CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — If you feel lost when people bring up discussions about Bitcoin, you’re not alone. In fact, Bitcoin is a foreign concept to a lot of people.
However, cryptocurrency is more than a fad — it’s now traded on Wall Street.
But, without proper regulation measures in place, people across the country are falling victim to scams asking them to buy Bitcoin. As a result, lawmakers are now calling for stricter oversight of cryptocurrencies.
The value can fluctuate wildly — making a mint for those who buy at the right time.
But some people blinded by the lure of instant riches are getting ripped off. So, is Bitcoin a suitable investment?
Daniel Roberts, the editor-in-chief of Decrypt Media, says he likes to explain cryptocurrency as a digital asset to people.
“It is a digital-only asset, and in many ways across multiple categories, value has gone digital. So I just tell people not to think of it as hard physical money, you can’t touch it, but it’s an investment that lives online; it’s internet money.”
You trade and store crypto in wallets, but not the leather kind. Crypto wallets can either be digital and managed on an app or website or physical like a thumb drive. The kind you choose depends on what you intend to do with your crypto.
“The truth is that cryptocurrency has kind of become a misnomer. People aren’t really using these as currencies; they’re not using them as everyday cash,” said Roberts, who’s covered cryptocurrency since 2011. “But use cases of technology has changed over time. It’s been trading for about 12 years; it has never gone to 0.”
But not all cryptocurrency is Bitcoin — there’s ethereum, dogecoin, etc. Roberts suggests people research the cryptocurrency they’re interested in before purchasing.
“I tell people DYOR — do your own research; read up on things before you just go buying them.”
Watch the full interview in the media player above.