“Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” have become household terms, yet few people know what they really are.

In this article, we aim to provide a simple explanation of cryptocurrency without getting into too many details, and then show you how to buy it.

What is a cryptocurrency?

Most simply, a cryptocurrency is a digital currency that was designed to eliminate the need for central banks. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. Today there are thousands of different types of cryptocurrencies.

Essentially, cryptocurrencies are stored across millions of computers. Using advanced mathematical and cryptographic algorithms, it is possible to determine the history of every cryptocurrency transaction, making cryptocurrency completely transparent.

Cryptocurrency can only exist in the highly connected world we live in today. No single, central computer contains all the information required to verify cryptocurrency transactions. It requires multiple distributed computers, which is why cryptocurrency is so secure — the lack of a single, dedicated store for all the information related to cryptocurrency transactions means they are impervious to hacking attempts.

After bitcoin, new cryptocurrencies emerged. They used the same base as bitcoin, a technology called “blockchain”, but they also added to that technology so that not only currencies could be represented, but also other things such as artistic works and contracts. Using the same basis — a distributed network of decentralised control — it was possible to create many different types of services that rely on cryptocurrency technology.

How do you buy cryptocurrency and bitcoin?

The easiest way to buy bitcoin — or any other cryptocurrency, for that matter — is to use OVEX’s extremely simple “Request for Quote” (RFQ) tool.

Click here to learn more about buying and selling cryptocurrency easily through OVEX

OVEX is the largest over-the-counter cryptocurrency exchange in Africa. It is headquartered in South Africa and has partnered with multiple international giants in the cryptocurrency space to open the doors of cryptocurrency to anyone who wants to invest in it.

“Our goal was to make it possible for all South Africans to invest in cryptocurrency,” said Jonathan Ovadia, OVEX’s CEO, “whether they invest R100 or R1-million. That’s why we developed the RFQ system, which makes it a piece of cake for even the most amateur investor to easily buy cryptocurrency in a matter of seconds.”

OVEX’s RFQ system is a unique way to buy cryptocurrency in South Africa. It is easier than any system offered by any other cryptocurrency exchange, whether locally or internationally.

Simplified

Whereas other cryptocurrency exchanges usually confuse people with hundreds of “buy/sell” quotes streaming down a screen, OVEX simplified the entire procedure by simply letting people type in how much rand they want to buy, and how much crypto that rand will give them.

That cryptocurrency could be bitcoin, TrueUSD (a cryptocurrency backed by the US dollar, making it far less volatile), ether, or any other 50 cryptocurrency pairs that OVEX deals in.

“The inner workings of cryptocurrency are complicated, but that doesn’t mean that buying crypto should be,” said Ovadia. “People in crypto tend to forget that there’s an entire world waiting to jump on the crypto bandwagon, but that these people are being held back by complicated terms and nomenclature that just confuse people. The fact that the underlying technology is highly sophisticated doesn’t mean that the average person needs to know about it. Buying crypto should be as easy as buying anything else online.”