Global Cryptocurrency Market For Beginners

Cryptos are decentralized to give users a place to make secure payments and store money (called HODLing in the cryptosphere) while not trusting a bank or third-party payment platform. Each user downloads and sets up their wallet. Each wallet is a node in the network. So, instead of one central bank is in control, each user is their bank, controlling their own money while having access to the entire blockchain.

The blockchain is the entirety of a crypto coin. Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, etc. Each has its blockchain, which is a complete public (except for Monero, which is entirely anonymous) ledger of that coin's life. From the mining of each currency, through every transfer, to each coin's current location; everything is recorded to the blockchain to give clarity and transparency; making a hack of the system impossible since no person could hack every wallet on the planet; especially with paper wallets; which cannot be cut, even if all others could be. 

Decentralization and Instant Transfers

Back in 2008, an unknown internet user, or users, published the Bitcoin Whitepaper under Satoshi Nakamoto. In this White Paper, Satoshi addressed the most significant money issues since humanity began trading seashells and handfuls of salt for chickens, eggs, and meats 10,000 years ago. Among those issues was the fact that traditional banking puts our money into others' hands, under centralized control. Bitcoin eliminated that by being the world's first truly decentralized currency. 

Then, there is the issue of payments over a distance. Bitcoin eliminated that problem by and through the very system whereby a wallet user at one location on the planet can now send money to another wallet user, regardless of the receiver's location.

After Bitcoin came, others, Ethereum, Doge, Litecoin, Monero, and other currencies, appeared over the years, all using the same system of decentralization and instant transfer, each using its encryption and each with its unique properties. Each of these currencies was created with a new coin code, a new wallet system, and a new blockchain, each with a set beginning when its first coins were "mined,"; called a Genesis Block.

Then came "forks," like Bitcoin Cash. These forks are created on the back of the existing crypto. So, unlike Ethereum, which has it's own Genesis Block, Bitcoin Cash has a fork date; but, its actual Genesis Block was the same as Bitcoin's Genesis Block. 

Cryptocurrency Mining Importance

Essentially each coin is a complex series of numbers, carefully encrypted. Those numbers are created through a process known as mining, where a computer works a sophisticated algorithm (math problem) to find an answer. When the proper solution has been reached, the miner who solved that issue is rewarded with a "block" of coins. In Bitcoin, a block reward is currently 6.25 BTC. That amount has dropped over the years as the mining algorithm's difficulty increases, while the premium decreases. 

Miners are necessarily clarifying transfers between users. If I send Bitcoin to you, that transfer is sent to the network and added to hundreds of others to form a block. Every transaction in the neighborhood is checked against the existing blockchain. So, the BTC I send to you is traced back to its mining event, step by step from the beginning. As you can imagine, the more blocks that are mined, the more of a history the mining operation must review before each transfer can be "confirmed." Once all of the assignments in a block are confirmed, everyone receives their funds, and that block of transactions is added to the blockchain. 

So, the beauty of cryptos, born almost a decade ago, is transparency and security like the world has never known. That is the gift of Satoshi. Happy HODLing!!!