Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies that can be exchanged and operated like any other traditional currency, but are beyond the control of governments and financial institutions.
Today there are many varieties of cryptocurrencies and all of them have an application and their own characteristics. Those with greater market capitalization are a minority, and among them are bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, ripple and dash.
Benefits
The cryptocurrencies are global currencies. Anyone can access them and can be transferred from anywhere and at any time. This type of currency usually experiences significant price movements.
All transactions are recorded in a shared book and are operated on a mechanism that ensures that the recipient only receives the information they need from the issuer.
Risks
Volatility can lead to some risks, that is, some movements can generate large losses of money. Another risk is that there is no way to protect against error or fraud, so you should be careful in which pages are made transactions.
If cryptocurrencies are regulated, many of their advantages over traditional currencies could be reversed.
Also published on Medium.