Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that can be used for online purchases.
For the time being, cryptocurrency can’t be used in the same way traditional forms of currency can; very few in-person or online stores accept forms of cryptocurrency as payment. The main allure of cryptocurrency right now is its investment potential: people will buy cryptocurrency, hoping to make money off of it when and if cryptocurrency becomes a more popular method of payment. Senior Marcin Kopeciewski said he thinks cryptocurrency will replace traditional forms of currency in the near future.
“I think it’s starting to become a valid form of currency and I can see in the future — there being no paper currency or coins, everything is just crypto,” Kopeciewski said.
A few students who are already legal adults have made the decision to begin investing in crypto. Kopeciewski said seeing the rise of Bitcoin and other promising forms of cryptocurrency got him interested in investing himself.
“I have invested at least $1,000 in cryptocurrency. So a pretty good amount. It’s definitely aggressive, but I haven’t lost any money, which is good,” Kopeciewski said.
Kopeciewski said seeing how much money some people made by investing in crypto motivated him to begin investing himself.
“People who had invested thousands of dollars ended up becoming billionaires. It was pretty cool to see that. That could be me in the future if I invest like they did. And if I get lucky with some currencies, then I could also make it big,” Kopeciewski said.
A handful of students who are not yet old enough to invest themselves have taken to investing in cryptocurrency with the help of their parents. Junior Jonathan Tom said that with his mother’s supervision, he set up an account on the cryptocurrency exchange platform Uphold. Tom said he’s invested $400 in various forms of crypto with money from his job and savings account, and that he plans to invest more down the road.
“I did it because I feel like the future of transactions is with crypto technology. Crypto will do to cash what Napster did to the way we consume music,” Tom said.
Napster was a file sharing network that allowed people to exchange music with each other online. As a result of Napster, many people abandoned traditional methods of listening to music like vinyl or CDs in favor of streaming music online.
Junior Taniish Agarwal said he’s invested in some meme stocks, such as Dogecoin.
“I’ve put roughly ten percent of my portfolio into it, so roughly $300,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal said he doesn’t plan on investing more, but he does think the investments he’s already made will make him some money in the future.
“I think I may make some profit just because there’s so much consumer demand for it,”
Other members of the student body have voiced their distaste for cryptocurrency. Senior Sky Darkhand said they think cryptocurrency is a good idea, but it isn’t being executed properly.
“In theory it’s a cool idea to make a currency that’s untraceable and not backed by a government, but in practice it’s just a way for gullible people to invest in something volatile,” Darkhand said.
Digital currency isn’t the only thing crypto-technology is used for. Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are crypto-assets that can be purchased through websites like OpenSea and Rarible using Ethereum, which is a form of cryptocurrency. NFTs are pieces of tokenized digital artwork which are impossible to duplicate or steal, according to NFT enthusiasts.
Using other people’s art isn’t the only way to make NFTs. Many artists have made their own character-creator of sorts to then randomly generate unique NFTs they can sell to others. Examples of NFT projects like this include Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.
Despite being very popular with celebrities and wealthy crypto investors, not many other people in the crypto space are approving of NFTs. Tom said he thinks NFTs are a cool idea, but the community surrounding it is terrible.
“NFTs on paper are an excellent idea. You can make any asset or document digital with irrefutable proof of ownership. Though the market at the moment is full of scams and schemes that make it a high-risk investment opportunity. Once changes are made to address these issues I believe NFTs will change the way we buy and sell digital goods and provide a means of preventing fraud,” Tom said.
Junior Daniel Spassov said that NFTs are unimaginably stupid, and he’s baffled they even exist.
“It’s like if someone was selling used toilet paper. Technically since each bit has a different pattern of poo on it, it’s one of a kind and worth investing in. Then you buy it, and instead of getting the toilet paper you get a link to an image of it that anybody can copy since it’s the internet,” said Spassov.
