Cryptocurrencies Explained, in Plain English
Everything you need to know about what cryptocurrencies are, how they work, and how they're valued.
Sean Williams
Sean Williams
(TMFUltraLong)
Jan 2, 2018 at 8:34AM
Author Bio
By now you've probably heard about the cryptocurrency craze. Either a family member, friend, neighbor, doctor, Uber driver, sales associate, server, barista, or passer-by on the street, has probably told you how he or she is getting rich quick with virtual currencies like bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, or one of the lesser-known 1,300-plus investable cryptocurrencies.
But how much do you really know about them? Considering just how many questions I've received out of the blue from the aforementioned group of people over the last month, the answer is probably, "not a lot."
The word cryptocurrency written atop semiconductor chips and circuitry.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
Today, we'll change that. We're going to walk through the basics of cryptocurrencies, step by step, and explain things in plain English. No crazy technical jargon here. Just sticks and stones examples of how today's cryptocurrencies work, what they're ultimately trying to accomplish, and how they're being valued.
Let's get started.
What are cryptocurrencies?
Simply put, cryptocurrencies are electronic peer-to-peer currencies. They don't physically exist. You can't pick up a bitcoin and hold it in your hand, or pull one out of your wallet. But just because you can't physically hold a bitcoin, it doesn't mean they aren't worth anything, as you've probably noticed by the rapidly rising prices of virtual currencies over the past couples of months.
How many cryptocurrencies are there?
The number is always changing, but according to CoinMarketCap.com as of Dec. 30, there were around 1,375 different virtual coins that investors could potentially buy. It's worth noting that the barrier to entry is particularly low among cryptocurrencies. In other words, this means that if you have time, money, and a team of people that understands how to write computer code, you have an opportunity to develop your own cryptocurrency. It likely means new cryptocurrencies will continue entering the space as time passes.
Why were cryptocurrencies invented?
Technically, the idea of an electronic peer-to-peer currency was being tinkered with decades ago, but it wasn't truly successful until 2008, when bitcoin was conceived. The basis of bitcoin's creation, and all virtual currencies that have since followed, was to fix a number of perceived flaws with the way money is transmitted from one party to another.
What flaws? For example, think about how long it can take for a bank to settle a cross-border payment, or how financial institutions have been reaping the rewards of fees by acting as a third-party middleman during transactions. Cryptocurrencies work around the traditional financial system through the use of blockchain technology.
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обменник tether The only other major verification process in place is known as 'proof of stake.' Instead of having people use tons of resources trying to solve complex equations to verify transactions, the proof of stake model chooses who gets to verify the next block of transactions based on their ownership in a virtual currency. In essence, the more you own, the better chance you have of getting to verify transactions. With proof of stake, there is no competition among your peers and no excessive energy usage while solving complex equations, which can make it much more cost-effective.bitcoin project takara bitcoin map bitcoin space bitcoin bitcoin windows tp tether
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что bitcoin Immutability is an emergent property in bitcoin, not a trait of a blockchain. A global, decentralized monetary network with no central authority could not function without an immutable ledger (i.e. if the history of the blockchain were insecure and subject to change). If settlement of the unit of value (bitcoin) could not reliably be considered final, no one would reasonably trade real world value in return. As an example, consider a scenario in which one party purchased a car from another in return for bitcoin. Assume the title for the car transfers, and the individual that purchased the car takes physical possession. If bitcoin’s record of ownership could easily be re-written or altered (i.e. changing the history of the blockchain), the party that originally transferred the bitcoin in return for the car could wind up in possession of both the bitcoin and the car, while the other party could end up with neither. This is why immutability and final settlement is critical to bitcoin’s function.systems, posing a potential challenge to existing regulatory frameworks. Similar to earlysatoshi bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin miningpoolhub ethereum криптовалюты bitcoin reverse tether programming bitcoin bitcoin коды chaindata ethereum monero freebsd site bitcoin ethereum blockchain bitcoin millionaire bitcoin 50 cap bitcoin ethereum serpent Major rivals to Bitcoin include coins such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Dash while smaller cryptocurrencies like Ripple and OmiseGo also have the potential for larger adoption in the future due to their backing by major financial institutions.bitcoin center bitcoin co сеть ethereum Access to Ledger Liveloan bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten ethereum 4pda monero transaction microsoft bitcoin bitcoin lion bitcoin coinmarketcap 2016 bitcoin статистика ethereum bitcoin two bitcoin валюта stock bitcoin poloniex ethereum рост bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalisation LIQUID COLLATERAL AS BASIS FOR LENDING %trump2% DERIVATIVESbitcoin genesis перевод bitcoin bitcoin конвектор ledger bitcoin ethereum телеграмм котировки bitcoin addnode bitcoin bitcoin серфинг
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