Digital Currency Basics (2025) Fulton Sheen

Bitcoin is a crypto/digital currency, its money much like paper currency and it fluctuates against other currencies, both paper and digital.  It’s a method of legal tender to whoever agrees to accept it, no different than any other currency.  There are over 1,200 crypto currencies, with Bitcoin being the most recognizable because it was the first, and in many ways, acts as the unofficial world reserve digital currency.    

Most governments have concerns about cryptocurrencies because they can’t effectively control, track or tax them and central banks can’t manipulate them. Many people consider that to be one of cryptocurrency’s most attractive features.  Peer to peer crypto transactions enable people to anonymously purchase things with no paper trail, a feature that applies to cash as well.  Crypto currency transactions made on digital exchanges which group companies, purchasers and sellers together on platforms can be regulated or banned.  In 2017, the IRS ordered Coinbase, the largest crypto currency depository\electronic wallet, to report to them the names and amounts of digital currency purchases over $20K and earnings of $600.00 or more.

Initially, crypto currencies were not intended to be an investment, but that is widely how the public and markets are treating them today.  When you purchase/exchange your currency into cryptocurrencies, you are getting a digital representation of a currency that has a specific value at that moment.  Digital currencies go up and down against other digital currencies, like the USD goes up and down against other paper currencies. 

Many people are interested in purchasing crypto currencies, but are uncertain about how to do it and how these currencies really work.  There are many companies and crypto brokers who hire themselves out for a fee to instruct people in how to do it.  When Bitcoin goes up it really goes up and when it goes down it really goes down.  Some people have made a lot of money purchasing it, but most have lost a lot, because, like stocks & bonds, most people have no idea what they’re doing.  A prudent investor ought not to buy what they don’t understand, because they won’t know what to buy or when to buy or sell it, may be taken advantage of or simply make a poor decisions.  Unfortunately, too many only look at the rapid gains and jump on the band wagon. 

The world is moving rapidly to digital currency replacing paper currency. China went digital Jan 1, 2022, Australia, Canada, the EU as well as other nations are already in the process of going digital.  The biggest question is will this change, this financial reset be in the form of CBDC, private digital currency or both?  The move toward acceptance of de-centralized digital currency has accelerated since Trump was inaugurated, but the move toward central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), centralized government controlled digital currencies was stopped by both the Federal government and a number of state governments.

“By executive order, President Donald Trump established the first U.S. Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve (SCR), sending prices for all five of his named digital assets surging.  “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World, and that SCR would include popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as lesser-known assets such as XRP, Solana’s SOL, and Cardano’s ADA.” – Epoch Times

There are many pros & cons to CBDCs.  On the negative side, your personal anonymity would be all but eliminated, and if there was a banking and\or economic crisis, you can’t withdraw your money and bring it home. The greatest change would be that governments would now be in complete control of everyone’s money with no checks & balances or oversight; anyone could be labeled a threat at any time and have their ability to transact instantly blocked.  One way to prepare for this change could be to open your own crypto currency account, while there are few regulations.  After the change from paper to digital currency occurs, the three main ways to hold cash and transact outside your digital bank account would be gold & silver, bartering goods & services and having private cryptocurrency wallet.

How Do You Get Crypto Currency?

The process of opening a digital wallet, depositing cash into digital the wallet, purchasing specific cryptos and then storing them, is not that complicated.  The first step is selecting a digital wallet which becomes your digital depository. There are many to choose from Gemini, Uphold, Coinbase & Kraken are the largest and most widely accepted, but there many options.  I am not advising anyone to buy/convert to cryptocurrency, but I have listed the basics steps below for information’s sake.

• Two options are https://www.gemini.com/ or https://www.kraken.com/ 
• Open an account & after you are approved you do an electronic transfer
• You may want to make your initial deposit into their stable coin options
• You can leave it in the stable coin option until you want to make a purchase or choose one of the digital currency options your electronic wallet offers (i.e., Litecoin, Dogcoin, etc.).
• After completing your first transfer into a cryptocurrency you can now transact, purchase a product, make or receive a payment.
• There will be a record of your deposits, withdrawals, interest earned, gain or loss, but there is no record or ledger of your purchases in a peer to peer transaction.
• If you want to have a higher degree of security, you put them in a hard wallet which gives you custodial control of your crypto assets, and protects you against problems with your digital currency platform making poor investment choices like FTX.  An example of a hard wallet would be Exodus:  https://www.exodus.com  or Trezor.

You must have a smart phone or computer or you cannot complete the process.  Anyone who is not proficient on the computer and smart phone should seek some assistance before purchasing crypto currency. 

Most crypto currencies are even more fiat than paper currency, because they are not even backed by the “good faith” of a government (whatever that’s worth).  The question is: who is really in control of it?  Billions have been lost when various Bitcoin exchanges or platforms were hacked, and because transactions are difficult to track, there was no recourse.  It is claimed that peer to peer transactions can’t be hacked, which so far has been true. 

Cryptocurrencies that have a greater technological functionality in transaction and exchange of goods and services have a greater chance of success.  The most widely used digital currencies in the U.S. to transact business are XRP, Lite Coin, Doge Coin & stable coins which don’t fluctuate.

My greatest concern in regard to digital currency is how easy it makes it to shift into a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) and ultimately, a one world currency.  Everyone would be forced to participate in this new system, but could also be blocked from it with the click of a button.  Once in place, this kind of system could destroy people’s ability to buy things privately and anonymously, as well as block individuals from transacting with others in the system.  While there are many benefits to digital currency, there are also potential dangers and unanswered questions, anyone considering participating in crypto should proceed with caution and be very well informed about what they are doing and the potential risks.    

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