Bumpy stock market pushes investors toward safe haven investments like gold or government bonds – but what about cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin, the pioneering digital currency, is coming off a record-breaking year, surpassing $100,000 for the first time in its 16-year history last December.

A bumpy stock market and rising geopolitical tensions have lately pushed investors toward safe haven investments like gold or government bonds — but what about cryptocurrency?

With the crypto market having seen better days this year, some investors might be wondering if there’s still time to get involved.

Bitcoin, the pioneering digital currency, is coming off a record-breaking year, having surpassed $100,000 for the first time in its 16-year history last December.

It has seen a wild ride since, briefly tumbling as low as $75,000 earlier this month over anxieties about a trade war. The price has recently bounced back, topping $90,000.

But its notorious volatility doesn’t mean it can’t be part of a mainstream investing strategy, proponents say.

“In some ways, it’s riskier not to hold any crypto, just how a financial advisor would be like, ‘You should have some stocks. You should have some bonds. You should have some real estate,’” Ben Weiss, co-founder and chief executive of CoinFlip, a crypto ATM provider, told The Post.

“I think crypto’s gotten to the point where it’s a key part of any portfolio,” he continued.

“It’s fully online. It’s made for the internet. It’s borderless and secured by code instead of a centralized third-party.”

That borderless nature makes cryptocurrency more accessible, in some respects, than regular currencies.

Anyone with a connection to the internet can partake, and it can be transferred easily from a user in one country to another.

Take wire transfers at a bank, for example. If you want to send $100 to someone in another country, it takes time and approval from the bank. But you can send $100 worth of crypto to anyone worldwide with the click of a button.

US stablecoins “helped a lot of people in South America, especially Argentina, with inflation and a lack of trust with their government and banks,” Charles St. Louis, chief executive of DELV, which builds crypto infrastructure, told The Post.

Stablecoins are forms of cryptocurrency that are typically pegged to a traditional commodity or currency, like the US dollar.

“The Argentine peso was almost 60% inflated, and they couldn't trust their government or banks to hold their money, so they stored US dollars in their pillowcases and mattresses,” St. Louis said. “What the US stablecoin really allowed for them was to be in control of their own money and be able to spend it freely, and it really became popular there.”

Here are some popular cryptocurrencies:

The concept of digital cash might ring some bells. Think of PayPal, Venmo or even credit cards.

But unlike these other forms of digital currency, cryptocurrency is not pegged to anything “tangible,” like gold, silver or a fiat currency.

Some legacy investors – like Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old “Oracle of Omaha” – have sworn to never invest in crypto, partly for this reason.

“In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending,” Buffett said during a 2018 interview. He once likened the digital currency to “rat poison,” and has vowed his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, will never have a position in it.

But crypto l0yalists will argue that, in the end, most traditional investments and currencies aren’t pegged to anything that’s actually more tangible.

“There’s only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be in circulation,” Weiss said. “It’s one of the hardest assets out there.”

“I would argue the dollar isn’t tied to anything, except the full faith and credit of the US government. Gold is a rock. Yeah, people use it in jewelry, but it’s not where it gets its value from, so Bitcoin is most akin to a digital gold.”

The name of the game when investing into crypto is to hold on and let it accrue value as a hedge against inflation and bad government – not spend it on a coffee at Starbucks, experts advise.

“It’s about accumulation in America. They’re more looking at, how do I get Bitcoin? Instead of, how do I spend Bitcoin?” Chris Kline, co-founder and COO of BitcoinIRA, a crypto retirement platform, said.

“Where we might be in the next five to 10 years is, how do I use the Bitcoin that I have in order to pay my bills and do other things?”

Download a trusted exchange app — Start by choosing a licensed crypto exchange. We recommend starting with the Best Wallet app, available for both iOS and Android.

Create and verify your account — Sign up using your email, Google, or Apple ID. To complete registration, you’ll need to verify your identity with a government-

News data source: kdj.com

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