If you’re like most people, chances are when you hear the word “Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency”, you would shrug your shoulders and say “your guess is as good as mine.” But as with much of the finance world — which deliberately uses confusing and complicated language — you feel lost and skeptical.
Marco Lavanna, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Monetum ecosystem, enlightens both early adopters and newcomers with some insights and exciting news. Before the world was disrupted by the concept of blockchain, Marco was one of the pioneers of the e-Gold exchanges in the 1990s. You can read more about his interesting e-Gold experience on his website www.marcolavanna.com
This year, the Monetum Project continues to grow and will launch its exchange and Monetum (MOM) Token, in a way that fully leverages blockchain technology and its own ecosystem.
If we lost you at “blockchain”: Read on.
What Is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are a form of money that allow you to buy goods and services, or trade them for profit. But unlike other currencies, cryptocurrencies are digital and use cryptography to provide secure online transactions among many other technical differences and possibilities. Many companies have issued their own currencies, often called tokens, and these can be traded specifically for the goods or services that the company provides. Think of them as you would arcade game tokens or casino chips. You’ll need to exchange fiat currency for the cryptocurrency to access the goods or services, but more and more merchants are starting to accept crypto.
Since cryptocurrency is digital money, it can be stored on your computer or phone and sent person-to-person with no bank or intermediary. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency but many more have flourished since.
What Is Blockchain?
Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called blockchain. Blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology is its security. Simply put, it’s a distributed database that ensures that all past, present, and future transactions are valid and impossible to hack. Again, there is much more to that as there are many types of blockchains.
How do cryptocurrencies have value? What are they worth?
Ultimately, anything has value because people agree that it has value whether it be a painting or a bottle of wine.
Generally an asset such as cryptocurrency or gold has value for the following potential reasons such as, people want to hold an asset to store value or as an investment; when they think an asset is scarce or no one can artificially create lots more of it; and if it serves some useful function either as money, a commodity, or a tradable good.
Supporters see cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin as the currency of the future and are racing to buy them now, presumably before they become more valuable. As of 02 September 2020, the total value of all cryptocurrencies was more than $370 billion according to CoinMarketCap.
How should a novice approach investing in cryptocurrency?
The first investment that a newcomer to the crypto space should make is time and research. It’s important to understand some of the basics about how these different cryptocurrencies work. The information landscape in crypto is getting a little easier to discover and navigate, and people are putting a lot of time and energy into trying to make cryptocurrency more accessible. For example, buy €100 worth of your cryptocurrency of choice and get comfortable with the process.
But it is important to look at what kinds of problems you’re trying to solve in your personal financial journey and decide whether or not the tech/platform is best suited to solve those problems.
Can you tell us more about Monetum?
We believe in the future of money and we’re building a bridge between fiat and the crypto world. Our headquarters is in Zug, Switzerland and the payment portal bridging crypto to fiat, is an EU compliant and regulated entity. This is what sets us apart from many projects.
Most companies and exchanges are only CFDs (Contract for Difference), otherwise known as CFD trading, which is a method that enables individuals to trade and invest in an asset by engaging in a contract between themselves and a broker instead of direct trading.
Monetum is Better Money. Monetum allows people to take back control of their finances by integrating security, simplicity, and convenience for their specific banking and payment needs.
We will offer a centralised crypto-fiat-crypto exchange and gateway that is at the core of our solution and manages the flow of funds between crypto and fiat so that the users can complete a purchase regardless of the currency they hold or the currency the merchant wants to receive (Euro or Crypto). The gateway will make sure that the buyer is debited in their currency of choice and the business owner also receives their currency of choice. This happens in the background, while buyer and seller simply use their mobile or desktop wallet and click one button to complete the transaction.
On our platform, the Exchange also operates as a traditional exchange allowing users to trade their crypto or fiat currencies, and gold 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Finally, the integration with our fiat partner will allow users to bridge their exchange balances into a fully regulated IBAN account (the fiat wallet/gateway).
Since the Monetum exchange will be launched soon, how will the platform work?
The current market focuses too much on trying to explain cryptocurrencies and very little focus on using it. We are building a system with usability in mind, making it easy for average users to buy crypto even if they have no idea how blockchains work, or what is cryptography. We’re basically decrypting crypto to encourage mass adoption. In other words, we could say: crypto without the blockchain complexity!
Therefore, our solution is being built to be simple and user-friendly. Monetum enables crypto buyers to convert crypto portfolios into traditional assets and back. Our all-in-one exchange includes currencies, crypto, and gold. And soon, we will also offer our Monetum (MOM) Token.
People will get to store funds with us and we let the respective blockchains do its magic in the background. Additionally, we are not asking users to move over to crypto and forget about their existing bank relationships. Rather, we have created a solution that is bridging legacy payments with crypto so the transition doesn’t have to happen overnight and users can familiarise and get used to the solution while still keeping their funds in their existing bank accounts, and or simply leverage on one of our unique proposition: our fully regulated IBAN wallet account. Indeed, it’s the best of both worlds.
With that said, we’re offering everyone early access and a free IBAN* account. The first step they need to do is to subscribe and visit www.monetum.com/join
Can you tell us more about The Monetum (MOM) Token?
The Monetum Token or MOM is a payment token based on ERC-20. ERC-20 tokens represent a diverse range of crypto assets that don’t have their own blockchain but reside on top of the Ethereum blockchain.
Payment Tokens are used as an alternative means of payment and exchange. Unlike fiat currencies like the US Dollar or the Euro, payment tokens like Bitcoin are not legal tender everywhere and not fully backed up by any government yet. Instead, their main objective is to be a decentralised tool for buying and selling goods and services without traditional intermediaries and have no other function (or only limited functions). Two commonly known categories of tokens are utility and security tokens. Regulation is changing very fast and the crypto economy is rapidly taking shape.
During our token sale people can purchase MOMs, which can be used to pay fees in our ecosystem and eventually pay for a cup of coffee or shop online. The Monetum journey is evolving and this will be just the beginning of many more exciting offerings that our token will bring to the existing and profitable Monetum project.
How can people participate in The Monetum (MOM) Token Sale?
Our whitepaper clearly details all aspects of the project. To participate in our token sale, you need to register to be part of the whitelist. You can register and read more at www.monetum.io
We’ll be announcing more on our social media platforms and community forums so make sure to follow us for updates.
Note:
*The free IBAN account is subject to Monetum’s fiat partner onboarding and compliance approval. For more information about customer eligibility and requirements, visit www.monetum.com/join
——
Marco Lavanna is Founder and Chairman of the Board of Monetum. Marco has been active in the digital currencies universe before Bitcoin. He has operated two of the largest exchanges for E-Gold, a gold backed digital currency that was extremely popular at the end of the ‘90s, and other Digital Gold Currencies. Then moved to work in the traditional payments solutions for a few years where he built a very successful Payment Services Provider which recently has been granted a Payment Institution License under the EU Payment Services Directive.
However, never really forgetting his passion for digital currency he has been studying and participating in the Crypto phenomenon and now ready to replicate the success of his previous ventures with the Monetum, Better Money project.
Interested in adopting cryptocurrency?
Join Monetum today.
