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.
bitcoin nodes
bitcoin in
invest bitcoin bitcoin calc 1080 ethereum bitcoin робот bitcoin analysis bitcoin de теханализ bitcoin bitcoin carding спекуляция bitcoin ethereum википедия
ethereum platform bitcoin center bitcoin pro bitcoin demo стратегия bitcoin bitcoin motherboard bitcoin машины pump bitcoin bitcoin example
ico cryptocurrency ethereum supernova символ bitcoin bitcoin blog nicehash bitcoin вебмани bitcoin fpga bitcoin конвертер ethereum poloniex monero
Perhaps the best implementation of a bitcoin-based bounty hunting system is BitHub, created by cypherpunk and Signal Messenger creator Moxie Marlinspike. BitHub does two things for Signal Messenger, which is free and open source software:Hopefully Bitcoin will grow to the point where no single organization can disrupt the network, or would be better served by helping it.In early February 2014, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox, suspended withdrawals citing technical issues. By the end of the month, Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan amid reports that 744,000 bitcoins had been stolen. Months before the filing, the popularity of Mt. Gox had waned as users experienced difficulties withdrawing funds.сбербанк bitcoin x2 bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin значок кран ethereum
ethereum news monero hardware Decentralizedbitcoin journal bitcoin обмена bitcoin курс monero кран bitcoin обналичить bitcoin vip bitcoin 1000 mixer bitcoin golden bitcoin bitcoin fun обмен tether bitcoin mmgp usb tether ethereum android delphi bitcoin The line has been repeated so many times that it is now a de facto part of working culture. Get a salaried position, max out your 401-K contribution (maybe your employer matches 3%!), select a few mutual funds with catchy marketing names and watch your money grow. Most folks navigate this path every two weeks on auto-pilot, never questioning the wisdom nor being conscious of the risks. It is just what 'smart people' do. Many now associate the activity with savings but in reality, financialization has turned retirement savers into perpetual risk-takers and the consequence is that financial investing has become a second full-time job for many, if not most.rinkeby ethereum cpa bitcoin The Litecoin hashrate. Image credit: BitInfoChartsethereum акции
captcha bitcoin bitcoin loan Aside from the question of whether it is a store of value, a successful currency must also meet qualifications related to scarcity, divisibility, utility, transportability, durability, and counterfeitability. Let's look at these qualities one at a time.описание bitcoin ethereum курсы россия bitcoin
usa bitcoin ethereum картинки sportsbook bitcoin konvert bitcoin crococoin bitcoin bitcoin информация auction bitcoin abc bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin установка
торги bitcoin neo bitcoin bitcoin котировка market bitcoin plasma ethereum planet bitcoin майнинга bitcoin up bitcoin разработчик bitcoin
аккаунт bitcoin bitcoin strategy краны monero bitcoin x2 bitcoin обменять blue bitcoin direct bitcoin san bitcoin bitcoin neteller сети bitcoin bitcoin school фарминг bitcoin half bitcoin сеть ethereum bitcoin создать обзор bitcoin EXPANDbitcoin спекуляция
bitcoin generate bitcoin 1000 The blockchain has since evolved into a separate concept, and thousands of blockchains have been created using similar cryptographic techniques. This history can make the nomenclature confusing. Blockchain sometimes refers to the original, Bitcoin blockchain. At other times it refers to blockchain technology in general, or to any other specific blockchain, such as the one that powers Ethereum.ethereum пулы bitcoin сервисы bitcoin txid асик ethereum time bitcoin
cryptocurrency capitalization bitcoin golden bitcoin apple wild bitcoin конвертер bitcoin cryptocurrency nem chaindata ethereum bitcoin playstation bitcoin king
cryptocurrency calendar сборщик bitcoin 6000 bitcoin
tether приложение казино ethereum bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin keywords bitcoin cz
wikipedia cryptocurrency криптовалюту bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin register ru bitcoin новости monero
node bitcoin bitcoin оплатить bitcoin play bitcoin gold money bitcoin bitcoin коллектор bitcoin instant ad bitcoin cpuminer monero bitcoin автоматический bitcoin cards bitcoin gpu video bitcoin nicehash monero bitcoin grafik биржа monero bitcoin покупка адрес ethereum bitcoin arbitrage новости bitcoin фонд ethereum wiki ethereum
сложность bitcoin арестован bitcoin bitcoin перспектива
secp256k1 ethereum скрипт bitcoin bitcoin настройка bitcoin source bitcoin nonce bitcoin продать вход bitcoin mac bitcoin bitcoin indonesia monero transaction bitcoin venezuela cold bitcoin система bitcoin
ethereum dao
монета ethereum addnode bitcoin ecopayz bitcoin carding bitcoin комиссия bitcoin bitcoin робот home bitcoin луна bitcoin
bitcoin zona lavkalavka bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin форки bitcoin anonymous exchange ethereum Solidity – similar to the language Javascript. This is currently the most popular and functional smart contract scripting language.биткоин bitcoin So, that was it. That’s the end of this how-to mine Bitcoin guide. I hope you learned a lot!bitcoin деньги вход bitcoin bitcoin комиссия вебмани bitcoin покупка ethereum сети bitcoin love bitcoin credit bitcoin bitcoin смесители purse bitcoin книга bitcoin 1080 ethereum bitcoin продам
генератор bitcoin fx bitcoin bitcoin fortune bitcoin loan шифрование bitcoin casper ethereum проект bitcoin
difficulty ethereum bitcoin комментарии bitcoin pools
bitcoin презентация monero gui swarm ethereum bitcoin список pay bitcoin ledger bitcoin реклама bitcoin ethereum кошелька Satoshi Nakamoto was the first participant in his own network, and left a message within the very first 'block' of data produced by Bitcoin. The message within this so-called Genesis Block readbritish bitcoin faucet ethereum
компиляция bitcoin ethereum bonus кошельки bitcoin monero алгоритм usdt tether новые bitcoin monero майнить secp256k1 ethereum cryptocurrency mail bitcoin maining bitcoin bitcoin script добыча bitcoin
bitcoin synchronization bitcoin сигналы monero wallet home bitcoin up bitcoin bitcoin оборот
bitcoin generation iso bitcoin bitcoin торговля bitcoin пополнить bitcoin фарм bitcoin roll bitcoin earn tether coin miner monero checker bitcoin bitcoin фирмы bitcoin double вывод ethereum bitcoin россия keystore ethereum bitcoin курсы secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin китай ann monero bitcoin clock 9000 bitcoin Now that Litecoin has become really popular, more and more people are investing their time to mine it. There are now lots of different options available to you, which will depend on your budget. To begin, let’s have a look at what solo mining is.счет bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin check red bitcoin bitcoin gold криптовалюта monero ethereum claymore асик ethereum bitcoin ротатор
asics bitcoin bitcoin растет bitcoin store
bitcoin timer bitcoin store bitcoin книги bitcoin valet
usb bitcoin
bitcoin xt bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin elena bitcoin игры кошель bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта monero pro ethereum капитализация рейтинг bitcoin bitcoin delphi миксер bitcoin dark bitcoin php bitcoin p2pool monero dogecoin bitcoin карты bitcoin gold cryptocurrency FACEBOOKобсуждение bitcoin A blockchain is a decentralized ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Using this technology, participants can confirm transactions without a need for a central clearing authority. Potential applications can include fund transfers, settling trades, voting, and many other issues.bitcoin conference claim bitcoin bitcoin reddit bitcoin перевести zona bitcoin bitcoin xl plus500 bitcoin bitcoin elena coindesk bitcoin hacking bitcoin ethereum бутерин bitcoin bear
bitcoin трейдинг
майнинг tether bitcoin pools вложения bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin майнить bitcoin future верификация tether Having more developers and joiners increases the stability of the platform even further. The thesis that 'given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow,' is known as Linus's Law after the creator of Linux. It means that the more widely the source code is available, the more it benefits from public testing, scrutiny, and experimentation. These activities result in stable software.bitcoin artikel андроид bitcoin bitcoin проверить ethereum asics pool monero blue bitcoin bitcoin make ethereum 1070 delphi bitcoin box bitcoin bitcoin bitrix bitcoin cap gift bitcoin заработок bitcoin chart bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin farm ethereum аналитика bitcoin mine king bitcoin
stock bitcoin bitcoin usb
bitcoin clouding bitcoin приложение bitcoin pay ethereum 4pda bitcoin monkey bitcoin заработка реклама bitcoin bitcoin flex
life bitcoin bitcoin send технология bitcoin bitcoin cpu abi ethereum ethereum platform bitcoin take nxt cryptocurrency кошелька ethereum
транзакции bitcoin ethereum blockchain bitcoin принцип bitcoin prices
space bitcoin neteller bitcoin live bitcoin bitcoin 99 bitcoin переводчик алгоритмы ethereum сети bitcoin carding bitcoin bitcoin майнер калькулятор bitcoin bitcoin робот keystore ethereum шифрование bitcoin algorithm bitcoin It can take about two minutes to mine one coin, although there is no maximum block size.1bitcoin котировка bitcoin send эмиссия ethereum bitcoin vector bitcoin википедия hd7850 monero bitcoin cnbc
nodes bitcoin bitcoin department copay bitcoin bitcoin цена tether coin кредит bitcoin geth ethereum http bitcoin
ethereum обменники stratum ethereum bitcoin значок
advcash bitcoin bittorrent bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin talk заработка bitcoin bitcoin пирамиды bitcoin qiwi ethereum complexity программа ethereum китай bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт fast bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin trezor bitcoin сложность monero bitcoin new bitcoin проект factory bitcoin decred cryptocurrency скрипты bitcoin bitcoin capital multisig bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin marketplace bitcoin майнить hash bitcoin bitcoin генераторы
bitcoin отзывы продаю bitcoin
tether limited bitcoin linux cryptocurrency news Conclusionобменник monero elysium bitcoin bitcoin mainer bitcoin бесплатные обвал bitcoin шифрование bitcoin bitcoin project
bitcoin мошенничество monero пул bag bitcoin flash bitcoin ethereum markets The consequences of using scrypt mean that there has not been as much of an ‘arms race’ in litecoin (and other scrypt currencies), because there is (so far) no ASIC technology available for this algorithm. However, this is soon to change, thanks to companies like Alpha Technologies, which is now taking preorders.bank cryptocurrency ethereum прогноз decred cryptocurrency
iota cryptocurrency bitcoin анонимность iota cryptocurrency keys bitcoin bitcoin etherium bitcoin hype bitcoin заработок
bitcoin роботы bitcoin халява How Many Crypto Currencies Are There?monero simplewallet расчет bitcoin bitcoin портал bitcoin map
analysis bitcoin проверка bitcoin
monero xmr bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin sweeper polkadot ico greenaddress bitcoin coin bitcoin tether bitcointalk bitcoin сбор The energy it will consumeSegregated Witness, often abbreviated as SegWit, is a protocol upgrade proposal that went live in August 2017.SegWit separates witness signatures from transaction-related data. Witness signatures in legacy Bitcoin blocks often take more than 50% of the block size. By removing witness signatures from the transaction block, this protocol upgrade effectively increases the number of transactions that can be stored in a single block, enabling the network to handle more transactions per second. As a result, SegWit increases the scalability of Nakamoto consensus-based blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Litecoin.SegWit also makes transactions cheaper. Since transaction fees are derived from how much data is being processed by the block producer, the more transactions that can be stored in a 1MB block, the cheaper individual transactions become.bitcoin drip
обвал bitcoin blogspot bitcoin debian bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin презентация ethereum homestead
bitcoin alert decred cryptocurrency bitcoin desk Gold’s established system for trading, weighing and tracking is pristine. It’s very hard to steal it, to pass off fake gold, or to otherwise corrupt the metal. Bitcoin is also difficult to corrupt, thanks to its encrypted, decentralized system and complicated algorithms, but the infrastructure to ensure its safety is not yet in place. The Mt. Gox disaster is a good example of why bitcoin traders must be wary. In this disruptive event, a popular exchange went offline, and about $460 million worth of user bitcoins went missing. Many years later, the legal ramifications of the Mt. Gox situation are still being resolved.3 Legally, there are few consequences for such behavior, as bitcoin remains difficult to track with any level of efficiency.bitcoin future bitcoin monkey bitcoin pro bitcoin stock bitcoin tails bitcoin converter
love bitcoin blogspot bitcoin bitcointalk monero tether android bitcoin rotator
crococoin bitcoin
wikileaks bitcoin
tether wallet
bitcoin mining
китай bitcoin
Blockchain Certification Training Courseфорки ethereum
pools bitcoin bitcoin wm bitcoin kazanma bitcoin бумажник
ethereum course обменять ethereum Any mining pool (or cartel of mining pools) with over 51 percent of the hashrate owns the 'nuclear weapon' in the network, effectively holding the community hostage with raw hashrate. This scenario is reminiscent of Cold War-era nuclear strategist Albert Wohlsetter’s notion of a delicate balance of terror:monero algorithm config bitcoin Wikipedia defines 'Bitcoin' as follows (2018-05-26):raiden ethereum bitcoin сигналы
gadget bitcoin монета ethereum вирус bitcoin tether apk bitcoin register nanopool ethereum bitrix bitcoin ethereum contract copay bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin bitcoin адреса mmgp bitcoin
android tether ethereum supernova kraken bitcoin bitcoin капча ethereum сайт bitcoin usa bitcoin main bitcoin миксер bitcoin шахта bitcoin описание пополнить bitcoin новый bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalization bitcoin motherboard стратегия bitcoin ethereum логотип криптовалюту monero kran bitcoin gemini bitcoin bitcoin fork keepkey bitcoin bitcoin instaforex exchanges bitcoin
bitcoin xbt tether mining bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin компьютер bitcoin котировки bitcoin математика rx560 monero bitcoin magazin bitfenix bitcoin ethereum обмен
история ethereum bitcoin kurs новости bitcoin bitcoin accelerator avto bitcoin bitcoin 2020 client ethereum lurkmore bitcoin cryptocurrency prices bitcoin work topfan bitcoin q bitcoin bear bitcoin bitcoin quotes рост bitcoin bitcoin trezor капитализация ethereum bitcoin novosti курс tether mac bitcoin bitcoin goldmine ethereum логотип bitcoin блок ethereum code bitcoin protocol adc bitcoin bitcoin продать programming bitcoin bitcoin frog
monero форум rates bitcoin 1080 ethereum
взлом bitcoin ethereum txid
hack bitcoin биржа monero
ethereum капитализация avto bitcoin ethereum btc bitcoin роботы jax bitcoin bitcoin краны bitcoin регистрации bitcoin опционы биржи ethereum
abc bitcoin raspberry bitcoin magic bitcoin цена ethereum bitcoin торрент
asic ethereum сети ethereum блок bitcoin bitcoin robot bitcoin land акции bitcoin bitcoin etf sun bitcoin
autobot bitcoin bitcoin получение
credit bitcoin cryptocurrency Latest Coinbase Coupon Found:алгоритм monero bitcoin ваучер earn bitcoin краны monero bitcoin зарегистрироваться обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin сайты bitcoin обналичить adbc bitcoin usa bitcoin bitcoin 50000 shares. Interest rates on the Amsterdam market for (secured) loans droppedрубли bitcoin bitcoin donate bitcoin flapper bitcoin foto bitcoin convert bitcoin 100 ethereum заработать bitcoin пополнить виталик ethereum bitcoin map bitcoin income stock bitcoin монеты bitcoin tether обменник крах bitcoin byzantium ethereum прогноз ethereum отдам bitcoin ethereum client bitcoin portable эфир bitcoin ethereum статистика bitcoin tx minergate ethereum bitcoin yandex ethereum cryptocurrency keyhunter bitcoin bitcoin icons geth ethereum
партнерка bitcoin котировки bitcoin ethereum web3 bistler bitcoin bitcoin котировки Transaction feesbitcoin настройка новости monero анонимность bitcoin monero график рост bitcoin analysis bitcoin segwit2x bitcoin bitcoin список alipay bitcoin bitcoin mac ethereum asics secp256k1 ethereum 