Crypto

Regina teacher offering lessons in cryptocurrency

Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2024

Regina teacher offering lessons in cryptocurrency

An advertisement for Bitcoin, one of the cryptocurrencies, is displayed on a building in Hong Kong, on Nov. 18, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP FILE PHOTO/Kin Cheung)

A Regina high school teacher is walking his students through the inner workings of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was invented in 2008 and started being used as a currency in 2009. It’s the first decentralized cryptocurrency, meaning it can operate autonomously through the use of smart contacts.

Today, Bitcoin is used more as a store of value rather than a medium of exchange or a unit of account. Before its creation, several other digital currency technologies were created and released, with the first being David Chaum’s eCash in the 1980s.

Tyler Pokoyoway, who teaches at Campus Regina Public, has built a course that teaches his students the ins and outs of Bitcoin. Pokoyoway said the course will cover a lot of different things.

“Financial literacy is lacking in the public in general, so (this course is) giving a bit of background on what money is and how it works and then putting a Bitcoin spin on it in terms of what Bitcoin is and why it functions as money and does it better in some people’s opinions,” said Pokoyoway.

He said there are a lot of benefits that come with using a currency like Bitcoin.

“It’s a value transfer protocol, so its information is on a protocol that’s decentralized,” he said. “There’s no third party controlling it, and so you can send value to anyone around the world at any time without anyone saying you can’t, and that’s powerful in terms of the economy, global trade, and then even self-governed people reaping the fruits of their labour without the money that’s being deflated away.”

He said a lot of other countries are using currencies like Bitcoin and it’s only becoming more popular with places like El Salvador recently adopting it as a legal tender in 2021.

“We find that in countries where the inflation rate is way higher — like 50 per cent to 100 per cent inflation — you can’t store your money (or) your value in the money of the current currency,” Pokoyoway said.

“So people are looking for alternatives and Bitcoin has been a game-changer for a lot of developing countries (and) war-torn countries where they can actually store value, take it with them and not have it left behind or in the hands of corrupt governments.

“In Western society, we’re a little protected from it because we’re a little bit more advanced and we all have access to banking accounts or chequing accounts. A lot of the population of the world is unbanked, which means they don’t have access to the same things we do or credit or things like that, so (cryptocurrency) is being adopted in other places, just not really the western world.”

He said cryptocurrency is a fairly new concept and believes it will only grow in popularity, comparing it to the evolution of the internet.

Crypto

Bitcoin Enters Danger Zone as Medium-Term Holders Turn Unprofitable En Masse

Published

14 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Press Room

Bitcoin Enters Danger Zone as Medium-Term Holders Turn Unprofitable En Masse

Bitcoin has slipped into a bear market danger zone, according to a new analysis showing medium-term holders falling into losses, a signal historically tied to rising downside risk and prolonged weakness rather than short-lived pullbacks.

Crypto

Why Nobody’s Talking About the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (But They Should Be) | The Motley Fool

Published

1 day ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

Why Nobody’s Talking About the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (But They Should Be) | The Motley Fool

Investing in the crypto economy, rather than individual cryptocurrencies, could make sense in 2026.

When it comes to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), investors now have plenty of options. The most popular ETFs are those that focus on a single cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin (BTC +2.36%) and Ethereum (ETH +3.38%).

However, a growing number of high-upside crypto ETFs offer much broader diversification. For example, consider the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ 2.69%), which launched back in 2021. It offers exposure to companies leading the new crypto economy, but it does not invest directly in cryptocurrencies themselves.

Can any asset outperform Bitcoin?

There’s a good reason the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF does not get the attention it deserves. Simply put, it’s almost impossible to out-Bitcoin Bitcoin over an extended period.

Put another way, the returns for Bitcoin over the past five years have been so high that no single company — with the possible exception of Bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR 6.65%) — can even come close.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by the following chart. Over the past five years, Bitcoin is up 154%. In contrast, the Bitwise ETF has barely managed to tread water.

Bitcoin / U.S. dollar chart by TradingView

Since it’s almost impossible to out-Bitcoin Bitcoin over a long enough period, investors have sought out innovative ways to get exposure to it.

Until recently, that meant seeking out Bitcoin proxy stocks such as Strategy. But after the launch of the new spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, it could also mean plowing money into exchange-traded funds. Today, over $100 billion has flowed into these Bitcoin ETFs, while only $450 million has flowed into the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF.

Should you invest in crypto or in the crypto economy?

However, high upside potential is just part of the investment equation. Diversification is another key part. And that’s where the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETFs really shines.

It currently holds positions in 29 different companies, with no company accounting for more than 9% of the total portfolio. Top holdings include Strategy, Coinbase Global (COIN 3.53%), Circle Internet Group (CRCL 7.93%), and a handful of Bitcoin mining companies.

Image source: Getty Images.

Arguably, these companies give investors broader, more diversified exposure to the crypto economy than investing in Bitcoin itself. Strategy, for example, is the top Bitcoin treasury company in the world. Coinbase Global is the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange. Circle Internet Group is the second-largest stablecoin issuer in the world. And Bitcoin mining companies are increasingly moving some of their computing capacity to handle tasks like high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Crypto ETFs can outperform Bitcoin over the short term

While Bitcoin has soundly defeated the Bitwise ETF over a five-year period, the Bitwise ETF is actually up 12% year to date and 27% over the past 12 months. Both are better than Bitcoin, which has crumbled in value by 30% after hitting a new all-time high in October.

Bitwise Funds Trust – Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF

Today’s Change

(-2.69%) $-0.57

Current Price

$20.61

Key Data Points

Day’s Range

$20.32 – $21.12

52wk Range

$10.50 – $31.45

Volume

743K

So perhaps investors shouldn’t be so quick to overlook a crypto ETF that offers plenty of upside potential and much greater diversification than investing in a single cryptocurrency. If you are looking to diversify your crypto portfolio, the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF could be worth a closer look.

Crypto

JPMorgan Sees Gold Topping $8,000 as Private Investors Boost Allocations

Published

2 days ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

JPMorgan Sees Gold Topping ,000 as Private Investors Boost Allocations

Gold’s rally could push into uncharted territory as investors rethink portfolio defenses, with JPMorgan signaling that shifting household and central bank behavior may drive prices far beyond recent records amid persistent global uncertainty.