Unmasking Your Top Five Halloween Crypto Creepers
Main Takeaways
Crypto can be a misunderstood place, but many of the spooky myths and legends you’ve heard aren’t really based on facts.
We asked our community about their top crypto fears and laid to rest their troubles.
Join in the Halloween spirit and explore the crypto creepers selected for this year’s fright night!
This Halloween season, Binance is here to unmask some of crypto’s most terrifying tales. From rattling regulators to vicious volatility and blood-curdling utility, we’ve taken your top fears and debunked them just in time for All Hallows’ Eve. We’ve looked at the most common myths and debunked them to show that crypto isn’t so spooky after all.
Choosing Your Crypto Creepers
After researching the most common crypto fears, we shortlisted five things the Binancian community struggles with. The selection covers topics that affect everyone, from beginners to more experienced users. A little understanding really goes a long way, and it doesn’t take much to bust each myth.
Creepy Crypto
If the idea of crypto gives you the creeps, let’s shine a light on what it actually is. There’s a lot of misunderstanding on the topic, and we’re often afraid of the things we don’t quite grasp.
A cryptocurrency is a digital asset running on a distributed network and secured by cryptography. It typically uses blockchains to create a system that its users coordinate and manage. We don’t need a central entity to manage it, and no one person or single group is in control of it.
Bitcoin (BTC) is by far the most famous cryptocurrency. In fact, this Halloween will be the fourteenth anniversary of the Bitcoin whitepaper, penned by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. You can use BTC to pay for goods and services, hold it as an investment, and transfer it directly to anyone with a crypto wallet around the globe. It’s a bit like digital gold. So, what’s the difference between crypto and, say, USD in your bank account or even stocks in your portfolio?
The key point is decentralization. USD is issued by a centralized entity, the US government. To move it around, you have to go through internal banking systems completely owned by financial institutions. Crypto, on the other hand, doesn’t have these figures controlling the supply, issuance, or transfer of crypto assets.
And how does that sound? Perhaps not so creepy after all.
Read more: What Is Cryptocurrency? | Binance Academy
Watch it: Creepy Crypto
Rattling Regulators
Another spine-tingling topic for newcomers and veterans alike is regulation. There are two angles to this: first, isn’t a lot of crypto unregulated, and second, isn’t too much regulation a bad thing? Regulation really isn’t something to be terrified about. In fact, it’s here to help keep us safe and provide additional assurance.
By dealing with regulated assets, you know that the cryptocurrency you’re dealing with meets a certain set of standards with investor well-being in mind. This also goes for the exchange services you use, such as proper identity verification checks and digital asset licenses to ensure you get a regulated service.
As mentioned, some crypto enthusiasts do worry about regulation hurting crypto’s decentralization spirit. Won’t these centralized entities have too much power over the network? With sound and appropriate regulation, this shouldn’t happen. This is what Binance is championing. We can still keep the things that make crypto great while giving users the confidence they need to trade.
Read more: CZ FAQ 5 - Why Binance Embraces Regulations
Watch it: Rattling Regulators
Vicious Volatility
When it comes to volatile assets, crypto has a reputation that precedes it. Prices move fast, and they often move a lot. However, this doesn't have to be as scary as it sounds. First, it’s worth understanding the concept of crypto volatility. Once that’s accomplished, there are many options to work with when managing volatility in your portfolio.
In the short term, crypto prices can go up and down. In the long term, we also see volatility across markets – known as bull and bear cycles. However, this type of price increase and decrease is not unique to digital assets. We see this happening across the whole economy (such as energy prices, house prices, and inflation) and other investment markets (such as stocks and bonds).
So, how do you better manage volatility when investing and trading? While there are different ways to do it, many traders and investors adopt a strategy known as dollar cost average (DCA). This strategy involves investing at regular intervals, meaning you get an average entry price at the end. There’s no need to time your entry at an optimum point, and you reduce your risk of buying all at once at a local price high.
To help strengthen your portfolio against volatility risk, you can also look at the following:
Converting volatile assets to stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies during highly volatile periods. You can then “sit out” the volatility and reenter the market at a less volatile time.
Allocating your portfolio across multiple crypto classes and diversifying within those classes, such as blue chips, native tokens, and layer 2 tokens, to name a few. This technique will help you avoid being overexposed to a single type of volatile asset.
Of course, none of this is guaranteed. You should always seek the advice of an independent financial advisor. The price of digital assets goes through cycles, and the information presented here should not be construed as financial advice.
Read more: Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) Explained | Binance Academy
Watch it: Vicious Volatility
Blood-Curdling Utility
Here’s another classic fear that often sends shivers up people’s spines: what can you do with crypto, and where’s its utility? Fortunately, the answer is a lot! Most people know crypto as an investment or perhaps for payments, but it can do much more than just that. Some cryptocurrencies give you access to services on a blockchain network. You can think of them like the token you might purchase to use in an arcade. Other cryptocurrencies let you earn interest, gain price exposure to fiat currencies (stablecoins), or access online games.
Some tokens also give you governance rights on a platform. By holding the token, you get the right to help make decisions about the project’s future. This mechanism helps decentralize power from a single entity or individual and is a key aspect of cryptocurrencies.
Nowadays, there isn’t much that you can’t do with tokens, coins, and crypto. This is especially true with the rise of Web3 and the Metaverse. Crypto technology is being used and applied across many aspects of our work and social lives.
Read more: 5 Interesting Blockchain Use Cases You Should Know | Binance Blog
Watch it: Blood-Curdling Utility
Spooktacular Scams
Keeping your finances and assets safe should always be a top priority. But isn’t it much more dangerous in the crypto world? According to the US Federal Trade Commission, over one billion dollars has been lost to crypto scams from Jan 2021 to June 2022. While there is always the risk of scams, it’s no different from what you would find in the standard finance world. You can reduce the risk of phishing attacks, scams, and other spooky shenanigans with proper knowledge and practices. The key here is education and taking the exact same precautions you’d use in your typical daily finances.
For example, you should never send money to people you don’t know. But that’s just the obvious beginning! People can also impersonate family, friends, and other trusted individuals to try and steal crypto, your account details, or your seed phrase. You also shouldn’t invest in anything you don’t fully understand or through platforms whose security you can’t verify. Always get the advice of an independent financial advisor if you are not sure!
On Binance, you can also use several features to improve your account’s overall security. These include:
Using the Binance authenticator system.
Enabling your anti-phishing code.
Checking the list of devices authorized to access your account.
Managing your withdrawal addresses.
Performing regular, full security scans on your computer.
As you can see, knowledge is power when it comes to security. If you have any hesitations or something seems just too good to be true, trust your instincts and keep your assets safe.
Read more: 5 Common Cryptocurrency Scams and How to Avoid Them | Binance Academy
Watch it: Spooktacular Scams
Halloween Isn’t So Scary After All
At Halloween, it’s worth remembering not everything is actually as frightening as it seems. With our five crypto creepers back in their caskets, you can rest easily without any blockchain bumps in the night. Knowledge really is power when it comes to crypto!
But it’s not just at Halloween that we debunk some of crypto’s biggest myths. There’s always a learning opportunity available with the educational resources we offer for free. Whether it’s Binance Academy or our Learn and Earn program, you’re in good company when it comes to dusting off those crypto cobwebs.
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