Andy Edwards is the Managing Director of online marketing company Madabout Media – the company behind well-known bingo affiliate site, madaboutbingo.com. With over a decade’s worth of experience in the affiliate industry, he is perhaps best known for operating madaboutbingo.com and running playcasinogames.com, touchmobilecasino.co.uk and madaboutslots.com.
Edwards hosted a panel entitled “Affiliate Opportunities in Crypto” at last month’s London Affiliate Conference (LAC), where he explained the basics of cryptocurrency and described how it applies to the world of affiliate marketing. Find out more below.
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What is crypto?
“My wife thinks I’m selling magic beans to people when I’m talking about cryptocurrency. When I first got into the industry in 2006 it was like the Wild West. But we’re at a time now where if we don’t get in we’ll be kicking ourselves in twelve months.
“Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses encryption techniques, also known as cryptography. It’s a currency by the people for the people. Trading is now around $20 billion to $30 billion a day. There’s a lot of money to be made.
What is the blockchain?
“For those of you who don’t know what cryptocurrencies are built on, they’re built on what’s known as the blockchain. So a blockchain is a decentralised ledger – a record of accounts – where transactions are recorded chronologically and publically. So you can see the transaction amount, you can see the bitcoin wallet address or ethereum address, but that’s it. You don’t see the person behind the affiliate address.
“Blockchains are secure by design, they can be used for a lot of other stuff – apart from banking. They can be used for voting, medical records, transactional exchanges; the future is in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The blockchain has been created to take the bank out of the equation – it’s basically decentralised banking.
What is an ICO?
“ICO stands for Initial Coin Offering. Basically, somebody creates a coin, and it’s a way of crowdfunding and generating some money, and if you buy in and invest in a small business you could see your investment multiplied by ten.
“With it being decentralised, you can’t just take my word for it. If you don’t do your own homework you will get burnt. If you put money into it there’s nothing to stop these people from just shutting up shop tomorrow and that’s it you’re screwed. And until it gets regulated – which I think will probably be within the next 12 to 18 months – you have to do your own due diligence. Do your own homework, don’t take my word for it – ask yourself ‘why should I get invested in these coins?’”
