Newbie’s Guide To Bitcoin Investing

ACT LIKE CASH, MINED LIKE GOLD

Cryptocurrency continues to gain popularity among investors and venture capital firms. Several of these individuals are betting that Bitcoin is here to stay! Before taking a stand, let us have a quick look at the basics of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a decentralized payment system developed by Satoshi Nakamoto (a Japanese pseudonym). This innovative digital currency was publicly released in 2009. We came a long way since then! A myriad of improvements or updates have been made by a network of developers.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

In simple terms, bitcoins act like cash and are mined like gold. How so?

Global retailers may allow you to purchase goods and services through this “intangible” currency. However, its acquisition poses challenges. Solving extensive mathematical equations are needed to discover new bitcoins. You will have to unlock each block and be rewarded afterwards.

It is fascinating that the developer has set a finite number of bitcoins to be mined – 21 million to be exact. The uncovered bitcoins skyrocketed in the recent years. At this rate, the final bitcoin is projected to be discovered by the year 2140.

THE ART OF ACQUISITION

Develop a strategy to obtain bitcoins by weighing the advantages and disadvantages of these primary options. You can either outright buy, mine for, or receive it.

The easiest way for beginners to acquire bitcoins is to purchase from specialized companies such as the www.coinbase.com. Coinbase.com sells bitcoins to customers at a mark-up of about 1% over the current market price. On the other hand, traders can go to bitcoin exchange websites such as the BitStamp. BitStamp eliminates the middleman as it allows you to transact with other users. See for yourself!

The second option is to dedicate your time on bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miners are crucial to the completion of transactions and the validation of genuine bitcoins. Using the computer, bitcoin miners need to verify a series of transactions that are guarded by a virtual lock called “blockchains”. Miners will run a software to find the key that will open said lock. For finding the coveted key, miners get a reward of 12.5 newly generated bitcoins. Research showed that it takes 1,789,546,951.05 attempts to find the correct key. Imagine how much effort you have to exhaust for that!

Last but not least, you may receive bitcoins offline by selling goods or services. You should apply the usual precautions when meeting a stranger for the bitcoin transaction. Meet in a public place at daytime and bring a friend (i.e., if possible).

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Are you going to embrace the future of money or treat it as a chaotic addition to the stock market?

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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What On Earth Are Bitcoins?

In the recent years, Bitcoin has captured the attention of many Singaporeans. We are gradually embracing the new wave of modern transactions – the rise of cryptocurrency! Despite its exposure, you may still be wondering what exactly it is.

BITCOIN DEFINITION

In its core, bitcoin belongs to an alternative type of payment system called cryptocurrency. It is a digital asset that enables you to conduct transactions outside of the mainstream financial infrastructures. Balances are securely stored using private and public keys. I am not referring to the metal keys that help open doors! Instead, these keys are linked through the mathematical encryption algorithms.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

One of the most challenging parts of sustaining a digital transaction is ensuring that nobody spends the “same bitcoin” more than once. As you can imagine, almost anything digital can be copied over and over again! Regulation is crucial to cryptocurrency. Traditionally, verification was done thru trusted central authorities (e.g., PayPal). What makes bitcoin special is its utilization of a huge peer-to-peer network to verify transactions. Bitcoin payments are non-reversible, transaction fees are significantly lower, and its corresponding accounts cannot be frozen.

BITCOIN FUNDAMENTALS

1. History: Its origin dates back to 2008 when it was created by developer Satoshi Nakamoto.

2. Operations: Transactions are fully transparent due to the publicly available ledge known as the “blockchain”.

3. Security: As mentioned above, a bitcoin transaction consists of a public key (i.e., known to everyone) and a private key (i.e., exclusive to the bitcoin user). You cannot spend coins without knowing its private key.

4. Purpose: Bitcoin provides a viable alternative to the dealings within mainstream financial infrastructures. It eliminates the hefty transaction fees and the transportation expenses.

BITCOIN MINING

The bitcoin network is only as strong as the people and institutions supporting it. It is not created by the simple copy and paste tool! Instead, you need to mine for the digital assets using extensive computers that solve complex equations. Bitcoin miners are crucial to the completion of transactions and the validation of genuine bitcoins.

Without bitcoin miners, no new coins will be brought into the circulation as no rewards would be given.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Sources:1, 2, 3, & 4

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How to start your peer-to-peer lending investment journey with Funding Societies

In September, we gave you 5 reasons to invest in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. If you have not already opened your account on Funding Societies’ investor platform, it’s time to start now and earn up to 14% per annum returns on your investments along with 21,000 other investors who invest in crowdfunding with Funding Societies.

Here’s a recap of how P2P lending works

What are the products?

With Funding Societies, you can invest into the following 2 products:

Business Term Loans – Loan given to SMEs for working capital, fulfilment of contracts, acquiring new contracts etc. with tenors ranging from 1 month to 12 months. As an investor, you receive principal and interest on a monthly basis thus unlocking the cash and allowing you to reinvest the monies into new loans.

Invoice Financing (Accounts Receivables Purchase) – Funding provided to SMEs against the invoices issued to their buyers/debtors/clients with tenors ranging from 30 days to 90 days depending on the invoice credit period terms. Investors receive repayment at the end of 30/60/90 days along with interest.

Every deal could have a few hundred investors investing alongside you and thus you fund a small part of each loan/invoice and therefore also bear the same small part of the risk.

Okay, how do I start?

  1. Sign up as an investor on Funding Societies platform
  2. Receive your subscription agreement and e-sign it! (Fun fact: Funding Societies is the first P2P lending platform that has e-signing of contract so that their investors can do it on their computer or mobile anytime, anywhere)
  3. Make your first deposit of minimum $1,000
  4. Browse for opportunities on web or app platform
  5. Start investing from as little as $100
  6. Turn on Auto-Invest to let the system allocate investments based on your pre-set criteria

How do I choose which investments to go for?

Before every crowdfunding opportunity, you’ll receive an email alert for the deal. There is a detailed fact sheet that you can review hours before deciding to put your money in the loan.

Some of the investors on Funding Societies platform have placed their monies on every loan by either (i) manually investing when the crowdfunding period starts, or (ii) auto-investing (see point #6 above). For every auto-invested loan, you always have a choice to opt out from the investment before the crowdfunding starts.

However, different investors have different risk appetite, so it is common practice, and also a good one, to explore the platform and view the various opportunities before making your investment decision.

How do I track the repayments and performance of the investments?

When you invest on Funding Societies platform, the repayments are on a monthly basis.

Simply log on to the web portal and access the dashboard. Check out the screenshots here.

As an investor, you will also receive late repayment fees from SMEs who did not make the repayment on time – but hey, when you share the risk, it’s only fair that you share the returns right?

Common strategies to invest in P2P lending

While there is no one-size-fits-all formula for any type of investment, Funding Societies shares three ways you can explore for your investment portfolio with them:

  1. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

As a matter of fact, investing in P2P lending is already one way to diversify your investment portfolio. However, within P2P lending, it makes sense to diversify your portfolio into different loans – by industries, amounts, tenure – to minimize the default risk.

  1. Create compounding effect by re-investing

Funding Societies’ repayment schedule is on a monthly basis, that means you get your original invested amount + pro-rated interests back every month based on the stated dates. While you can hold the money in the account, a smart thing to do is to use this for other investments on the platform to create a compounding effect.

  1. Free your time with Auto-Invest

As mentioned, Auto-Invest is a feature Funding Societies created to allow their investors to put in their money for loans based on their preferred criteria. Here, you can choose a range of interest rates, tenure, industries. Once it’s set up and switched on, the algorithm sets in to auto-allocate your preferred amount for the loans that fall within your criteria.

Start exploring P2P lending as an alternative investment now with Funding Societies. Sign up now by clicking here.

 

Disclaimers

This article is contributed by Funding Societies.

It should not be construed that Moneydigest is endorsing this article or any of the products and services provided by Funding Societies.

Nothing in this article should be construed as constitute or form a recommendation, financial advice, or an offer, invitation or solicitation from Funding Societies to buy or subscribe for any securities and/or investment products. The content and materials made available are for informational purposes only and should not be relied on without obtaining the necessary independent financial or other advice in connection therewith before making an investment or other decision as may be appropriate.

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Important factors to consider before trading the live assets

What is crucial in trading? Is it trading? Definitely, it is not trading. There are many other things which should be considered as crucial. As examples, selecting a broker is crucial, selecting a platform is crucial, selecting a trading method is crucial, and there are many other things which are crucial. Sadly, most of the traders give less attention to the crucial parts. If you consider the Singaporean traders they are not as the ones we have mentioned above. They have given 100% attention to the crucial part of trading as they knew that the platform plays the major role in Forex. So if you want to trade the market as a successful trader you should learn to take the important decisions. How do you make the right decision? What will a naïve trader do? What are the key factors to be considered?  If you read the article you will definitely understand the importance of a platform and you will understand the ways to make a decision.

As we said above platform is one of the crucial things in your trading career so you should give the necessary attention to it. If the platform does not suit your trading style then it will be difficult for you trade the market. When you are not comfortable with the platform you cannot trade successfully so you should make sure that the platform is comfortable enough. You should not consider the decision of selecting a platform as a minor thing because it is not. Read the article to understand better.

Wider accessibility

You know that mobile phones are something which everyone one of us carry anywhere we go so it’s important to find a platform which can be accessed through your mobile phone. From booking a hotel to reserving tickets to movies will be done through the mobile phones so why not the platform? If the platforms are accessible through the mobile phones it is a great exposure for the traders. In fact, it will enable you to trade online meaning you can place trades online. Every professional trader takes the time to select the best platform as they need a platform which offers the wider accessibility. If the platform offers wider accessibility it is advantageous for the trader’s career and knowledge.

Essential Information

The essential information should be obtained from the platform so it can be called as the best trading platform. So keep in mind when you are searching for a platform it should be something which offers you standard experience and essential information. If you want to know the price-earnings ratio, income statement, stock quote, dividend yield, or anything you should be able to obtain it from the platform itself. If you are able to get hold of a platform as we mentioned above you will be able to succeed in the market easily. You should understand that platform is something which acts as a basement for your trading so it’s in your hand to select the strongest basement. Moreover, you should not select a RANDOM platform to trade as it will impact heavily on your trading career. Keep in mind that each and every successful trader has achieved success due to being intelligent when selecting the platform. If you want to trade like a pro trader and if you want to become successful you should not treat crucial things as a minor factor.

Tools for trading

You will be able to obtain the trading tools from the platform so make sure to pick the perfect platform by analyzing thoroughly. If you have the smart tools you will be able to execute trades in a successful way. For instance, if you trade with SaxoTraderGo platform then we can assure you that you will have all the cutting trading tools to do your technical analysis. Most importantly you will be able to execute your orders at a lightning speed.

 

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5 Reasons to Invest in P2P Lending Now

P2P lending, popularly known as crowdfunding, provides individuals and institutions an opportunity to earn passive income through investing in business loans to growing and deserving SMEs. Returns on investment are in the form of repayment of periodic interest along with the principal, based on the amount that investors have put in. In a single loan, there could be hundreds of investors who co-invest and share the risks and returns of investment.

This concept first appeared in 2005 with Zopa  (founded in the UK), and has become a proven investment product globally. In 2016, more than US$330 Billion has been invested in P2P lending with China, US and UK as market leaders.

Can you guess where’s the next region of growth for P2P lending? That’s right – Southeast Asia. Funding Societies (based in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia) is one of the leading platforms in this region with licenses/approval by regulators in all 3 markets.

Here, we give you 5 compelling reasons to put your money into P2P lending :

1. Returns are higher than most traditional investment products

One of the key factors in any investment is what you get in return.

In Singapore, investing in P2P lending can potentially earn you up to 14% per annum returns on your investment. This is much higher than 1%-2% per annum on Fixed Deposits or 2.5% per annum on your CPF account.

2. And you don’t need to wait for years to see your returns

The typical tenure for these business loans range between 1-12 months, so unlike fixed deposits or insurances, you don’t need to lock your money in for years to see the returns. In addition, you get the interest as well as principal back on a monthly basis, allowing you to unlock the cash and provide opportunities to reinvest the money and creating a compounding effect.

3. You can invest even if you’re a fresh grad or NS man

Funding Societies is the only platform that allows investments starting from as low as $100 (minimal investment on other platforms is usually $1,000 per loan), which means literally anyone can invest. It allows one to test the platform before increasing the amounts and also provides opportunities to diversify into multiple loans even with a small starting capital.

4. It’s a simple product that doesn’t require any technical knowledge

Some investment products require a high level of technical knowledge plus a close watch on the market movements.

P2P lending is simple and straightforward. It’s easy to understand the factsheet (prepared by the platform) which covers the SME’s business model, track record, financials and purpose of loan. Investors can make decisions based on the factsheet. If you are too busy to review every factsheet, Funding Societies has an auto investment feature which lets you select your investment criteria and make the investments automatically.

5. Southeast Asia’s leading P2P platform is in Singapore

Most Singaporeans prefer to invest with companies with (i) a solid track record, (ii) operations in Singapore.

Since starting its operations in Singapore, Funding Societies has already expanded to two more Southeast Asian countries over the last two years – Indonesia and Malaysia. It is the only P2P lending platform to have won Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Fintech Award in 2016 and was recognised as one of the Top 250 Fintech companies globally. It is backed by world class venture capitalist Sequoia Capital who have invested into companies like Google, Apple, Airbnb and Carousell amongst many others.

More than 19,000 investors are already on Funding Societies’ platform regionally, and the reasons:

  • LICENSED AND REGULATED: Funding Societies is licensed in Singapore by MAS and is a regulated entity. It uses escrow account for investor funds managed by a licensed trustee ensuring safety of investor monies.
  • HIGH QUALITY INVESTMENTS: Because of the rigorous risk assessment that Funding Societies does on the companies before offering the business loans for crowdfunding, the investments are good quality and at the lowest default rates in town.
  • EASY TO INVEST: Investors can make their investments and review their portfolio on the go with Funding Societies investor mobile app. With Auto-Invest, investors just need to define their preferred parameters and let the system do the work.
  • SKIN IN THE GAME: The top management at Funding Societies believes in ALL the business loans that they give, they invest in every single loan. As CEO Kelvin Teo says, “We co-share the risks and rewards of investments with you.”

Sign up for your investor account with Funding Societies now.

Disclaimers

This article is contributed by Funding Societies.

It should not be construed that Moneydigest is endorsing this article or any of the products and services provided by Funding Societies.

Nothing in this article should be construed as constitute or form a recommendation, financial advice, or an offer, invitation or solicitation from Funding Societies to buy or subscribe for any securities and/or investment products. The content and materials made available are for informational purposes only and should not be relied on without obtaining the necessary independent financial or other advice in connection therewith before making an investment or other decision as may be appropriate.

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