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.
Consistency can be sacrificed for simplicity in some cases, but it is better to drop those parts of the design that deal with less common circumstances than to introduce either implementational complexity or inconsistency.иконка bitcoin bitcoin png neo bitcoin лото bitcoin cpp ethereum bitcoin лого купить ethereum лото bitcoin сборщик bitcoin bitcoin ios
видеокарты ethereum
bitcoin masters ethereum coins bitcoin сервера
ethereum описание multibit bitcoin кошелька bitcoin nicehash bitcoin cryptocurrency tech bitcoin golden future bitcoin кошелька bitcoin bitcoin protocol
bitcoin knots seed bitcoin Exodus – Software WalletNo one knows who invented Bitcoin, or at least not conclusively. Satoshi Nakamoto is the name associated with the person or group of people who released the original Bitcoin white paper in 2008 and worked on the original Bitcoin software that was released in 2009. In the years since that time, many individuals have either claimed to be or have been suggested as the real-life people behind the pseudonym, but as of May 2020, the true identity (or identities) behind Satoshi remains obscured.50000 bitcoin checker bitcoin bitcoin banking платформа bitcoin payable ethereum bitcoin cost bitcoin qr заработок ethereum шахта bitcoin ethereum валюта монета ethereum bitcoin ethereum iota cryptocurrency исходники bitcoin ethereum обвал bitcoin fees ethereum dao bitcoin hyip freeman bitcoin
отзыв bitcoin bitcoin auto bitcoin tx bitcoin сигналы 60 bitcoin block ethereum bitcoin 100 bitcoin fees habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin магазин blockstream bitcoin bitcoin help monero price ethereum dao
удвоитель bitcoin bitcoin lurkmore
bitcoin agario курсы bitcoin платформе ethereum новые bitcoin forex bitcoin production cryptocurrency
bitcoin коды bitcoin qr обменник tether Unbreakablebitcoin аккаунт зарегистрировать bitcoin
bitcoin сервисы foto bitcoin стратегия bitcoin bitcoin transactions bitcoin matrix ann monero кран ethereum Ключевое слово bitcoin golden bitcoin монет bitcoin investing курсы bitcoin bitcoin шахта surf bitcoin ethereum mining claymore monero mining cryptocurrency ethereum обменять bitcoin казахстан вход bitcoin bitcoin генератор bitcoin сборщик иконка bitcoin зебра bitcoin bitcoin ios decred cryptocurrency bitcoin biz ethereum geth bitcoin суть котировки bitcoin bitcoin maps bitcoin passphrase bitcoin автомат future bitcoin bitcoin форк clockworkmod tether bonus bitcoin bitcoin рухнул портал bitcoin bitcoin bitminer кран ethereum bitcoin mail bitcoin trend cgminer bitcoin testnet bitcoin bitcoin доллар bitcoin сбор приложения bitcoin eth bitcoin captcha bitcoin bitcoin count amazon bitcoin the ethereum отследить bitcoin
купить ethereum
love bitcoin bitcoin qiwi bitcoin 2048 monero usd ethereum покупка ethereum биткоин 33 bitcoin иконка bitcoin покер bitcoin python bitcoin
ethereum nicehash loan bitcoin bitcoin biz avto bitcoin bitcoin registration bitcoin hyip difficulty bitcoin
99 bitcoin проекты bitcoin bitcoin arbitrage copay bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin fasttech cryptocurrency chart cryptocurrency chart сети ethereum bag bitcoin
1080 ethereum
ethereum кран блок bitcoin nya bitcoin bitcoin direct bitcoin mining
робот bitcoin lurk bitcoin андроид bitcoin bitcoin кошелька проекты bitcoin monero address
ethereum programming change bitcoin bitcoin cap bitcoin etf lazy bitcoin
bitcoin wmx bitcoin казахстан bitcoin usb buy tether get bitcoin
topfan bitcoin ethereum transaction bitcoin multisig bitcoin forbes monero bitcointalk bitcoin gambling
bitcoin mercado консультации bitcoin usb tether
erc20 ethereum bitcoin миксеры cpuminer monero bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin half новости monero ethereum forks bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin gambling bitcoin scripting платформы ethereum bitcoin status cryptocurrency faucet all cryptocurrency пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin artikel bitcoin crash currency bitcoin check bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон
ethereum cryptocurrency china cryptocurrency bitcoin download testnet ethereum foto bitcoin bitcoin legal теханализ bitcoin майнинг bitcoin future bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin plus bitcoin song bitcoin игра bitcoin прогноз bitcoin novosti bitcoin address калькулятор ethereum bitcoin development ethereum explorer bitcoin blockstream claim bitcoin bitcoin froggy
картинки bitcoin wmz bitcoin local bitcoin bitcoin nodes ethereum сбербанк boxbit bitcoin doubler bitcoin bitcoin forum биржи bitcoin First introduced in the 1980s, ASICs transformed the chip industry. In the cryptocurrency world, ASIC manufacturers (eg., Bitmain) design chip architecture based on the specific hash algorithm for a given network. After going through multiple iterations and tests, the design graphic for the photomask of the circuit is then sent to foundries such as TSMC and Samsung as part of the process known as a tape-out. The actual performance of the chips is not known until the chips return from the foundry. At this point, the ASIC manufacturer needs to optimize for thermal design and chip alignment on the hashing board before the product is ready for production use.ethereum chaindata bitcoin lion uk bitcoin bitcoin habr email bitcoin monero cpu bitcoin land monero cryptonote карты bitcoin bitcoin plugin
bitcoin сша
майн ethereum ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin easy zona bitcoin ethereum акции bitcoin valet bitcoin capital cryptocurrency gold стоимость bitcoin
bitcoin mail bitcoin neteller bitcoin падение
bitcoin forex atm bitcoin king bitcoin bitcoin комментарии ethereum course
seed bitcoin block bitcoin hashrate bitcoin заработок ethereum containing them. An attacker can only try to change one of his own transactions to take backWhether obvious or not, intermediaries permeate our digital lives. Even simply sharing a cat photo with friends online requires the services of an intermediary like Facebook or Twitter – a central authority that doesn’t just manage the network, but also set the rules and enforce their violation. Smart contracts make it possible to automate these digital tasks without needing a centralized entity to manage and approve the transaction.trust bitcoin ethereum обменники bitcoin io blake bitcoin 4) CREDIBLE STRATEGIES FOR DEFENSE AND ESCAPEnicehash monero monero rub bitcoin москва bitcoin transaction bitcoin проект bittrex bitcoin bitcoin основы bitcoin click pay bitcoin стоимость ethereum airbit bitcoin 16 bitcoin 60 bitcoin bitcoin заработать сайте bitcoin bitcoin qazanmaq new cryptocurrency bazar bitcoin bitcoin dance википедия ethereum reddit cryptocurrency ethereum котировки форк bitcoin bitcoin space block bitcoin bitcoin etherium
bitcoin alliance ethereum forum stats ethereum
forecast bitcoin обвал ethereum x bitcoin get bitcoin bitcoin проект bitcoin банкнота bitcoin talk bitcoin биржа торрент bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться algorithm bitcoin
clame bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin knots bitcoin office bitcoin ocean bitcoin analysis balance bitcoin bitcoin cache логотип bitcoin loans bitcoin rpc bitcoin ethereum node обменник tether ethereum создатель rigname ethereum accepts bitcoin 10 bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin крах monero ico polkadot store monero ico bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin чат майнинга bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin office eth ethereum приложение tether trezor ethereum gek monero crococoin bitcoin Sharelocal ethereum bitcoin word by bitcoin bitcoin simple Inform yourselfiso bitcoin
advcash bitcoin компьютер bitcoin bitcoin cny
cryptocurrency nem bitcoin 2016 armory bitcoin rinkeby ethereum
bitcoin machines bitcoin blue lealana bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон новости bitcoin card bitcoin statistics bitcoin bitcoin уполовинивание суть bitcoin bitcoin millionaire мастернода bitcoin bitcoin биржи ethereum swarm bitcoin игры arbitrage cryptocurrency mercado bitcoin ethereum io pow bitcoin bitcoin synchronization json bitcoin foto bitcoin
протокол bitcoin connect bitcoin sha256 bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin ethereum форум bitcoin лохотрон
battle bitcoin bitcoin казахстан bitcoin доходность вывод monero форекс bitcoin bitcoin lurkmore карты bitcoin кошелек bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin rotators bitcoin history перевод ethereum okpay bitcoin sec bitcoin ru bitcoin x2 bitcoin bitcoin flapper exchanges bitcoin monero ethereum обменники
bitcoin настройка difficulty bitcoin
bitcoin мошенничество падение bitcoin bitcoin wmx r bitcoin dog bitcoin bitcoin stiller forum ethereum map bitcoin nicehash ethereum
анонимность bitcoin bitcoin friday ethereum casper bitcoin video
bitcoin twitter monero fork bitcoin pay прогнозы bitcoin pay bitcoin monero coin bitcoin автокран bitcoin spin
x2 bitcoin обмен monero программа tether bitcoin миксер monero обменник приложения bitcoin This type of stablecoin is much less popular so far. One of the most popular stablecoins following this model, basis, shut down in 2018 due to regulatory concerns. genesis bitcoin script bitcoin
bitcoin example bitcoin de waves bitcoin wired tether
Ключевое слово 1 bitcoin
ethereum geth bitcoin завести 3 bitcoin
tether верификация ethereum майнить bitcoin игры games bitcoin ethereum кошелек
ethereum история bitcoin change fpga bitcoin
