Crypto
[Finterest] What is cryptocurrency, and what's with the hype?
![[Finterest] What is cryptocurrency, and what's with the hype?](https://i2.wp.com/www.rappler.com/tachyon/2023/12/crypto-money-laundering-reuters-scaled.jpg?ssl=1 "[Finterest] What is cryptocurrency, and what's with the hype?")
MANILA, Philippines – Since the first Bitcoin was mined more than 15 years ago, cryptocurrencies have burst into the mainstream.
Large sums of money are currently being invested in Bitcoin by some of the largest investment firms in the world, such as BlackRock, demonstrating that even conventional financial organizations are getting into cryptocurrencies. And you can see that in the price as well. Bitcoin recently rallied to new highs, hitting a record $73,000 to 1 BTC. Five years ago, that rate was less than $4,000 to 1 BTC.
Filipinos are taking note too. In 2023, the Philippines ranked 6th out of 155 countries in terms of crypto adoption, according to American blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
So what’s fueling all this hype? We spoke with the team at Coins.ph – the Philippines’ largest cryptocurrency exchange – to find out more about this disruptive digital asset once dismissed as a fad.
Crypto, explained
Let’s start with what crypto is, and what it isn’t.
Crypto is the “money of the internet,” as Coins.ph country manager Jen Bilango puts it. But unlike the fiat currencies (think, a dollar or peso) that most of us are familiar with, crypto is not issued by a state or government. Despite what its name might suggest, cryptocurrencies are not usually used as money to settle payments.
“It’s a digitally native asset class that’s now diverging depending on the use case and the utility of a particular token,” Bilango told Rappler.
Different cryptocurrencies can fall under different general categories. The biggest, most popular ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are called “blue chip cryptocurrencies” – ones that have become generally accepted and trusted by people and financial institutions. Like the blue chip stocks of the stock market, the price of these tokens are more stable.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have highly speculative tokens whose prices are much more volatile. These “memecoins” lean into the humorous side of Internet culture, with names like Dogecoin, Shiba Ina, and Pepe.
“There’s no inherent or innate value to it, but people like the speculative nature of it. Predominantly, you can see people trading based on that merit because in any asset class, there will always be people who would like to put money in and get money out – not just on the utility side of it,” Bilango told Rappler.
There are also gamified tokens where cryptocurrencies are used in the context of a game. Although this may sound like a niche use case, this is actually what kickstarted the crypto craze in the Philippines, with the meteoric rise of play-to-earn game Axie Infinity.
In games like Axie, players can earn cryptocurrencies called smooth love potions, which can then be exchanged for other fiat currencies. But remember that the value of tokens like these are a function of their utility within the game’s ecosystem – in other words, the demand and value for the token goes up and down depending on how many players there are. If the game declines in popularity, that can burn players.
Which brings us to what crypto isn’t. Crypto should not be treated like a get-rich-quick scheme. There are no guaranteed gains in crypto, just as there aren’t any in other asset classes like stocks. People can be easily misled by what is promised and what returns are delivered.
Practical uses of crypto
But what can crypto actually be used for? Coins.ph global marketing director Katrina Gonzalez said it can “democratize access to financial instruments and services.”
This concept of decentralized finance, or DeFi, removes banks, clearance houses, settlement houses, and other financial intermediaries, allowing people to directly transact with each other using cryptocurrency. The vision is to use the security of crypto’s blockchain to allow peer-to-peer financial transactions – for instance, directly making a loan to your friend with interest and collateral terms that you set.
“The core concept of decentralized finance is that you don’t need to go to one institution to be able to access financial services. You can do things peer-to-peer, you can lend, you can contribute to a pool, and then you can earn from that,” Gonzalez told Rappler.
Crypto has long touted itself as a slayer of the middle man in finance – big financial institutions, like banks and remittance centers. Another example is how overseas Filipino workers have used crypto to remit money, circumventing banking hours and the expensive fees of “pera padala” centers.
“In crypto, in blockchain, that all happens simultaneously. So we remove all the fat in the financial ecosystem. Using stablecoins, you can transfer money via blockchain instantaneously, in real time, because you don’t have to rely on intermediaries to validate a particular transaction,” Bilango told Rappler.
Crypto remittances are often done through stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that are protected from the price volatility often associated with crypto. Stablecoins have a constant exchange rate with fiat currencies, such as being pegged 1:1 with the US dollar.
Getting started
For most people who want to dabble in crypto, the easiest entry point would be through a crypto exchange. Using the familiar interface of an app, a user could easily exchange their pesos into Bitcoin tokens.
Those who are just getting into crypto may want to first stick with blue chip cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin or Etherium, since these have been around for a longer time.
“Bitcoin is like digital gold. It’s your hedge, it’s a store of value,” Bilango told Rappler. “It will sustain its value because there’s only a finite amount of Bitcoin. It’s only going to be 21 million Bitcoin in existence, ever.”
Once you’ve bought your tokens, the next decision to make is when to sell. You could either do a simple buy and simple, or use more sophisticated stop-limit orders that allow you to buy or sell crypto when the price hits a certain level. But if investing in crypto isn’t what you want to do, there are still other ways you can get into the space.
“Different people will have different use cases for it. It can be for remittances using stablecoins. It can be because you go play a game, and you want to play and earn from the games you play, or you want to be able to access NFTs,” Gonzales told Rappler.
“Maybe you’re into NFTs and into the Solana ecosystem, and that’s great. Maybe you’re super excited about what’s happening in Bitcoin from an asset class perspective…. Or maybe you see opportunities in DeFi, and you’re just a trader that just looks at the charts, like technical analysis, and you see an opportunity there. It’s really not one-size-fits-all. It’s a very vibrant ecosystem,” she added.
Is crypto safe?
But before you jump head first into crypto, let’s make sure that it’s safe. Over the years, crypto has had scandals and scams mar its reputation. In 2022, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange – FTX – filed for bankruptcy after its chief executive officer was convicted in a multi-billion dollar fraud case. A year later, the CEO of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance – pleaded guilty to breaking anti-money laundering laws.
Is that something we should still be concerned about?
Bilango acknowledged these issues, but said that it actually proved the resilience of cryptocurrency as an industry.
“The cryptocurrency industry as a whole has been battle-tested several times. One of the biggest exchanges blew up. One of the biggest hedge funds that put money into crypto also blew up. But we’re still here,” she told Rappler.
The Coins.ph team also noted that the concerns regarding scams and fraud mostly happens on unregulated exchanges.
In contrast, local cryptocurrency exchanges that are licensed and regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – such as Coins.ph and PDAX – must comply with regulations. The central bank reviews the exchanges’ technology for vulnerabilities, checks their compliance with anti-money laundering guidelines, and ensures they have enough capital.
“BSP ensures that when you put money in [Coins.ph], that your assets are backed one is to one, so we’re not doing any hanky-panky stuff on the side,” Bilango told Rappler.
Ultimately, Bilango said that avoiding the pitfalls that newbie crypto investors fall into is all about knowing your risk appetite and being smart about where you put your money.
“Do your own research. Only invest the money you’re willing to lose. And only transact in platforms that are regulated and are monitored by your license to do that type of transaction in your country,” she said. – Rappler.com
Finterest is Rappler’s series that demystifies the world of money and gives practical advice on how to manage your personal finance.
While studies reveal institutional investors and wealth managers believe tokenized ETFs will drive mainstream market adoption for cryptocurrency, there looms the theft of bad actors that most often go untraceable.
Currency throughout history that became mainstream
ShutterStock
Barriers to the expansion of tokenization are starting to fall as major investment firms consider launching tokenized ETFs, according to new global research by London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel), Europe’s leading digital assets hedge fund manager founded by alumni of Bankers Trust, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
Its study with institutional investors (pension funds, insurance asset managers and family offices) and wealth managers at organisations which collectively manage over $14 trillion in assets found almost all (97%) believe the potential launch of tokenized ETFs such as BlackRock’s will be important to the expansion of the sector with nearly one in three (32%) rating the development as very important.
The study also reflected the belief that tokenization will continue to grow, with nearly 70% of respondents believing that fund managers looking to tokenize investment funds and asset classes will increase over the next three years.
Nickel’s research with firms in the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates found growing awareness of the benefits of tokenization. Private markets are seen as offering the greatest potential for tokenization, with almost 70% seeing private equity funds as the asset class with the most opportunity, followed by fixed income (55%) and public equities (42%).
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO and Founding Partner at Nickel Digital, said: “Tokenization is quickly moving from theory to real-world adoption as institutional investors grow more comfortable with its benefits and see major players enter the space. When firms like BlackRock step in, it fundamentally shifts the conversation. This development is timely for our multi-manager vehicle as expanding liquidity depth will allow some of our pods to start trading tokenized assets in the coming months.”
To address potential criminal threat, an advanced detection system to identify and trace blockchain funds connected with criminal activity was presented earlier this week at the Annual CyberASAP Demo Day in London.
The system, called SynapTrack, enables faster and more accurate detection of fraudulent activity using blockchains and cryptocurrencies, where traditional anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems struggle to keep pace.
Although current fraud detection methods pick up unusual activity, they deliver an extremely high rate (40%) of false positive reports. These require manual checking by compliance professionals, resulting in backlogs in identifying and acting on suspicious activity.
The SynapTrack system is designed to deliver a substantially lower rate of false positives. It has already been tested using real-life data from the notorious 2025 Bybit hack, where criminals stole $1.5bn of digital tokens from a cryptocurrency exchange. SynapTrack traced the hacker with 98% accuracy.
The team behind SynapTrack is keen to hear from exchanges, financial regulators or law enforcement agencies who want to test the prototype in real-world conditions.
SynapTrack uses a validated methodology to score the likelihood of transactions being part of a money laundering scheme. It has a self-improving algorithm that continuously adapts to new tactics – dynamically identifying suspicious patterns in blockchain transactions. It has a universal cross-chain capability, and is designed around how compliance teams work, presenting results in a dashboard. No infrastructure changes are needed for installation.
It is relatively easy to obscure fraudulent or criminal activity by moving funds between blockchains, or dispersing them across many blockchains, in what are known as ‘cross-chain’ transactions. It is these transactions that pose the greatest difficulty for existing anti-money laundering systems.
SynapTrack was developed by University of Birmingham computer scientists Dr Pascal Berrang and PhD student Endong Liu, in collaboration with blockchain developer Nimiq. Dr Berrang’s research is in IT security and privacy on blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The subject of Endong Liu’s PhD is transaction tracing. Nimiq is supporting with blockchain-specific insights, knowledge of real-world constraints, and implementation.
The team is currently fundraising to ensure regulatory readiness and complete the team with a CEO and software developers.
Dr Berrang said: “The last few years have seen a near-exponential growth in blockchain transactions. While many of these are legitimate, blockchains are attractive to criminals as funds can be moved very quickly to other jurisdictions. Our work with Nimiq and the creation of SynapTrack is addressing this black spot, and will enable more effective regulation, making the whole ecosystem of blockchain safer and more trustworthy.”
With the financial market and cybersecurity industry converging, cryptocurrency is here to stay.
Bitcoin briefly reclaimed $65,000 before pulling back to $64,700 as the Iran conflict continued to escalate through Saturday.
Iranian state media reported at least 70 killed in its Hormozgan province, per Aljazeera, including a strike on an elementary school. Israel activated air raid alerts after detecting fresh missile launches from Iran.
Trump told the Washington Post that “all I want is freedom for the people.” NATO said it was “closely following” developments, China urged an immediate ceasefire, and Turkey offered to mediate.
Bitcoin’s inability to hold $65,000 on the bounce suggests sellers remain in control, but the relative stability given the severity of the headlines points to thin weekend order books rather than active selling pressure.
Headline risks persist for BTC traders as the U.S. day progresses.
What happened earlier
Earlier in the day, BTC neared $63,000 in Saturday trading after the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes on Iran, pushing the largest cryptocurrency down roughly 3% in a matter of hours and extending what had already been a difficult weekend for risk assets.
The move brought bitcoin to its lowest level since the Feb. 5 crash, when the token briefly dipped below $60,000.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared an immediate state of emergency across all areas of Israel. A U.S. official confirmed American participation in the strikes, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The sell-off follows a well-established pattern. Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while equity and bond markets are closed on weekends.
That makes it one of the only large, liquid assets available for traders to sell when geopolitical risk spikes outside of traditional market hours.
The result is that bitcoin often acts as a pressure valve for broader risk-off sentiment during weekend events, absorbing selling that would otherwise spread across equities, commodities, and currencies if those markets were open.
The attack risks a wider regional conflict in one of the most economically sensitive parts of the world, following a month-long U.S. military buildup and failed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Crypto
Better Cryptocurrency to Buy With $5,000 and Hold Forever: XRP vs. Ethereum | The Motley Fool
Both Ethereum (ETH 6.03%) and XRP (XRP 3.76%) are tried-and-tested blockchains which have survived (and sometimes thrived) for years on end. That means they’re both sturdy enough to be candidates for a big investment, like $5,000, and for holding over the very long term, or even forever.
So which of these two leading coins is the better option for a forever hold?
Image source: Getty Images.
Ethereum has more ways to grow
Forever is a long time, especially for an investment in an emerging sector like crypto. Therefore, an asset’s optionality regarding where it can derive growth is a key factor, as today’s growth drivers might peter out and new ones are likely to emerge.
On that front, Ethereum has plenty of options. It already hosts a large decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem worth more than $53 billion today, powered by a massive stablecoin base of $159 billion. That existing base of capital is a strategic asset because it gives developers and financial institutions a reason to build new products right where liquidity already lives. It also gives investors exposure to many possible growth lanes at once, from the onboarding of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to the development of new settlement rails for payments between AI agents.
Today’s Change
(-6.03%) $-123.58
Current Price
$1924.97
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$232B
Day’s Range
$1898.54 – $2048.55
52wk Range
$1398.62 – $4946.05
Volume
20B
Another advantage is that Ethereum has a track record of consistently shipping large protocol upgrades. The Pectra upgrade, for example, landed on the mainnet in May 2025, followed by the Fusaka upgrade in December. Two similarly large feature packages are expected for 2026, and they should help to build the chain’s ability to scale up without spiking transaction costs.
If you plan to hold an asset indefinitely, this network’s culture of iterative improvement reduces the risk that its technical capabilities will become irrelevant as emerging opportunities for growth arise. Its habit of attracting and retaining substantial capital also helps prevent that outcome.
XRP has to keep winning specific fights over time
XRP is not a bad crypto asset by any means, but its long-term burden is its far narrower positioning than Ethereum.
Ripple, the coin’s issuer, built the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem as a toolkit of financial technologies to support specific workflows in institutional finance, especially cross-border payments and money transfers, and, more recently, the management of tokenized asset capital. The coin’s value is thus derived from the utility of its ledger.
That focus could pay off if the financial companies the chain targets like what it’s offering, but it also concentrates risk. Financial institutions move cautiously, and winning them over is a slow, grinding process of catering to their needs and building strong relationships. Their technology adoption process can stall for years, even when the product works, and decision-makers broadly want to adopt the new tech.
To Ripple’s credit, the XRP Ledger includes plenty of features that match institutional requirements and seek to minimize their potential pain points. The network’s authorized trust lines, for instance, let tokenized asset issuers whitelist who can hold their issued tokens, which is a feature that supports regulatory constraints around who can legally custody an asset. Similarly, the ledger supports freezing tokens when suspicious activity appears, which is a control that traditional finance teams tend to expect in regulated asset workflows.
Today’s Change
(-3.76%) $-0.05
Current Price
$1.35 Market Cap
$83B
Day’s Range
$1.34 – $1.42
52wk Range $1.14 – $3.65
Volume
2.8B
Key Data Points
But holding a coin forever is unforgiving of sustained competitive pressure, which XRP doubtlessly faces. Its competitors include fintech companies and other cryptocurrencies, not to mention the internal tech development capabilities of many of its target users in big banks. So it’ll need to continuously one up the other players in its space if it’s going to grow over the long term, and it’s hard to believe that it’ll win every round that counts.
The verdict
The decision here is about resilience and resources.
Ethereum’s “grizzled veteran” reputation today stems from surviving numerous shifts in user demand patterns while maintaining a large on-chain capital pool and growing it all the while. Its success or failure in any given crypto market segment is not guaranteed, nor was it in the past, but its constant evolution has ensured that failures are not fatal, and also that missed opportunities aren’t very damaging overall.
XRP, on the other hand, is only just starting to scale up its on-chain capital base; it has only $418 million in stablecoins. Furthermore, while it has succeeded in attracting some financial institutions to its chain, the truth is that its growth trajectory has not yet been seriously tested, and is still finding an appropriate product-market fit. Its real competitive challenges have only just begun.
So if you want a coin to buy with $5,000 and hold forever, pick the asset that can win without needing to be perfect: Ethereum. XRP is still a decent long-term hold, assuming it’s part of a diversified crypto portfolio, but it’s riskier.
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