Any investment should have some kind of value-backing concept that investors can feel comfortable with. A stock, which represents ownership in a company, has earnings and book value that investors can use to try to determine a value. Farmers can make a claim on their land stating it can produce assets for them.

On the surface, cryptocurrencies don't appear to have a value to back it. The value is derived solely from the players in the system. Therefore, it would seem that they are nothing but speculations.

It's not as simple as that, however. Most cryptocurrencies are backed by a platform known as a blockchain. This blockchain can be thought of as a decentralized ledger. A traditional bank account is a centralized ledger.

But, blockchains can and do support much more than cryptocurrencies, and here is where one may find that value backing.

To grasp this concept, consider that Wealthy Affiliate has a currency system known as credits. These credits support the platform. You can earn and buy credits in order to use aspects of the system. You can use them to get comments on your website or to get feedback ,etc. This is very much how blockchains work, at least with respect to their associated cryptocurrencies. The credits in a blockchain, a.k.a., the cryptocurrency supports the applications running on the blockchain.

When the dust finally settles, blockchains will continue to house applications that can help people create contracts, run corporations, or even play games, among other functions. It is then people will be able to better value the blockchains rather than the cryptocurencies.

Best Regards,
Jim

Ummm, very interesting read, thanks Robert! Wealthy Affiliate is definitely the best way to invest. Cryptocurrency - yes, don't invest more than you have for sure. I've taken chances in my life... some good, some not so good and I wish I had put more thought into making the decision.

It's all about making smart decisions on smart choices.

I agree, Cryptocurrency is very volatile at present, with pundits saying everything from it will die to it will be worth millions. Invest if you want to but be prepared to lose it.

Wealthy Affiliate, and by extension Affiliate marketing makes no promises, other than you will be rewarded for your hard work. This is a bit ambiguous as not everyone's hard work gets rewarded. Your work has to be appealing to your audience. So it is harder than it looks. But not impossible, and there are people to help you along the way here at WA.

Hi Robert

A lot of Cryptocurrency platforms now offer affiliate programs.
It would really be a benefit to promote a decent exchange or wallet on a affiliate website since these are so commonly used and in demand.
There are many ways to obtain Bitcoin and Altcoins without having to invest money, even by playing games so one would not have to feel like they gambling their money away.

There are also interesting tokens/ICO's being released that reward gamers for their game play like achievements and usually there is a referral program associated with it. So inviting friends to play some games and earning cryptocurrency as a bonus sounds like fun.

There are many positive and negative stories regarding Cryptocurrency (as with most things that are new and make such an impact on society) but at the end of the day it should be recognized as an opportunity.

The Elite want a cashless society, will they get it right with crypto? ^^

As for the affiliate marketing model in this post, Bitcoin can easily fall right into that product category, that affiliate marketers can take advantage of in many ways.
I have made small commissions (via EPN) from my affiliate website by sending people to eBay to purchase their Bitcoin or Ledger Nano S (hardware wallet).
Additionally the wallets like Coinbase or Luno give nice commissions and from exchanges you will receive a percentage when your referrals buy cryptocurrency.

Best regards,
Kamil

It's kind of like gambling - don't go to a casino in Las Vegas and gamble more than you can afford to lose. The stock market and cryptocurrency are no different.

I remember 2008 very clearly. Many NYC teachers lost a huge chunk of their pensions when the stock market plummeted from it's artificial highs. Those who were near retirement really suffered.

Learning to how to make your own passive income stream through websites and social media, etc is always the best way to go.

Thanks for the reminder. :-)

You are somehow right but then we still have a lot of affiliate websites that focus wholly on Cryptocurrency. So easy to refer and cash out.

Will it be wrong to have a website and start expressing your opinion by reviewing various crypto products? Crypto world is here to stay, every blogger should take advantage of the rush.

You don't need to invest your money buying and keeping it directly but you can blog about it expressing your though even if you are against it. It is a source of great traffics.

Regards

John

What is interesting, and perhaps inevitable, is that many affiliate programs are now offering Bitcoin as a payment option. So you can refer affiliates and accept commissions in Bitcoin.

I'm not talking about the dodgy-looking Bitcoin-focused "programs" (that are probably ponzi schemes) but affiliate programs that sell other products and services and accept Bitcoin as one of the payment options.

There certainly are risks and I would not recommend gambling with Bitcoin or throwing money into it. On the other hand, there are ways to earn or generate Bitcoin without any investment. One of my projects for this Quarter is to build a website to show people how to do that.

So, go careful. Don't risk your hard earned money, but also do not bury your head in the sand.

All the best,

David Hurley
#InspiredFocus

Definitely affiliate marketing all the way! I think the whole Cryptocurrency thing is a bubble that is going to pop sooner rather than later.

Now, I'm no Warren Buffet, but I know that a diverse portfolio, making slow and steady gains is the smart way to play when it comes to investing.

Affiliate marketing, although requiring some hard work upfront, will produce a solid long term business. The advantage being that's its totally scalable and far less risky.

I think being an Affiliate in a Crypto opportunity is the best of both Worlds!
Crypto, like any investment, is a risk.
Yes, Bitcoin has certainly taken a dip in the past month, but it is still worth almost 4 times more than it was 6 months ago.
Some people say cryptos are a scam because they're not regulated by governments and issued by banks.
I believe people who say that don't understand the way governments and banks manipulate the paper currencies that they do own, and therein lies the real scam. To others, that is the very thing that makes them the best thing since sliced bread.
Paper 'money' is based on trust and that is what the detractors of crytpo say is lacking. Crypto transactions, however, a based on proof since the blockchain technology that controls them is transparent, cannot be manipulated and is almost impossible to hack. I would rather have mathematical proof from a blockchain than place my trust in a politician or a banker.
One of the reasons behind Bitcoins spectacular rise in value is the market cap. Only 40 million will ever be produced or 'mined' to use the technical terminology, and so far around 28 million have been. This gives it an intrinsic value, like precious metals - something which paper currencies don't have since governments and banks took their currencies off the gold standard so they could simply print them to manipulate the economy.
Rich :-)

Rob, I have taken my gamble, I must admit. But yes, it's a small amount of money which I am prepared to lose without crying over it too much, should the crypto market take another tumble. The other thing about cryptocurrency and the small amount of money I invested in ethereum, is that I am prepared to leave it there for a long time. No rush. And I'm hoping that, at some point in the next few months, the currency will perk up again, so I can make a quick sale and, possibly, make a little profit.
It's another way of diversifying - but as you say, only for money you can afford to lose.
No doubt affiliate marketing is here to stay. The principle is the same, in so far that both are as far from the 'get rich quick' schemes as you can possibly imagine. But the advantage of affiliate mark is that, once established, your business is set to create a recurring passive income with a certain degree of certainty, unlike, as we've seen recently, cryptocurrency.

Giulia