Bitcoin  

What is cryptocurrency and where did it come from?

This article is part of
Guide to bitcoin and blockchain

There is little point arguing with someone who has "visited all 197 countries". At the time of the Twitter exchange, Bitcoin was hovering around $17,000 (£12,000). At the time of writing, it is sitting at $6,395 (£4,573).

One might wonder how many people who put all their savings into cryptocurrency when the price was peaking are now wishing they'd taken financial advice from someone with a salary.

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Economic arguments aside, the fact cryptocurrency offers 'freedom' and is seen by some as a means of creating a digital lifestyle is going to be attractive, even if the average person is unlikely to earn enough to live the lives their Instagram idols do. 

New generation 

Ironically, it is the perception among these digital natives - mostly millennials - that traditional routes of funding their house deposits or simply paying the rent are being closed to them - that is giving more credibility to less orthodox means of investment. 

And they are more likely to experiment with alternative forms of money saving and creation, outside of the traditionally advised space. 

According to Matthias Kroner, co-founder and chief executive of Fidor Bank: "Cryptocurrencies are a part of the digital lifestyle, as digital natives are way more open to give trust to such a currency.

"In parallel, the access to financial information and alternative financing channels has increased drastically due to widespread usage of technology, from crowdfunding, lending, mobile, P2P payments and, of course, cryptocurrencies."

Platforms and wallets

Investors have been able to access data on investor forums such as Cryptocoin or CoinGecko, and have found it easier over the past couple of years, also through the many exchanges and investor platforms springing up, to help collate information and trading functionality of various currencies. 

These are helping to make cryptocurrency more available to the general public, providing up-to-date information and share price tracking that can be used to help inform and educate potential investors about this new asset class.

Ether is one technology platform, created by 23-year-old programmer Vitalik Buterin, who is also the brains behind Ethereum.

The latest entrant to this market is Tory peer Michelle Mone, the founder of Ultimo lingerie, and her boyfriend Douglas Barrowman.

According to sister paper the Financial Times, they are doing a $75m (£53.6m) initial coin offering (ICO) to launch Equi, an investment platform for cryptocurrency. One hopes Ms Mone, who made her fortune from underwear, can get into the market before it goes ... bust.