There is an entire cryptocurreny forum here
https://hotcopper.com.au/topic/cryptocurrency/
but I thought I would share my thoughts and recent actions on the STT forum
I have been dabbling in cryptocurrencies for awhile and even mined a few as a hobby, have never seen them as a legitimate currency until recently. What changed? The Ethereum project
https://www.ethereum.org/
Unlike the bitcoin protocol, Ethereum was designed to be adaptable and flexible and will give birth to completely decentralised applications (called dapps)
http://ethdocs.org/en/latest/introduction/web3.html - the potential of this alone is mind boggling imo
The ethereum project was endorsed in Feb 2017 by tech giants including Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, 30 big banks and other F500's -
http://fortune.com/2017/02/28/ethereum-jpmorgan-microsoft-alliance/
It is called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance -
https://entethalliance.org/
Since then the Ethereum currency ether has exploded and for good reason, Ether has genuine prospects of becoming the defacto decentralised cryptocurrency that will completely disrupt financial services and achieve real world applications via dapps. Some interesting dialogue here
https://www.quora.com/topic/Ethereum-blockchain-app-platform and I find this contributor very knowledgeable
https://www.quora.com/profile/Ken-Liu-29
So what actions have I taken?
After alot of research and watching the price of ether just keep rising, I made the decision to invest heavily in ethereum
In April I went here
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/ and bought the ledger Nano S x2 - double pack - it only took 1 week to arrive in Melbourne Australia
I signed up for a cex.io account and began depositing the maximum amount daily and purchasing ETH - use the trade section to purchase it (it has a buy and sell trading depth just like share trading) as this is the cheaper option, buying direct from cex.io adds a 7% premium and in my experience offers no greater security. Once my Ledger Nano S had arrived and been setup I transferred all my ether into it (known as a hardware wallet) and disconnected it from network. The ledger nano s is suprisingly easy to configure and use, make sure you firmware update it with the Ledger Manager google app out of the box
IMO the future of cryptocurrency will have just 2 important players, bitcoin and ethereum, if you want to hold both, there is a fantastic browser wallet that will allow you to interchange both for a tiny fee - Jaxx Blockchain Wallet -
https://jaxx.io/
I used it to convert all my altcoins strewn about the place into ether using the google chrome plugin, dont panic if you see coins disappear, just go into settings and Reset Jaxx Cache. I then transferred my consolidated coins into ether to my Ledger Nano S (which also holds bitcoin in the same hardware wallet if you so choose)
We live in the age of the fiat currency with massive expansion in the US money supply on a monthly basis, and the conventional wisdom is to protect against this with buying gold for example. I think the days that this is a valid strategy are over. Imo bitcoin and ether are the best hedge against a "financial apocalypse" or hyperinflation (you wont be realistically trading gold for goods in a financial meltdown, and a decentralised cryptocurrency will allow trade to floorish outside of having to go back to bartering for example)
Japan makes Bitcoin legal -
http://www.cityam.com/262245/bitcoin-prices-jump-japan-makes-crytocurrency-legal
African countires are looking to bitcoin to solve their currency problems due to political instability:
http://www.newsbtc.com/2017/01/15/nigeria-will-lead-bitcoin-adoption-africa-soon/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-stands-in-the-way-of-bitcoin-mass-adoption-in-africa
Bitcoin adoption as a currency is becoming global, but Ether is bitcoin++, its bitcoin with dapps (decentralised applications) and its potential uses and its tie in with IOT makes it imo the best potential investment in 2017
http://www.coindesk.com/german-utility-company-turns-to-blockchain-amid-shifting-energy-landscape/
I hope this has sparked some interest in what I believe will be my best investment in the next few years leading up to Ethereum going POS. As you have gathered I am very excited, here is a nice beginners guide to ethereum -
If you want to get your head around the ethereum project abit more here are some ecxcellent articles:
https://btcmanager.com/welcome-to-the-world-of-blockchain-consensus-protocols/
https://btcmanager.com/buterin-confirms-ethereums-proof-of-stake-75-percent-complete/
If you want to get a sense of the excitement building around the potential of the ethereum project
http://www.coindesk.com/spiritual-experience-hot-wild-ethereum-summit-sign-times/
http://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-iot-project-wins-100k-dubai-blockchain-hackathon/
But if you havent already bought ether, have you missed the boat? Imo not even close, my average is a little over $100USD as I keep adding almost everyday. It would have been fantastic to get into ether before the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance formed, but I still think we are at the dawn of a huge bull run in Ether.
I will stop there, the above is not investment advice, I am just very excited with this tech and potential, and I realise that this is a VERY risky investment and I could lose the lot, so please trade carefully and do your own research if you are interested.
