influence) weight over the index. Meaning, the focus is on the price of each shares as oppose to the companies size.

EXCHANGES 



NYSE - New York Stock Exchange 

   Is the largest stock exchange in the world. Founded around 1792, near the corners of Wall Street & Broad, a group of merchants would meet to trade bonds & stocks of the day. Story goes they would meet near a tree as would many trader & barters at that time would do. Around 1817 this group rented a building on Wall Street which would become the 1st New York Stock exchange building.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation 

   With no physical trading floor, it's computers opened in 1971, the NASDAQ is a digitized marketplace for issuing, selling & buying of securities especially in the Hi-technology industry. Including those of the likes of Facebook, Amgen, Apple, Amazon, Netflix & Google. F.A.A.A.N.G. among the technology & biotech giants.    

Dow Jones Industrial Average 

  Founded in 1896, created by a journalist editor Charles Dow named along with statistician Edward Jones. This indices 30 large publicly owned U.S. companies. 




STANDARD & POOR'S (S&P) 500

S&P (S&P) 500 Index is one such index which combines the top 500 U.S. stocks together into an index value. So over time investors can look at the fluctuation in those particular markets.

Russell 3000

The Russell 3000 Index is comprised of the 3,000 largest and most liquid stocks based & traded in the U.S. Russell 2000 consist of 2000 small-cap companies. While the Russell 1000 consisting of the 1000 largest market-cap companies.

Did you know: 


    - Even though the New York Wall Street financial district is today, the hub of trillions of dollar cycling through it system.  It was not always that manner, in fact, America's 1st official stocks trading post was not even in New York. It is said to has been established in Philadelphia in 1790. Further more, America was not the 1st to set-up the markets. That title, history tells us belongs to Antwerp, Belgium around 1460. 

   - The NASDAQ at one time trade Over-the- Counter (OTC) stocks. OTC is another name for penny stocks. Now the home of some of the worlds most sophisticated Hi-tech companies. It certainly has come a long way.

   - You've heard the saying......It's a bull or bullish market, maybe it's a bear or bearish market. They have become synonymous with the stock market for decades. If you never knew why, here what I dug up.......

   First off, bears are represented as slow moving, sluggish or dull. The bear also strikes it's paws in a downward motion doing battle. Whereas bulls are more lively, spunky and alert. In battle, the bull hooks in an upward motion.

   It's these terms that reflect how the stock market is performing. The BEAR market is in a decline or downward trend. Leaving the BULL market in an upward or rising trend.

And now you know!

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When An Alternative Means Of Income Exist

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  There continues to be an honest alternative courses of action when it comes to earning an extra income online & off. We are going to focus on technology based internet of things.  

   In this ever so technological enhanced world we now live in. Using our computers/smartphones/mobile devices to generate an additional income stream can become a reality with some due diligence. Part of this reality is that utilizing these advances are just down right essential. Baby boomers who have been retiring by the thousands since 2011.  Are among the 76 million of us that will be (retiring) at some time or another over the next 14 years. 

 Social security will simply not fulfill your needs for a comfortable lifestyle, especially one deserved after years on the grind. Maybe it was a lack of financial supplement strategy that failed to adequately build a sizable nest egg.  Look, age is nothing but an number. There is always hope. Simply, become pro-active, get involved, and utilize what is available in your life today.

We are entitled to a most beautiful life in our gold years.

"Let's NOT become technology illiterate"

   We are bombarded everyday with all sorts of so-called opportunities. To be honest, it's calculated that within the industrialized countries, humans are exposed to anywhere from 4,000 to well over 10,000 advertisements per day.  A good portion of these ads are indeed, work, income opts. 

   All in the form of pop-ups, emails invites, social media outlet etc. Despite most of these get rich quick programs being worthless. There are oodles of legit home/internet based work and investment opportunities that operate within a trusted online business model. 

   These business model are not schemes, their only true fault or misinterpretation is they require effort. Nothing worthwhile in life is EVER going to come to you free or easy! We ALL should know this by now. Once you understand that statement........searching for a way to add income into your life stream will eliminate 3/4 of those seemingly quick ways to get $$$ opportunities.

You could start a physical "Brick & mortar business".

   This was how it was done for decades. Yet, I like to believe and understand that retirement was meant for us not to be working harder but smarter and of course LIVE LIFE. Not saying that opening up a physical store is awful. Or that easy living is a most.....a little hard work & elbow grease NEVER hurt anyone. Beside, the true spirit of working....is to do what you have a passion for. Remember, if we are doing work after we are retired, it best be something we want to do.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~ Confucius

   I  just want to make aware that there are other passages one can take to achieve goals &  make extra income.  It comes in the form of technologies in computers, mobile devices and most importantly................our smartphones!

   See, what really happen a few decades back. This tech stuff was really here to help us baby boomers along. Isn't it the debt repaid for our many sacrifices so that our children could live a bit better life. 

   I see some truth within them there sentences. I see that our younger generation has taken to these mobile tech devices with ease. They have had the opportunity (time) to exercise their handle of these new devices, while we boomers were out working to make sure our children & grandchildren could have said technology. 

   Remember this one true fact millennials, it was the baby boomer generation that set the stage & help built your devices you are so comfortable using. While you were playing and grew into them. We boomers could only master them in our spare time. Please do not get us twisted..... we are NOT old, just older!

   With that being said, I think it's time that we boomers put in the effort to grasp the benefits of all this available technology.

   The benefits of using the internet as a financial tool is that it could add substantially to your financial nest-egg.

   It will however take "WORK" & due diligence!

   Many of the "baby boomers", yet not exclusively......our younger generation are finding it equally as difficult to save for a "Nest-egg".  Living the short term financial lifestyle (work, spend & try saving here and there), thinking  that is a secure enough path.  

   When corporate greed, world events, down-sizing etc. intervened. Where we once thought our "so-called privileged" (j.o.b. Just Over Broke) lifestyle would sustain. Yet, that thinking/planning did not include retirement.

So what happens now when you no longer attached to the workplace????

We.h.i.t. aka WEalth Health using Internet Technology mission will provide a little insight into a world of positive future growth in our lifestyle, wealth management & health. 

Ongoing discussions to include yet not limited to......

• Investments & investment strategies
• Eliminating debt
• Making healthy/healthier lifestyle choices
• Capitalizing on emerging technologies
• Ways to give back, WE are still useful

   I hope that I can inspire, motivate & be a positive force in our connection. This popular saying below speaks for itself.........

Please feel free to network, connect & interact. Comments & suggestion welcomed.

 

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Copyright © 2017 Andrew Hayes All Rights Reserved
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Investment Terminology: Stock Markets, Shares & Dividends

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Advanced Guide To Cryptocurrency Investing & Trading

   Before stepping further into this world of financial investment, we should become familiar with a few of the terminology used in this industry. There are literally thousands of  phrases, jargons & languages used in the finance world. We'll start with some of the more common everyday wordings. Then define others as they pertain to that particular subject matter.......

Stock Market                          

   When companies that need to grow their business they will often raise money by offering a percentage of their companies to you, the public. You may ask, well why would someone give away a piece of their company when they could obtain a loan from a bank right? Yes, they could, but then the companies starts accumulating debt. Here's what we're looking at when considering financing a business........ If said company ADH profit in the future, a bank loan could be better suited. Yet, said company ADH would still pay huge sums of interest.

   This becomes the concern, will company ADH profit in the following years after the loan. Since nothing is guaranteed in life, as surely the outcome of any business. These companies offer off a piece of the business called "shares." Which entitles the "share-holder' a portion of the profit called dividends. The trade-off, no pun intended, is now the company pulls in the necessary financing but the share-holder absorbs the risk  should the company not perform well.

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   The dictionary defines "shares" as a part or portion of a larger amount that is divided among a number of people, or to which a number of people contribute. You may have been investing in shares and not really know it. See some companies offer pension/retirement plans. Have you ever participate in a companies 401K plan. Yep, you were investing in some form of the stock market.

   In short, the stock market is a place to trade (buy and/or sell) shares or pieces of a company. 


EXCHANGES 

  Known as exchanges, these companies, businesses including government entities have a platform to raise capital. These facilities can regulate the trading (buying & selling) of stocks, securities including other financial products like commodities.

Top World Exchanges:

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ)

London Stock Exchange (LSE)

Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE/TYO)

has merged with Japan Exchange Group (JPX)

   When a stock is first offered (sold) to the public by a company, it is known as an I.P.O. or initial public offering. Once these shares are sold to the public and because the stock exchange tracks their progress. The shareholder can now utilize this information to sell, buy or trade more stocks.

There are two types of shares:

COMMON

   Common shares are the most prominent of the two. Holders of these shares can vote on the companies leadership called "board of directors"  & certain corporate affairs. Shareholders make their money when the value of the company increases (appreciates) and when dividends are paid on the shares owned. 
   The down side is the amount paid out will vary due to companies value. Also if the business/company ends up bankrupt, common shareholders are the last to get any funds. Creditors and other company expenses along with what are known as preferred shares will get paid before common share.

PREFERRED

   Preferred shares pays are generally paid more due to prearranged terms but do not get to vote on any of the companies affairs. These stocks are guaranteed because of their fixed agreement yet do not yield the same profit potential as common stock. Some would say this is a more stable invest, sighting that payouts are not attached to the interest of the markets. As well as getting some money returned in case the company goes under.

DIVIDENDS

   A dividend is a shareholders payout from the profits of the company they own a piece of. These payouts are done quarterly, sometimes paid in cash, sometimes distributed in stocks or properties. Instead of interest paid by banks into an saving account. Here the company pays an (allowance) to it's shareholder from the profits it has accumulated.
   Remember shares is the offering to the public a chance to buy a piece of said business. Because not all companies or businesses offer shares as a means to raise capital. Others may offer what is called equity stake. Which are not traded on the stock market.
   A person can have a stake in the business. If the company has only one owner (Sole proprietorship) that person is said to have a 100% stake in his or her business. This person can raise additional finance (capital) by offer a partnership, a stake in the business. 
   
   Example: Two people invest in the business. Each one has a 50% stake in the business. Three person will have a 33.33% stake in said business just as four people would each have a 25% equity stake in the business and so on. However, this is a simple example, in reality, contracts that are drawn up constitutes formal stakes. One make invest $10,000.00 for a 5% stake in the business if that is the agreement.

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Blue Chips: 

   A companies stock that has had a consistent high yield earning, long solid stable history. Are coined "BLUE CHIP" stocks. If you are a poker player, you can figure the highest value poker chip is blue. Which is where it's name originated.
These companies most likely have been around a very long time. You would know them by name right off the bat. They would have a top notch financial performance while dominating their industry.

Old school blue chippers:

• General Electric (GE)
• AT & T (T)
• Kraft Foods (KFT)
• Caterpillar (CAT)
• JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
• COKE COLA (KO)

   These are just a few of the companies that have been around for decades. That doesn't say there are not any blue chip stock that are fairly young. Nevertheless, the criteria are mostly the same.

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   A popular financial TV host Jim Cramer of the CNBC program "Mad Money". Dubbed the acronym, F.A.N.G. because of these 4 popular blue chip performing tech companies.....

• Facebook (FB)
• Amazon  (AMZN)
• Netflix (NFLX)
• Google aka Alphabet (GOOG & GOOGL)

Symbols after each company name are known as "Ticker symbol or stock symbol" 

these are the identifying letters associated within the exchanges.

These companies continue to sustain shares & sales growth.

$$$$ All of which is excellent news for investors $$$$

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Easiest Way for New Users to Buy/Sell Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies ~ Wallets Vaults

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High liquidity and buying limits

Easiest way for new users to buy bitcoin

Instant buy available with credit card as backup

Coinbase is the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange. 
A Bitcoin broker based in San Francisco. Backed by trusted investors and also offers an exchange & multiple wallets.

How Does Coinbase Work?

Coinbase’s intention is to make it painless for first-timer to purchase Bitcoins, Ethereum & Litecoin cryptocurrencies. Customer payment methods for buying are credit cards, debit cards or bank transfer.

Coinbase supports 32 countries. Payment methods available depend on your country.

Customers may add a Visa or Mastercard credit card as a backup payment method. If a backup credit card is available, Coinbase “instant buy” will enabled  up to $1,000 worth of bitcoin per week. Very easy to use for first-time buyers.

Does Coinbase Support Your Country?

Coinbase offers its brokerage services in the United States, Canada & Singapore.

Coinbase also supports the following European countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland including the United kingdom.

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Is Your Privacy Kept While Using Coinbase?

Users must provide full identity verification. You will be required to take a picture of your driver’s license or passport if you are purchasing with a credit card.

  Coinbase offers very high limits. Limits depend on your account level, which is determined by how much information you have verified. Fully verified U.S. customers may buy up to $50,000 worth of bitcoin daily.

European customers may have a maximum of €30,000 euro in their account at any time.

Customer Support: Coinbase has a knowledge base and email support.

Coinbase “Community” can be used to ask questions and get support help.

Is it Safe to Link My Bank Account to Coinbase?

Coinbase is a regulated company and holds licenses in all districts in which it operates. It is backed by major US investors and is not a scam.

Who is Coinbase’s CEO?
Brian Armstrong is the CEO of Coinbase.

Bitcoin Wallet - Your Coinbase “wallet” can be accessed on the web, or with the Coinbase apps for iOS and Coinbase App for Android.

Coinbase controls all private keys, and acts more like a bank than a true Bitcoin wallet.

Coinbase should only be used to buy or sell bitcoin, and not to store funds (unless you use the Multisignature Vault).

You can read their guide on Bitcoin wallets to find a wallet that truly gives you full control over your cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase Bitcoin Wallet Security:
Users may create three types of wallets with Coinbase: wallet, vault & multisig vault.

Coinbase Vault:
Coinbase offers a unique solution for securing larger amounts of bitcoin.

Bitcoin stored in a Vault account can be protected by multiple approvers. If a user adds two approvers to his vault, both must confirm that the withdrawal is valid before it processes.
All withdrawals from Vaults take 48-hours to process. The time delay provides a safety net.

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Coinbase Multisig Vault:
Its multisig vault is a 2 of 3 wallet, where Coinbase has one key, one key is shared, and the third key is held by the account holder.

Any two of the three keys allows spending of funds. If Coinbase goes down, you still have both the shared key and your own key. Funds cannot be held because the shared key is encrypted with your password.

Privacy:
Your name, phone number, email, and a number of other personal details are required. Each payment request uses a new address, which helps prevent other users from connecting Bitcoin addresses together.

Coinbase USD wallet:
Will let you store dollars in your Coinbase account. Advantages to using a wallet:

You can store dollars in your account so that when you do want to purchase bitcoins you don’t have to wait five days for a bank transfer to process. You can spend bitcoins online without exposing yourself to Bitcoin’s volatility.

Coinbase Debit Card:
Shift Payments released a debit card that connects to your Coinbase account. It uses your Coinbase balance as the debit card’s source of funds, allowing you to spend bitcoins at any merchant accepting Visa.

Coinbase lets you buy bitcoins instantly with a credit card or debit card. Here are step-by-step instructions to help make the buying process easier for you.

1) Create an Account on Coinbase:
Once you create an account, confirm your personal details and login. You may be asked to upload a scan of ID. Once you’ve logged in, continue to the next step.

2) Navigate to account settings:
Navigate to the top right corner and click on your name. There should be a drop-down menu where you can click “Settings”. Then click “Payment Methods” on the menu at the top. Click on “Add Payment Method” in the right corner.

3) Click “Credit/Debit Card”

4) Enter your Credit/Debit Card Information:
Note that Coinbase only accepts Visa and Mastercard credit/debit cards at this time.

5) Confirmation:
You should see a confirmation like the one below. If so, your credit/debit card has been successfully added!

6) Buy Bitcoins!
Go to the buy page and you should see a widget that looks like the image below:

Enter the amount you want to buy, and click “Buy Bitcoin Instantly”. Your coins will then be delivered to your Coinbase wallet!

Done...... Welcome to the world of Cryptocurrency.


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Currency Evolution: Trades, Exchanges, Money into Blockchain & Beyond

   

   

Wealth creation had to have a start. If we look around, you'll see that physical currency, whether in trades or business cents (sense) has evolved.  

Let's begin..........

   Remember back in school when we would offer a bag of chip for someone else's juice box.......a simple trade right?  An exchange of goods for other goods without the use of currency aka money.  

   Long before money was invented, this transaction for exchanging services or goods called "bartering" were used. A process of trading services and/or goods between two parties without the use of money or physical currencies.

   These goods could be spices, furs, crafts, weapons, livestock, foods and of course, work. If you had a specialized skill that could be use, you might work for room and board. Salt, was a very popular spice and of such value back then, that Roman soldiers were paid with it.

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   Bartering took time though......there was negotiations, knowing who you were negotiating with, different customs and the value of the items to be bartered.  Then there was the fact that what if what you had to offer was not what the other wanted or vise versa. 

Bartering back then....."I have what you need" was the call of the day. 

Example: 

          One trader may have spices & fur, you may need weapon and wheat. So you can see where issues would arise.

Physical currencies or money would speed transactions up. 

   To make it work efficiently there has to be a value tied to this physical currency.... like rubies, gems, silver, gold & diamonds. 

Let's step back a bit.......

   As early as 1100BC items like axes & tools are believed to be used in China. Out of which the first coins were established. Around 600BC King of Lydia (a part of Turkey) established the official currency minted out of silver & gold. Somewhere 1200BCish, China had upgraded to paper currency. Being lighter and compact. 1600AD brought paper currency to the European banks. 

  As the U.S. colonies were themselves establishing their independence, the Massachusetts Colony created their own coins (1652). They also issued the Americans earliest notes (1690). The U.S. first cent was authorized in 1787, made of copper called a "Fugio" cent. President Abraham Lincoln signed the National (Currency) Banking Acts of 1863.

   With markets opening up by banks and ruling governments for which participants from across the globe exploded into international trades.

 

  Banking notes, currency markets and the need to determine comparative values on the many currencies. Brings the 17th century the first active foreign exchange market or forex to Amsterdam.

The evolution of currency did not stop there. 

   21st century trades introduces society to not only digital, mobile payments, but virtual currency as well. 

   Electronic (e) cards……credit, debit & check cards are abundant in our society today. Direct-deposit, online banking and almost every payment (car, house note etc.) you make can be processed online through some form of digital media. Do you really even see your money in hard form anymore?

   Along comes an aspiring technology called "Blockchain". This distributed ledger works ingeniously with the internet. A simple explanation breaks it down as......

   

Make an transaction, that request is expressed through a Peer-2-Peer network called Nodes (a network of computers). Algorithms validate the status & transaction. Once verified whether it records, music, contracts, videos, digital ads or of course cryptocurrency. A new "Block" is created with all transaction for the ledger. This new block is added to the chain and can not be altered. It is permanent. Transaction completed. Data is transparent within the network, making it public. Yet, one would have to override the entire network to corrupt (hack) the data.

   In 2008, a programmer and/or associates noted as "Satoshi Nakamoto" issued a paper outlining "Digital Currency" and in 2009 initiated software that generated cryptocurrency & the first "BITCOIN" network . Bitcoin is not a physical coinage. It is a decentralized authority, no government nor central banker has the power. Where as all other forms of currency are government/bank issued. Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that is fast becoming a household name.

   For now, understand the difference between virtual, digital & crypto currency.

Virtual Currency ~  Is a type of unregulated, digital money, which is controlled by its developers. Accepted among it's specific virtual community. Say, PS4 gaming format, online game programs where currencies are only of value within that particular game or system. How about those virtual casino games. Those winning can not be use in the real world.

Digital Currency ~ Is a form of virtual currency that is electronically created and stored. For instance, Paypal, Android pay, Apple pay or Visa checkout. All transactions are strictly executed in a digital online format.


Crypto Currency ~ Is a subgroup of digital currency that uses cryptography for security. However, some types of digital currencies are cryptocurrencies. 

      Money ~ Then & Now

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