Johannesburg - In the space of a year, the value of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin has soared by over 2000%.
This exponential increase has created a rare and volatile investment opportunity.
In December last year, one Bitcoin was worth about R11 000, but by 12:30 on Thursday, it had gone up to R234 998.
Earlier this year, the decentralised digital currency plunged by 18% after a consistent rise, as news began to leak that it had attracted the attention of regulators in China.
When the Chinese government shut down two Bitcoin reserves, the currency was devalued before recovering to an all-time high of over R200 000.
For South Africans looking to take a gamble on the cryptocurrency, which has become larger than the GDP of some nations, investing in Bitcoin is simpler than you may think, with very few steps involved.
For those unfamiliar with the currency, you don't have to purchase Bitcoin as a single, whole unit but can do so in fragments.
South Africans can start investing in Bitcoin from as little as R10.
How to buy or sell a piece of Bitcoin using a smartphone
- On either an iOS or Android device, search for the Luno app within the app store.
- In Luno, select deposit money, which will lead to unique EFT deposit details with a unique Reference Number.
- Using various South African online banking platforms, make the deposit for an amount of between R10 and R14 000.
- Once deposited in the Luno wallet, select “Buy Bitcoin” and choose the amount to be deducted and used to purchase Bitcoin.
- The Luno app allows users to track the price of the currency in rand throughout various time periods by means of graphs.
- To sell currency, select “Sell Bitcoin” and enter the rand amount to be sold.
The Luno platform has recently begun offering the trading of the second most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, but all transactions of buying and selling digital currencies through the platform incur transfer fees.
*Bitcoin is a highly volatile currency, and Fin24 cannot be held liable for financial losses by users.
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