Everyone seems to have an interest in cryptocurrencies these days, including gift givers. Individuals, families, organizations and employers are turning to crypto more than ever before as a gift solution. With more than 16,000 options to choose from and even more digital assets and platforms expected to appear in the market this year, it’s not surprising. The popularity of crypto and the past returns on some old, popular digital currencies is expected to make crypto eventually as common a gift as cash and gift cards.
If you received any form of crypto as a gift recently for a birthday, holiday, job well done or other reason, such as Bitcoin, Chainlink or Ether, you don’t need to worry about having a bad experience simply because you have no idea what to do with it. Use this guide to help you learn some of the simplest options:
Pick a Digital Wallet
A digital wallet stores your crypto coins and safeguards them from theft. It also helps you to manage your cryptocurrency. It’s best if you can find an external option so that you’re not restricted when attempting to use your gift. The platform that created the digital asset should have a Frequently Asked Questions page that outlines your digital wallet options. If you don’t want to save or spend it and prefer a cash option, you can also exchange it for other types of money either via guidance from the platform or a third-party exchange provider.
Save Your Crypto
Once you have a wallet and a secure key phrase that gives you access to it, you need to decide whether to save or spend the coins. Historically, some cryptocurrencies have increased in value with popularity in a short period of time. As a result, if you hold onto a crypto gift for a while, you might watch it double or triple in value within one or two years.
That said, many digital currencies have experienced sudden value drops, which might make you leery of holding onto your gift. If you can transfer the coins to an external platform, you might also put the coins in an interest-bearing account through a third-party company that offers this solution. Additionally, you might find a third-party service provider that allows you to trade crypto to invest in real-world stocks.
Spend The Money
Lastly, you can obviously spend crypto much in the same way you would other forms of money. If you want to make more money off of the cryptocurrency platform, you might use your gift to help the platform validate transactions on its network. You put up a stake of a small amount from your crypto account and later receive rewards of additional coins for validating transactions properly.
If you don’t feel confident about spending the money this way or even want to learn how to perform what is called Proof of Stake consensus validation, you can spend the money in other ways. As previously mentioned, you might exchange it for cash and spend it anywhere. If you want to stick with spending it digitally, you merely need to learn which apps and platforms allow you to spend it on products and services or offer exchange options.