Crypto investors have an increasing number of choices lately, including Enjin Coin (ENJ), which launched during the summer of 2018. Unlike many other crypto investing options on the market, Enjin Coin (also referred to as ENJ crypto) is a bit different in that it was designed for a specific purpose: to help the gaming community and to manage digital or virtual assets.
Here’s everything curious investors and crypto fans need to know about Enjin Coin.
Related: What is blockchain technology?
What Is Enjin Coin?
Enjin Coin, or ENJ, is a cryptocurrency created and designed by a software company called Enjin. Enjin’s software allows users to create virtual goods like NFTs, or non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain network.
While that may require some background reading about Ethereum’s blockchain network and NFTs, what you should know is that Enjin’s software is designed to create and manage in-game goods and assets. In effect, Enjin makes it easier and more efficient for participants in certain virtual worlds to create in-game assets, and to transact them.
Enjin Coin, or ENJ, then, is the native token to the Enjin network.
How Does Enjin Work?
The basic idea behind Enjin Coin is that blockchain can smooth out the process of transacting in-game or virtual assets. Much like blockchain can do the same in the real world with other assets (think of Ripple and XRP, which is designed to help facilitate financial transactions), ENJ is used to manage virtual inventories.
If it all sounds a bit meta — a virtual currency designed for virtual assets — that’s because it is. As for how it actually works, Enjin has software development kits (SDKs) that allow game developers to “mint.” Using SDKs, developers can create virtual items inside of games or applications. These created items are given a corresponding value in ENJ, which makes it easy to trade and or sell them via Enjin’s marketplace.
Because each asset has a value in ENJ, which is a traded cryptocurrency, it also has a real-life value, too. These digital assets are, in effect, NFTs, and can be traded for many times their initial values. Developers who want to create in-game assets can start out by purchasing ENJ from an exchange, “minting” an item, trading or selling it in-game, or even “melting” it, which means turning the item back into ENJ.
While Enjin Coin is designed to function and incorporate blockchain-backed swapping systems in video games or virtual worlds, it can be used in other ways, too. For instance, sports teams or clubs may be able to use it to mint digital assets to hand out as rewards.
Example of ENJ Crypto in Action
Here’s a simplified, hypothetical example of how Enjin coin works in the real (well, virtual) world:
Say you’re a game developer, and you’re actively playing, participating in, and developing an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). You want to create a special weapon for the game, a longsword, and decide to buy some ENJ from a crypto exchange to do so.
You make the purchase, and with your ENJ, you “mint” the longsword using an SDK, a corresponding programming interface created by Enjin to help build and deploy the asset into the game.
Once created, the longsword also has a value equal to, say 10 ENJ. You sell the longsword to another player on Enjin Coin’s marketplace, banking 10 ENJ. You decide you’d like to accumulate more ENJ, so you trade a shield in your inventory for a spear that you plan to “melt,” which is, as you might remember, like liquidating an asset for its ENJ value.
You melt the spear and collect 5 ENJ. Now, you have 15 total ENJ that you can either use to create more in-game assets or sell on an exchange.
While this is a very simplified version of Enjin Coin in action, it should give you the gist of the cryptocurrency’s use cycle.
Enjin Coin: Benefits and Disadvantages
As with any cryptocurrency, Enjin has its benefits and drawbacks. Here are a few:
Benefits of Enjin Coin
- Unlimited potential: The gaming industry (and virtual world-building in particular) is big and growing. That means there’s a lot of potential runway for Enjin Coin ahead.
- Relatively affordable price: For crypto investors, ENJ is still affordable for almost anyone, unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum. (See more on price in the next section.)
- A large, built-in community: Enjin already has marketplaces operating and integrated, with many participants. The fact that it’s been so widely adopted may be an indication that won’t just disappear overnight.
Disadvantages of Enjin Coin
- No easy mining: Enjin doesn’t operate on its own blockchain, so it can’t be mined directly — at least not easily.
- No physical backup: As with all other cryptocurrencies, there’s no physical asset or commodity to backup Enjin Coin.
- Technical know-how: Crypto isn’t easy to understand, and Enjin Coin is no different. That’s particularly true if you plan to use it to create NFTs or assets — you’d need to do some studying before you could put it all together.
Enjin Coin Price
While Enjin Coin isn’t dirt-cheap like some coins on the exchanges, it hasn’t reached astronomical levels, either. As of mid-to-late September 2021, it’s trading at around $1.25.
Over the past year, its price has fluctuated in a big way. At the end of 2020, Enjin Coin’s price hovered around 15 cents, then it saw a big spike in the spring, topping $3.45 at one point. Since then, it’s come down and has mostly stayed between $1 and $2.25 ever since.
Enjin Coin Staking
Further, some exchanges and platforms do allow users to stake Enjin Coin if you know where to look. But by and large, it seems that most larger exchanges don’t give users and investors the option to stake ENJ. That said, Enjin is rolling out a new ecosystem called Efinity, which will also have its own cryptocurrency, Efinity Token (EFI). As a part of that ecosystem, Enjin Coin can be staked to earn Efinity Tokens.
How to Invest in Enjin
Now for the big question: How do investors get their hands on Enjin Coin? If you’ve invested in any other cryptocurrencies before, it should be a familiar path. For most investors, investing in Enjin Coin is pretty much the same as another cryptocurrency. The process is as easy as picking a crypto exchange, opening an account, funding it, then placing an order and transferring your holdings to your crypto wallet. You can also swap your ENJ tokens for others on some decentralized exchanges, but again, for most investors, sticking to a large, trusted exchange is probably the way to go.
The Takeaway
There are many types of cryptocurrencies out there, and the list seems to be growing each and every day. Enjin Coin is a relatively new coin with some fairly unique use cases, and it may be of particular interest to crypto investors who are into gaming and the gaming industry. As with all investments — crypto or otherwise — it’s always wise to consider any risks before making a purchase.
Learn more:
This article originally appeared on SoFi.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
SoFi Invest
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC. SoFi Invest refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
1) Automated Investing—The Automated Investing platform is owned by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (“Sofi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC, an affiliated SEC registered broker dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, (“Sofi Securities).
2) Active Investing—The Active Investing platform is owned by SoFi Securities LLC. Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation.
3) Cryptocurrency is offered by SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, a FinCEN registered Money Service Business.
For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of Sofi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit www.sofi.com/legal. Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Lending Corp and/or its affiliates.
Crypto: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t endorsed or guaranteed by any government, are volatile, and involve a high degree of risk. Consumer protection and securities laws don’t regulate cryptocurrencies to the same degree as traditional brokerage and investment products. Research and knowledge are essential prerequisites before engaging with any cryptocurrency. US regulators, including FINRA, the SEC, and the CFPB, have issued public advisories concerning digital asset risk. Cryptocurrency purchases should not be made with funds drawn from financial products including student loans, personal loans, mortgage refinancing, savings, retirement funds or traditional investments. Limitations apply to trading certain crypto assets and may not be available to residents of all states.
Third Party Brand Mentions: No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.
External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
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12 benefits of cryptocurrency in 2021
Crypto is a relatively new asset class that began with the creation of the Bitcoin blockchain in 2009. The primary benefit of Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology is that they don’t have a central authority, payment processor or company owner.
Instead, crypto networks are peer-to-peer, meaning people can transact directly with one another. Many of the additional benefits of cryptocurrency stem from their decentralized and peer-to-peer nature. Let’s look at some positives of cryptocurrency in this crypto guide.
Related: How to invest in Bitcoin
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Crypto transactions can be made easily, at low cost, and in a manner more private than most other transactions. Using a simple smartphone app, hardware wallet or exchange wallet, anyone can send and receive a variety of cryptocurrencies.
Some types of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum, can be bought with cash at a Bitcoin ATM. A bank account isn’t always required to use crypto. Someone could buy bitcoin at an ATM using cash then send those coins to their phone. For people who lack access to the traditional financial system, this may be one of the biggest pros of cryptocurrency.
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Because they are based on cryptography and blockchain security, decentralized cryptocurrencies tend to make for secure forms of payment. This might be one of the most certain benefits of cryptocurrency. Crypto security is determined in large part by hash rate. The higher the hash rate, the more computing power it would take to compromise the network. Bitcoin is the most secure cryptocurrency, having the highest hash rate of any network by far.
Using a crypto exchange is only as secure as the exchange itself, however. Most incidents of crypto being hacked involve exchanges being hacked or individuals making mistakes.
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While some people only want to invest in cryptocurrency for price appreciation, others might find benefit in the ability to use crypto as a medium of exchange.
Bitcoin and Ether transactions could cost anywhere from nickels and dimes to several dollars or more. Other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, XRP and others can be sent for pennies or less. Payments for most cryptos settle in seconds or minutes. Wire transfers at banks can cost significantly more and often take three to five business days to settle.
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The cryptocurrency industry has been one of the fastest-growing markets that most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Being involved now might reasonably be compared to being involved with companies on the leading edge of the internet back in the 1990s and early 2000s. The total market cap of the cryptocurrency market in 2013 was about $1.6 billion. By June 2021, it rose to over $1.4 trillion.
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It’s no secret that Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset of the last 12 years. When it began in 2009, Bitcoin essentially had no value. In the following years it would rise to a fraction of a penny and then eventually to tens of thousands of dollars. This represents millions of percentage points’ worth of gains. By comparison, the S&P 500 index of stocks returns an average of about 8% per year.
Some altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin by wide margins at times, although many of those later saw their prices collapse. Gains like these might be among the most well-known cryptocurrency benefits. (The losses, on the other hand, may be among the most well-known drawbacks.) Volatility has characterized prices in the crypto space, which has been one of the key benefits of cryptocurrency for day traders and speculators.
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Privacy can be one of the benefits of cryptocurrency, but crypto isn’t as private as some people might think. Blockchains create a public ledger that records all transactions forever. While this ledger only shows wallet addresses, if an observer can connect a user’s identity to a specific wallet, then tracking transactions becomes possible.
While it’s worth noting that most crypto transactions are pseudonymous, there are ways to make more anonymous transactions. Coin mixing services group transactions together in a way that makes it hard to pick them apart from one another, confusing outside observers. Individuals who run a full node also make their transactions more opaque because observers can’t always tell if the transactions running through the node were sent by the person running the node or by someone else.
Methods like these are for more advanced users and could prove difficult for those new to crypto. So while absolute privacy is really not one of the main positives of cryptocurrency, transactions are still generally more private than using fiat currency with third-party payment processors.
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Cryptocurrency has become known as a non-correlated asset class. Crypto markets largely function independently of other markets, and their price action tends to be determined by factors other than those affecting stocks, bonds and commodities.
Any asset that has risen by millions of percentage points over just twelve years, as a number of crypto coins have, clearly is not correlated to anything else. But it’s worth noting that during the last few years, cryptos have begun to sometimes trade in tandem with stocks for short periods of time.
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Mineable cryptocurrencies with a limited supply cap, like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero, to name a few, are thought to be good hedges against inflation. Because monetary inflation can occur when central banks and governments print more money, increasing the supply, things that are more scarce tend to appreciate in value.
With more and more new dollars chasing fewer and fewer coins, the price of these fixed-supply coins as measured in dollars has a higher chance of going up. Additionally, the Bitcoin protocol, for example, is also designed to keep those coins scarce regardless of what happens with monetary policy.
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Cryptocurrencies have no regard for national borders. An individual in one country can send coins to someone in a different country without any added difficulty. With traditional financial services, getting funds across international borders can take a long time and come with hefty fees. In some cases, doing so might not even be possible due to regulations, sanctions or tensions between specific countries.
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Some of the benefits of cryptocurrency extend to people who don’t have access to the traditional financial system. Due to its decentralized and permission-less nature, one of the benefits of cryptocurrency is that anyone can participate.
People don’t have to have permission from any financial authority or government to use the crypto ecosystem. (Though it’s worth noting that Bitcoin mining is banned in China.) They also don’t necessarily need to have a bank account.
There are billions of people today who are “unbanked,” meaning they have no access to the financial system, including bank accounts. With crypto, all these people need is a smartphone, and they can essentially become their own bank.
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One of the great benefits of crypto is that it can be used to exchange value between two parties. This can be done independently of any third-party, making the transaction freer and censorship-resistant.
Banks or other payment processors can choose to cut off services to anyone for any reason. This can make things difficult for some journalists, political dissidents or other individuals working in nations with oppressive government regimes. Because there is no central authority governing Bitcoin or most other cryptocurrencies, it’s very difficult to stop anyone from using them.
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Stock markets are only open on weekdays during the regular business hours of 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Eastern Time, in the case of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). During nights, weekends, and on holidays, most traditional financial markets are not open for business.
Crypto markets, on the other hand, trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without exception. Some of the only things that could interrupt a person’s ability to trade cryptocurrency would be a power outage, internet outage, or centralized exchange outage.
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The above are just a few of the most important advantages of cryptocurrency. Of course, there are potential flaws as well, its volatility being a major downside. As with anything, those interested in buying, selling and trading crypto would be wise to do their research before getting involved in the crypto market.
Learn more:
This article originally appeared on SoFi.comand was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
SoFi Invest
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA /SIPC. SoFi Invest refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
1) Automated Investing—The Automated Investing platform is owned by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (“Sofi Wealth“). Brokerage services are provided to SoFi Wealth LLC by SoFi Securities LLC, an affiliated SEC registered broker dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, (“Sofi Securities).
2) Active Investing—The Active Investing platform is owned by SoFi Securities LLC. Clearing and custody of all securities are provided by APEX Clearing Corporation.
3) Cryptocurrency is offered by SoFi Digital Assets, LLC, a FinCEN registered Money Service Business.
For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest platforms described above, including state licensure of Sofi Digital Assets, LLC, please visit www.sofi.com/legal. Neither the Investment Advisor Representatives of SoFi Wealth, nor the Registered Representatives of SoFi Securities are compensated for the sale of any product or service sold through any SoFi Invest platform. Information related to lending products contained herein should not be construed as an offer or pre-qualification for any loan product offered by SoFi Lending Corp and/or its affiliates.
Crypto: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t endorsed or guaranteed by any government, are volatile, and involve a high degree of risk. Consumer protection and securities laws don’t regulate cryptocurrencies to the same degree as traditional brokerage and investment products. Research and knowledge are essential prerequisites before engaging with any cryptocurrency. US regulators, including FINRA , the SEC , and the CFPB, have issued public advisories concerning digital asset risk.
Cryptocurrency purchases should not be made with funds drawn from financial products including student loans, personal loans, mortgage refinancing, savings, retirement funds or traditional investments. Limitations apply to trading certain crypto assets and may not be available to residents of all states.
External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
Third Party Brand Mentions: No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.
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