Basics of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. 

Since the creation of bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies have exploded in popularity and are today collectively worth more than $1 trillion.  An increasing number of investors now hold bitcoin and hundreds of other cryptocurrencies as assets and use them to buy a swath of goods and services, such as software, digital real estate, and illegal drugs.

Join  this presentation by the NJ Bureau of Securities for an overview of this new asset class.  It will also introduce vocabulary  (what is the blockchain, cryptocurrency mining) and cover aspects of cryptocurrency trading and investing, pitfalls and cryptocurrency investment scams (including pig butchering and romance scams).

Presenter Arlene Ferris-Waks, Director of Complaints & Investor Outreach has been employed with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Bureau of Securities for more than 15 years. Prior to supervising the Investor Education Outreach and Complaints units, Arlene supervised the Bureau’s Examinations unit. In 2015, she received the New Jersey Attorney General‘s award for excellence in public outreach. Arlene has wide ranging experience in the securities industry. She has been employed with both the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange, worked as a senior compliance officer at a broker-dealer, and as an investment adviser/registered representative. She is passionate about finance and believes that all investors should have a good understanding about their investments and safe investing.