Learn the ABCs of #cryptocurrency in simple language! In this chapter, we explore the practical applications of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies for everyday individuals. Perfect for beginners and anyone curious about digital currencies.
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Introduction
This chapter continues a series of articles “cryptocurrencies for dummies”. You can recap content of previous articles here:
And today we will take a glance from a distant stance of a non-technical ordinary human-being what use-cases of blockchain and cryptocurrencies already exist.
I am sure that this is a very important topical issue because now there is a huge amount of hype and materials on the net promoting various blockchain projects and platforms. People hype keywords, attracting traffic to their sites, drawing attention to their projects. This is all logical. For example, now the buzz word is RWA (real world assets) tokenization, there is a lot of noise about this topic. But from the point of view of applying this in everyday life, such a use case (RWA tokenization) does not exist for ordinary people so far. I think that such hype, when attention is drawn to something that cannot now be used in everyday life, only hinders the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in our lives. Therefore, let’s try to objectively look at the situation with the use of these revolutionary technologies. And make sure that this is not just hype and scam.
So, today we will try to figure out in questions
How to use cryptocurrencies?
How to use blockchain?
by ordinary people in everyday life.
Let’s get started…
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How can I use cryptocurrencies right now?
Let’s get acquainted with seven key applications that are shaping the landscape of cryptocurrency adoption for everyday people.
Digital Payments
Of course, I would like to start with the fact that cryptocurrencies are already a very real means of payment on a parity with traditional bank cards. Cryptocurrencies provide a fast, secure, and borderless means of conducting transactions. Platforms like Coinbase, Binance, ByBit and PayPal now allow users to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies with ease. There are many merchants and businesses across various industries, that accept cryptocurrency payments. You can legally buy almost anything with cryptocurrency. From food and clothes to real-estate and Ferrari. Retail, Travel and Hospitality, Food and Beverage, Tech Products and Services, E-commerce, Entertainment and Gaming, Real Estate, Art and Collectibles — in all these industries there are already global and well-known companies that accept payments in cryptocurrency. There are many reviews on this topic on the Internet. For example, the following websites provide a list of enterprises that accept payments in cryptocurrency.
https://bitpay.com/directory
https://crypto.com/bitcoin/who-accepts-bitcoin-payments-in-2024
In fact, payments in cryptocurrency are even more convenient for ordinary people when shopping online than payments with a traditional bank card. Assess these arguments:
Privacy
Cryptocurrency transactions offer a higher level of privacy and security compared to traditional bank card payments. Because each bank card has your personal ID info associated with it, but no such vulnerability cryptocurrency wallet.
Low fees and fast
Cryptocurrencies removes the need for intermediaries like banks or payment processors, like VISA or MasterCard. Cryptocurrency transactions are not bound by geographical borders or currency exchange rates. So, Cryptocurrency transactions often have lower fees and faster compared to traditional bank card payments.
Financial freedom
And of course, it is important to emphasize that with cryptocurrencies, anyone with internet access can participate in the global economy and engage in online transactions without the need for a bank account or credit history in a specific state. Due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, single points of failure and censorship are eliminated, providing users with greater control over their funds and financial freedom.
Ease of payment operations
And ease of use should be added as well. Cryptocurrency payments are usually made by several clicks and accepting payment transaction, without the need to enter bank card requisites, which is necessary with bank card payments.
Long-term investments & passive income
The next use of cryptocurrencies, which is already available to everyone, is the purchase of a certain cryptocurrency as a means of passive income by increasing the value of the asset over time.
Cryptocurrencies have historically demonstrated the potential for significant price appreciation over time. Of course, we are not talking about all cryptocurrencies. We are talking about key blockchain projects and prominent sectors players, shaping the future of this industry. For instance, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
There is one simple explanation why these projects have huge potential for growth. Because we are only at the beginning of the period when cryptocurrencies enter our daily lives. Over time, more and more people will use blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in their daily lives, and therefore the demand for the cryptocurrency of these leading blockchain projects will grow, these blockchain projects will generate more and more income for the owners of their cryptocurrencies.
Why this strategy might be better than traditional financial instruments?
Higher yields
Cryptocurrencies offer various innovative passive income opportunities, such as staking, liquidity provision, and lending, which may provide higher yields compared to traditional fixed-income instruments like savings accounts or bonds. The fact is, the most reliable and conservative tool for passive income in cryptocurrency — lending in stablecoins like USDC or DAI, — offers higher returns than traditional bank savings accounts or deposits in pegged currency (USD). Much higher.
Lower initial capital to entry
Investing in cryptocurrencies often has lower barriers to entry compared to traditional financial instruments. Individuals can start investing in cryptocurrencies with small amounts of capital (say, $10 or $100), whereas traditional investment vehicles may require larger initial investments and more extensive regulatory compliance.
Financial freedom
As like in previous paragraph. Anyone with internet access can leverage this global decentralized financial market. No more need for intermediaries like banks and regulators, often putting restrictions and prohibition on the access to certain tools. Users gains greater control over their funds and financial freedom.
Here are some resources and projects where you can start your own journey into the world of long-term investment in cryptocurrencies:
https://defillama.com,
https://aave.com,
https://lido.fi,
https://compound.finance
Before allocating capital to cryptocurrency as long-term investment, you should carefully assess the subject of potential investment in terms of risk management strategies, technical and economic metrics of a cryptocurrency. It’s essential to conduct thorough research and understand the picture in general associated with each opportunity before participating. This is a big topic for an independent article, far beyond the current one. I will tell you how to conduct such research separately.
Cryptocurrency active trading
If you go beyond simple passive waiting for big percentages, then cryptocurrencies provide practically unlimited opportunities for traders. Primarily due to the next key factors:
Volatility
Cryptocurrency markets are renowned for their high volatility, meaning that prices can fluctuate significantly over short periods. While volatility presents risks, it also creates opportunities for traders to profit from price movements. Whereas in traditional financial markets, such as stocks and bonds, volatility is often lower, making it challenging to generate substantial returns over short periods.
Accessibility
Cryptocurrency markets are highly accessible to traders worldwide, offering a level playing field for participants regardless of geographical location or financial background. Unlike traditional financial markets, which may have barriers to entry such as high capital requirements, complex regulatory frameworks, and limited trading hours, cryptocurrency markets operate 24/7 and can be accessed with minimal capital and paperwork. This accessibility democratizes trading and allows individuals from diverse backgrounds to participate in the global financial system actively.
Unlimited options
The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector offers a virtually unlimited range of financial instruments for active traders. Decentralized exchanges (DEX) and centralized exchanges (CEX), liquidity pools, lending and leverage lending, borrowing, leverage trading, derivatives trading, synthetic assets, options, futures, prediction markets, NFT and meme-coin trading, arbitrage, trading-bots and algorithmic trading. Experienced and skilled traders with high technical awareness and competent risk management strategy can skillfully combine all these opportunities to receive truly unprecedented rewards for trading in 24/7 mode.
You can conduct your own research on DeFi projects that interest you as a trader using as the entry point the
https://defillama.com/yields/projects
Cross-Border Payments and Remittances
Separately from digital payments, I would like to highlight cross-border payments and remittances. Precisely because Cryptocurrencies removes the need for intermediaries like banks or payment processors, like VISA or MasterCard or national regulators, issuing licenses for this activity, while conducting cross-border payments and remittances. All this makes the process easier and cheaper for end users, you and me.
You can use stablecoins like USDC and Tether (USDT) to enable seamless remittances and international transfers, particularly beneficial for individuals in regions with limited access to traditional banking services.
But mind, this is truly a monumentally huge market. Therefore, I think that States, traditional banks and payment systems will not give up so easily. And it is precisely in this part that cryptocurrencies will remain outlaw for a long time. However, this does not prevent you from using it in everyday life and transferring funds to your partners or family abroad right today.
Play-to-earn
Isn’t it cool to play and earn money at the same time? Play-to-earn gaming models leverages blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to reward players for their time and skills. Games like Axie Infinity and Decentraland allow users to earn cryptocurrency by participating in gameplay, trading virtual assets, and contributing to the ecosystem.
If you are interested in this topic, then you can begin your independent immersion with the ratings of projects that deal with this. It seems better to start the study with the leaders. They set the trend and determine the direction of development.
Check out the following lists:
https://coinmarketcap.com/view/play-to-earn
https://chainplay.gg
https://www.playtoearn.online
And you can start earning your crypto by playing online games already tomorrow.
Participate in DAO.
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are community-governed organizations that allow members to collectively make decisions and manage resources. DAO is a collective of anonymous individuals who choose participation and contributing to a blockchain project by means of owning tokens (cryptocurrency) of this project. In other words, it is an online organization of individuals united around some idea, without a single point of control. They stick to a specific protocol defining rules of a given DAO. DAOs are fully autonomous and transparent. Smart contracts of a DAO initially carry the foundational rules of this organization, ensure a governance mechanism that allows individuals to vote, execute the agreed upon decisions, coordinate action through resources’ allocation to deliver a goal of a DAO. Due to the open-source nature of transactions and smart-contracts at any point, proposals, voting and decisions can be publicly audited. DAO differentiates powers of token holders based on a contribution level. DAOs can operate across borders without difficulty, bringing members together across geographic boundaries. Decentralized governance makes them more resilient to risks coming from central points of failure. Individuals who wish to participate in the DAO purchase the required amount of DAO cryptocurrency and entitle to actively participate in this community. Active participation is expressed in the ability to vote on proposed changes or receive income in the form of commissions from the general income of this DAO.
A notable example is UniswapDAO (https://gov.uniswap.org) and this news
https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-token-pumps-fee-switch-proposal
UNI token holders are rewarded now by protocol fees.
If you are interested in becoming an active participant in the DAO, then again, you can start by narrowing the overall ratings. Where to find the community closest to your spirit and interests.
Here is a list of resources for finding your dream DAO.
https://coinmarketcap.com/view/dao
https://deepdao.io/organizations
Of course, you can set up your own DAO according to your goals and vision and invite your friends and everyone to it. So, with the help of cryptocurrencies, you will be able to become part of the innovatory community tomorrow and make your contribution to the development of the blockchain industry, and even in some cases receive a money reward for this.
Creating your own businesses. Make your own cryptocurrency.
Yes. Exactly. One of the options for using cryptocurrency today for regular people is to launch your own project in the field of blockchain technology and mint your own cryptocurrency. This industry is a huge niche of unsolved problems. If we are talking about creating your own business in the crypto industry, then today there are a great many of the most pressing and unresolved problems, where possible to put efforts. This is simply an endless field for the activities of creative and energetic entrepreneurs.
Let’s highlight some of these compelling issues.
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory uncertainty and compliance requirements vary widely across jurisdictions, posing challenges for businesses operating in the crypto space. Startups that navigate regulatory complexities effectively, implement compliance measures, and engage with regulators proactively can mitigate legal risks and foster trust with users and investors.
Education and Awareness
Despite the increasing interest in cryptocurrencies, many people still lack a basic understanding of blockchain technology and its potential applications. Businesses that provide educational resources, training programs, and community outreach initiatives can play a vital role in raising awareness, fostering adoption, and empowering individuals to participate in the crypto economy.
Tokenization of real world assets (RWA)
Traditional asset classes, such as real estate, stocks, and commodities, can be illiquid and inaccessible to retail investors. Businesses that leverage blockchain technology to tokenize assets, enabling fractional ownership and trading of otherwise illiquid assets, can democratize access to investment opportunities and unlock new markets.
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As a summary
Here is a visualization of the content of this article:
In conclusion, the journey through the use cases of blockchain and cryptocurrencies undertaken in this article reveals a landscape rich with opportunities for ordinary individuals. From facilitating digital payments to enabling long-term investments and passive income streams, cryptocurrencies are reshaping the way people interact with financial systems. The advantages of privacy, low fees, and financial freedom inherent in cryptocurrencies offer compelling reasons for individuals to embrace this emerging technology. Moreover, the innovative concepts of play-to-earn gaming, participation in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and even creating one’s own.
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