Cryptocurrencies are something that have been sweeping the world, especially in the last year. If you’re not familiar with them, cryptocurrencies are basically digital currencies, most commonly bitcoin and ethereum, that use cryptography to secure their transactions and control the creation of new units of currency (e.g., bitcoin). 

They can be traded for cash or used to buy goods and services on the internet. Cryptocurrencies are also known as altcoins (alternative coins) or cryptos for short.

1) They're Decentralized

The decentralization is the core principle that makes cryptocurrency so amazing. There are no banks, no governments, and no one to control your funds. It's just you and your cryptocurrency wallet. 

Plus, there are many benefits to this technology such as peer-to-peer transactions, which allow for sending any amount of currency to anyone in the world without having to go through a third party like a bank. With these kind of transactions, merchants don't have to pay hefty fees (as much as 4%!) for every purchase made with cards. 

In addition, because it is decentralized, blockchain provides greater transparency and security than traditional banking institutions.

2) They're Borderless

The beauty of cryptocurrencies is that they're borderless, which means you can send money to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. 

This also means that if you want to start a business, you don't need to worry about whether your target market is on the other side of the globe. With cryptocurrency, distance has no bearing on how your business operates. All you need is an internet connection and someone who accepts your form of currency. 

In fact, this lack of restrictions may be why cryptocurrency has been adopted so quickly by people in countries like Venezuela who are looking for ways to protect their wealth from high inflation rates.

3) They're Secure

Cryptocurrencies are secure. Since they're digital, they can be broken into pieces and stored on many computers at the same time. This makes them hard to steal, since the thief would need to break into an impossibly large number of places at once. 

And if you lose your cryptocurrency key—a sort of password—you just enter in a new one and carry on. The keys themselves are mathematically encoded so that nobody else can use them. 

Because these transactions take place over the internet, there is no physical money involved and it's easy for people to transfer their cryptocurrencies from country to country without having it held up by banks or other financial institutions. 

The security aspects of this technology make it seem as though cryptocurrencies might be the future for money; maybe even replacing paper bills altogether someday!

4) They're Private

If you're concerned about the privacy of your personal information, cryptocurrencies are the perfect solution. 

These digital currencies use advanced encryption and cryptography to keep your financial transactions secure and private. Transactions are recorded on a blockchain, but they're not linked to you or your device in any way. This means that no one can determine how much money you have, where it's stored or what you do with it. 

And if someone hacks into your account? Your funds will still be safe because those details aren't attached to the transaction.

5) They're Fast

One of the best benefits of cryptocurrencies is that they're extremely fast. With the Bitcoin network, you can send money anywhere in the world and it will arrive within an hour or two. 

As far as international transactions go, this is amazingly fast. For example, if you want to send $100 from New York to a friend in London, with Bitcoin you can do it in 10 minutes for only about $1 worth of fees! It's much cheaper than using traditional wire transfers which often charge up to $50 per transaction. 

Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum are even faster than Bitcoin. The average time for Ethereum transactions take just seconds!

6) They're Cheap

They're Cheap- With most cryptocurrencies, the more people that buy in and the higher their demand, the higher the price will get. 

This is due to supply and demand being a major factor in how prices are set. For example, Bitcoin is notoriously volatile because it’s so new. As more people invest in Bitcoin, the higher its price can go.

7) They're Programmable

Programmable money is a game changer. With Bitcoin, you can program transactions to happen at a certain time, after a certain date, or when something happens in the world. For example, you could set up an automated payment to be transferred from your bank account to someone else's on a monthly basis. 

There are countless other ways this technology will change the way we live and it's just getting started! As programmers get more involved with creating new applications for these platforms, the future will only continue to evolve. 

We're not saying that everything is going digital overnight but cryptocurrencies may become so common that they're more valuable than dollars!

8) They're Open Source

Cryptocurrencies are based on open-source code, which means that they're designed to be transparent, reliable and secure. Anyone with the right skills can read through the codes and confirm they're not being cheated or scammed. 

In a world where many people feel like they're in control of their information, this is a huge deal.

9) They have a Limited Supply

Cryptocurrency has a limited supply, which means that only a certain number will ever be mined. This is the total number of coins that have been created, and this number is predetermined. 

There will never be more than twenty-one million (21,000,000) Bitcoins mined in total, for example. It also means that there are less coins to go around as the demand increases. 

The fact that cryptocurrencies can't be printed without regulation (or at all) can limit central banks from increasing the money supply during an economic downturn, according to Forbes. But with increased demand and decreasing supply, people who invest in cryptocurrency should enjoy price appreciation over time.

10) They're Resilient

The cryptocurrency market is resilient because it's decentralized. There is no single point of failure, which means the market can't be manipulated with a DDoS attack or by hacking into a centralized exchange. 

This decentralization also makes it more difficult for governments to regulate exchanges and mining operations, meaning there is less risk that one country will dominate the market. For example, China banned ICOs in September 2017 while other countries are welcoming them. 

Some experts predict that China will eventually change its position on ICOs and cryptocurrencies as they have had success with their own digital currency (and some speculation has suggested Russia may follow suit).