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 андроид Supply: there may be a finite number of bitcoins (21 million) which are expected to be mined by 2040. Plus, availability fluctuates depending on the rate at which they enter the market.ninjatrader bitcoin rpg bitcoin bitcoin start bitcoin сайты ethereum cryptocurrency ethereum кран bitcoin количество
go bitcoin
dark bitcoin ethereum обменники bitcoin 123 покупка ethereum
lootool bitcoin bitcoin 2018
заработок ethereum работа bitcoin заработка bitcoin bitcoin formula ethereum russia bitcoin валюта tails bitcoin accelerator bitcoin обменник tether обвал bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin telegram bitcoin stellar bitcoin аккаунт ethereum настройка bitcoin etf мониторинг bitcoin
Nigel Dodd argues in The Social Life of Bitcoin that the essence of the bitcoin ideology is to remove money from social, as well as governmental, control. Dodd quotes a YouTube video, with Roger Ver, Jeff Berwick, Charlie Shrem, Andreas Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood, Trace Meyer and other proponents of bitcoin reading The Declaration of Bitcoin's Independence. The declaration includes a message of crypto-anarchism with the words: 'Bitcoin is inherently anti-establishment, anti-system, and anti-state. Bitcoin undermines governments and disrupts institutions because bitcoin is fundamentally humanitarian.'planet bitcoin The main utility of cryptocurrency custody solutions lies in the safeguarding of cryptocurrency assets. Private keys, which are used to conduct transactions or access crypto holdings, are a complex combination of alphanumerics. They are extremely difficult to remember and can be stolen or hacked. Online wallets are a potential solution but they have also proven susceptible to hacks. The same is true of cryptocurrency exchanges. zona bitcoin bitcoin pay tp tether
cryptocurrency tech konverter bitcoin bitcoin xyz bitcoin strategy bitcoin strategy game bitcoin обменник bitcoin clame bitcoin что bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка purchase bitcoin ethereum siacoin casino bitcoin explorer ethereum пузырь bitcoin analysis bitcoin
курса ethereum 2016 bitcoin konvert bitcoin bitcoin weekly bitcoin tools payeer bitcoin rates bitcoin bitcoin unlimited ethereum studio ethereum обменять bitcoin rt
Not debt-basedfaucet ethereum system bitcoin bitcoin xpub ethereum miners bit bitcoin биржа ethereum bitcoin scripting особенности ethereum
apple bitcoin серфинг bitcoin перевести bitcoin ethereum api
bitcoin anonymous bitcoin будущее hashrate bitcoin консультации bitcoin bitcoin debian bitcoin vps calculator bitcoin bear bitcoin
monero прогноз bitcoin today bitcoin red bitcoin xl bitcoin mixer удвоитель bitcoin 60 bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin count korbit bitcoin котировки ethereum See also: Cryptocurrency bubble § 2018 crashWhat Are Bitcoins?bitcoin cny
bitcoin проблемы bitcoin фарм bitcoin rigs хардфорк ethereum миксер bitcoin air bitcoin
bitcoin playstation
приложения bitcoin asics bitcoin strategy bitcoin asics bitcoin lootool bitcoin
machines bitcoin ethereum котировки Bitcoin, Blockchain’s prime application and the whole reason the technology was developed in the first place, has helped many people through financial services such as digital wallets. It has provided microloans and allowed micropayments to people in less than ideal economic circumstances, thereby introducing new life in the world economy.apk tether добыча bitcoin bitcoin goldmine bitcoin goldmine bitcoin fan
платформы ethereum eth ethereum video bitcoin bitcoin адреса casper ethereum bitcoin converter
вход bitcoin rpg bitcoin autobot bitcoin bitcoin cgminer шахта bitcoin nova bitcoin monero pro разработчик ethereum bitcoin торги робот bitcoin курс tether avto bitcoin lazy bitcoin компьютер bitcoin bitcoin check bitcoin evolution bitcoin ротатор
россия bitcoin
group bitcoin bitcoin trojan bitcoin хайпы рубли bitcoin token bitcoin car bitcoin bitcoin вектор
bitcoin tools
ethereum скачать bitcoin cap uk bitcoin nxt cryptocurrency elena bitcoin bitcoin завести bitcoin настройка mac bitcoin bitcoin cranes wechat bitcoin bitcoin получить bitcoin транзакции bitcoin blockstream crypto bitcoin 1000 bitcoin bitcoin tools
bitcoin фарм математика bitcoin е bitcoin Like the aforementioned IBM report, most incumbent technology companies try to cram cryptocurrency into a larger story about 'digital assets' and their promises of 'super efficiency.' One McKinsey white paper describes vaguely how 'blockchain' will help your insurance company keep your passport on file. These incoherent stories typically place cryptocurrency into one of several pre-existing sectors:bitcoin отзывы yandex bitcoin bitcoin матрица bitcoin algorithm ethereum клиент bitcoin tracker bitcoin magazin трейдинг bitcoin plasma ethereum сложность ethereum bitcoin strategy invest bitcoin moto bitcoin ico monero ethereum логотип bitcoin plugin монета ethereum pay bitcoin nvidia bitcoin spin bitcoin Each miner node works on finding a proof-of-work code for its block.bitcoin roll flypool ethereum
bitcoin rub bitcoin казахстан production cryptocurrency tradingview bitcoin ethereum ротаторы ethereum видеокарты microsoft ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin wmz ethereum siacoin bitcoin china
1060 monero bitcoin reserve
перспективы ethereum pro bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin spinner wikipedia cryptocurrency cubits bitcoin cubits bitcoin bitcoin conveyor txid ethereum bitcoin virus сервисы bitcoin withdraw bitcoin
автосборщик bitcoin bitcoin 1000 валюты bitcoin rigname ethereum bitcoin daily goldsday bitcoin
зарабатываем bitcoin nicehash bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin utopia accepts bitcoin bitcoin instaforex биржа bitcoin monero node monero rur партнерка bitcoin But don’t lose hope, there might be another way to profit off of your newfound mining knowledge.вывод monero фарм bitcoin bitcoin s кредит bitcoin технология bitcoin краны monero bitcoin tor cryptocurrency ethereum datadir bitcoin bitcoin 4096 bitcoin database bitcoin scan сложность bitcoin ethereum платформа bitcoin 1000 nonce bitcoin
bitcoin balance bitcoin synchronization bitcoin заработка ethereum zcash bitcoin talk icons bitcoin bitcoin cnbc cubits bitcoin tether пополнение bitcoin metal hyip bitcoin 1080 ethereum bitcoin token bitcoin net
monero miner bitcoin халява flash bitcoin ethereum алгоритм отзыв bitcoin bitcoin mmm продам ethereum goldmine bitcoin bitcoin проверить bitcoin payza bitcoin weekend linux ethereum bitcoin linux исходники bitcoin эфир bitcoin unconfirmed monero the purest form of money ever created:monero windows monero wallet monero прогноз bitcoin motherboard the ethereum карты bitcoin cpuminer monero технология bitcoin forum ethereum bitcoin gif ethereum script bitcoin миксер bitcoin cap
bitcoin iq bitcoin loto bitcoin china tether верификация
рубли bitcoin ethereum php bitcoin traffic
bitcoin nodes bitcoin xt monero продать bitcoin exchange ethereum mist by bitcoin hit bitcoin bitcoin calculator alien bitcoin security bitcoin java bitcoin bitcoin автоматически bitcoin rus bitcoin mail cryptocurrency chart bitcoin стратегия zcash bitcoin bitcoin services github ethereum seed bitcoin bitcoin best 50 bitcoin bitcoin куплю 8 bitcoin alpari bitcoin 22 bitcoin bitcoin аналоги monero core map bitcoin bitcoin завести robot bitcoin widget bitcoin bitcoin развод bitcoin hardfork nicehash bitcoin tether верификация
click bitcoin What Moves Ether’s Price? 