Four Things To Know About Cryptocurrency

Unless you've spent the last year living underground, with no access whatsoever to another human being, much less any contact with social media, you will have heard/seen something about cryptocurrency (crypto for short), or at least a mention of the most famous of all the 1,300 cryptocurrencies in existence today - Bitcoin. At the time of publication, one Bitcoin is valued at $17,439 and total market cap for all cryptos has risen from $17bn at the start of the year to $492bn.

What is cryptocurrency?

Crypto/virtual currency, is defined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange; and/or a unit of account; and/or a store of value. It does not have legal tender in any jurisdiction, and it is not issued nor guaranteed by any jurisdiction. Its functionality and value exist only by agreement of a community of its users and is different to e-money in that e-money is a