I have been getting a lot of questions about CRYPTOCURRENCY lately. The questions usually come in like this:
“Hey man, can you explain to me what the heck is going on with that bitcoin thing?”
“I just heard about the bitcoin fork and I am scared man! What do I do?”
Or “Can you explain to me what the hell an ICO is? People keep talking about them but I don’t understand.”
So I thought it was time that I wrote a blog post explaining what cryptocurrency is in non technical terms. Now let’s get started:
If you’ve been following my blog for some time, you’ll know that I am not a crypto fan. I think it’s a very risky asset class to invest in. However, I still think it’s important to understand the basics of cryptocurrency.
I’m going to do my best to give you a quick explanation of what cryptocurrency is and why they exist. I will try not to use any fancy words, but if I do, please feel free to ask me in the comments section below.
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency. Cryptocurrencies are a subset of alternative currencies, or specifically of digital currencies.
Bitcoin became the first decentralized cryptocurrency in 2009. Since then, numerous cryptocurrencies have been created. These are frequently called altcoins, as a blend of bitcoin alternative. Bitcoin and its derivatives use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money/centralized banking systems. The decentralized control is related to the use of bitcoin’s blockchain transaction database in the role of a distributed ledger.
The world of cryptocurrency is a very complex one and it is hard for people to understand the basics of it without having to get into the technical side of things.
A lot of people want to learn about Crypto, but most people think that it is too complicated because the terminology used is not explained properly.
This website will explain the basics of cryptocurrencies in a way that will give you a basic understanding of how they work.
Crypto Currency is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems.
It’s the first example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency.
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. A cryptocurrency is difficult to counterfeit because of this security feature. A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.
The first cryptocurrency to capture the public imagination was Bitcoin, which was launched in 2009 by an individual or group known under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. As of September 2015, there were over 14.6 million bitcoins in circulation with a total market value of $3.4 billion. Bitcoin’s success has spawned a number of competing cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin, Namecoin and PPCoin.
Cryptocurrency as an asset class is interesting because it has no cash flows and no earnings; rather it has value because people think other people will want it in the future (sort of like
The first thing you need to know about cryptocurrency is that there are different types of it. There is a common misconception that cryptocurrency only exists as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but this is not the case. The most common form of cryptocurrency is Bitcoin which can be used to purchase other types of altcoins online. Some altcoins are Ethereum, Litecoin, NEM, Ripple and Dash.
Cryptocurrency as a whole has been growing rapidly and is now on the cusp of becoming mainstream. This is evident in the fact that many large companies have begun accepting cryptocurrency payments for their products and services. However, there are still some businesses that do not accept this type of payment so it may take some time before it becomes a regular payment method.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions. Cryptography refers to the use of secret codes or algorithms for encryption and decryption of data. The code or algorithm which encrypts data is called an encryption key while the code or algorithm which decrypts data is called a decryption key. In other words, when you send money via cryptocurrency, your transaction will be secured by cryptography making it difficult for hackers to steal your funds!
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography for security and anti-counterfeiting measures. Public and private keys are often used to transfer the currency from one person to another. The public key is similar to your bank account number, which can be shared with anyone. The private key is like your PIN code and should be kept a secret. Cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain.
A blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology is its security.
Bitcoin was released in 2009 as the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since the release of Bitcoin, over 4,000 altcoins (alternative variants of Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies) have been created.
In 2017, Bitcoin’s market cap rose above $41 billion and reached a peak above $330 billion in December 2017, making it the most widely used cryptocurrency to date.
Blockchain is a technology that’s used to create new cryptocurrency. Blockchain is not a company or an organization; it’s a software protocol, like TCP/IP. If you want to create a new cryptocurrency, you need to build your own blockchain.
How do you build a blockchain? There are two kinds of blockchains: public and private. Public blockchains are decentralized, distributed ledgers secured by cryptography, in which anyone can read or write. Bitcoin is the best example of a public blockchain. Private blockchains are run by one company or organization; only they can read or write to the ledger, and they have the power to change the rules when they see fit.
There are three types of public blockchains: Bitcoin-style (pow), Ethereum-style (pos), and Ripple-style (ripple). Bitcoin uses proof-of-work; Ethereum uses proof-of-stake; Ripple uses something else entirely, which I will describe later. In this post I will focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum because they are the most well known, but there are many others out there with different tradeoffs and design choices.