Cryptocurrencies and Their Relationship with Social Media
Cryptocurrencies and social media aren’t always two terms that you’d put together in the same sentence, but believe it or not, the links between the two are surprisingly prominent. Whether you’re an investor looking for a social feature to enrich the experience, or you’re simply interested in how social media can affect cryptocurrency use, we’re exploring cryptocurrencies and their relationship with social media below.
The First Ever Purchase
Okay, so social media may not be the best way to trade, but did you know that the first ever purchase made with Bitcoin was conducted through the use of a forum? Before Bitcoin truly took off, there were no trading platforms to speak of, and so the 10,000 bitcoin purchase of two large pizzas had to be negotiated through an online discussion. Of course, times have changed and we’re hardly negotiating the purchase of foodstuffs in return for Bitcoins online anymore, but we can hardly ignore Bitcoin’s humble beginnings in the world of forums.
The Spread of News
Nowadays, social media’s relationship with cryptocurrencies relies much more heavily on increasing awareness via news. Of course, we could probably find out about Bitcoin without having to go anywhere near our Facebook pages, but what about altcoins? Ethereum and Litecoin are holding their own as alternative choices in the news, but the lesser known cryptocurrencies rely on social media for the spread of knowledge.
Take Dogecoin, for example, without social media, this coin would never have existed but it has also helped to spread the news of cryptocurrencies in and of itself. This meme-based coin may have been created as a bit of a joke, but those that knew of the meme but not cryptocurrencies as a whole could’ve had their eyes opened to the world of decentralized payments, thus increasing the spread of cryptocurrencies in general.
How Social Media Impacts Cryptocurrencies
If there’s anything to proving the links between social media and cryptocurrencies, it’s the simple fact that the best trading platform companies are starting to offer social features with their services. Of course, there’s also the fact that traditional social media as we know it can also have a profound effect on cryptocurrencies as a whole. Negative news, positive news, no news – these can all affect the price, popularity, and trust in these coins as we know them and due to the influence that our platforms can undoubtedly have on our decisions, this can even affect our decisions as to whether to invest or avoid the topic completely.
Given that cryptocurrencies are a decentralized method of payment that essentially determines their own worth, this could have devastating effects. The more people that use a coin, the higher the coin’s worth. Lack of news or negative opinions can crash the value of any cryptocurrency, especially those that already have such high volatility.
What Could the Future Hold?
The future of cryptocurrencies and social media could not only lie in the influence that we’ve mentioned previously, but also in the way that we use our social channels. The security of our social networks has been a huge issue as of late, particularly with talk of the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Facebook, and blockchain technology could be the answer that we’re looking for. By decentralizing our social platforms, third parties cannot get a hold of information without permission and private or public keys to decrypt the information we want to spread. Our content would be our own, our details would be our own and the overall chance of theft or fraud would be considerably lower, if not eradicated completely.
With the above in mind, the question that remains is this – what are we waiting for? Social media makes up a huge part of our lives but with the sheer volume of people online today, security, in particular, is a huge issue. Cryptocurrencies and social media could work well together, introducing a seamless way to make payments and to be social online, but it’s still a matter of waiting before this becomes widely available outside of trading platforms.
—
We hope you enjoyed the promoted post as much as we did!
