If you've been in the cryptocurrency space for sometime everyone has come across scam attempts and this is another one so be vigilant when you are evaluating new opportunities to ensure they are above board and you won't fall victim to such problematic issues

This is a useful resource that lists professionals and developers in the industry for anyone new to the scene to learn more about cryptocurrency from and discover potentially valuable opinions and tips on market movements but as always DYOR and don't necessarily take things at face value

Although this project has lots of potential it hasn't performed that well this year and the same goes for lots of other top ranked alternatives and this has been due to a rather stagnant alt-coin market, but once alt-season arrives assets that have solid use cases such as this should perform much better

This is a good strategy only opting to invest in projects that have a real use case and provided they aren't going to be that easily superseded you should be able to benefit from some appreciation as they mature, just don't go for the quick and easy options, research thoroughly and avoid any pump and dump schemes

Cryptocurrency is not for everyone, but anyone that has a portfolio of traditional investments would be wise to consider adding a small percentage of Bitcoin to their holdings and there's plenty of knowledge that can be found doing a little research and this site could come in handy for newbies: https://cryptolinks.com

Ethereum remains one of the best assets to invest in and the cheaper it gets, the more reasons to accumulate some of it in preparation for the new proof-of-stake version, and any good quality privacy coin projects are still a favorite as well as enterprise ready platforms

Cryptocurrency is still an emerging technology so it's natural for it to take a while to progress and at the moment it has stalled a little, but lots of important developments are underway as you mention and some of these may be successfully launched next year so there's no reason to doubt the potential

What you are referring to are Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)'s and there will be some launched starting from next year and they are centralized and a digital version of cash except the difference will be the ledgers will likely be public so anyone can see the transaction just not who's transacting

Bitcoin should be the primary focus for investors when entering the cryptocurrency space as a new investor, but once they are comfortable and have learnt enough about the other top ranked alternatives its always ideal to diversify a little to ensure you have a balanced portfolio comprised of both low and moderate risk assets so you can take full advantage of the variety that's available and what it has to offer

There are plenty of alternatives out there, but it's best to focus on the top ranked assets if you don't have the time to research each lower ranked asset independently to find out if they have any potential to appreciate in a somewhat saturated market place so make sure you evaluate each one carefully to manage the risks before you invest your capital

You are right there was a big transition from Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to the Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) fund raising model which provides more assurances for investors by offering better quality and market liquidity, and this appears to be a similar model just to gradual token release in stages and it may catch on or may not we shall have to wait and see

The value is based on the initial sale price not on the market price once it begins trading and more often than not if you're quick enough, you can retain much of that value if you want to cash in directly after listing or hold it longer term till the project matures and it reaches better value

Bitcoin Cash is simply a fork of the real thing and it has plenty of issues not to mention an even more troublesome Bitcoin SV to compete with and Bitcoin is superior to both of these and that makes investment more speculative so be conscious of these issues when investing

Coinbase and Binance are both offering staking and more exchanges are beginning to offer these types of services, but no matter which one you go with make sure they have custody and insurance for their asset holdings to ensure your funds are safe whilst they are maintaining them for you

A project's success can be determined by a number of different factors be it product quality, real world use case, liquidity, community, etc. and one of the most important factors is to evaluate its marketing strategy that is designed to help achieve adoption

This is where reputation becomes an important factor, especially for new startups seeking to raise funds for their project using an IEO conducted via a launch pad, and you should always do your own research to make sure everything is above board when it comes to these types of investment opportunities to avoid any potential scams

For stablecoin projects like Facebook's Libra to become mainstream a lot of regulatory hurdles must be overcome and these at present are hindering its progress, especially in the US, but if they do become regulated it will further legitimize that aspect of the industry with a positive outcome overall

This is another High Yield Investment Program (HYIP) that went bust and the team pulled an exit scam and these types of incidents are not what cryptocurrency should be all about although there are many bad actors so it pays to do your due diligence when choosing what projects to invest in

If it is a large amount of cryptocurrency you're holding then its essential to have a hardware wallet to manage it yourself, or the other option is you could setup an account with an exchange that has a custody service that keeps their funds insured against hacks such as Coinbase and store if safely that way

Last time I checked the next important upgrades were on track for next year and some analysts and investors have speculated on price increases once these have been implemented, however the entire alternative cryptocurrency market isn't enjoying much appreciation of late, but that should change in the coming months as more media attention is attracted by projects from big brands entering the space