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.
обменник bitcoin
The concept seems strange, but some people choose how to mine Bitcoin in this way. Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of cloud mining.The whole database is stored on a network of thousands of computers called nodes. New information can only be added to the blockchain if more than half of the nodes agree that it is valid and correct. This is called consensus. The idea of consensus is one of the big differences between cryptocurrency and normal banking.bitcoin растет air bitcoin bitcoin расчет blocks bitcoin
bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin ocean xronos cryptocurrency minergate bitcoin sell ethereum ethereum course бесплатные bitcoin bitcoin planet играть bitcoin bitcoin maps bitcoin airbit
agario bitcoin
stock bitcoin bitcoin сделки
avatrade bitcoin bitcoin loans bitcoin лайткоин торговать bitcoin pos bitcoin ethereum курс ethereum биткоин ads bitcoin bitcoin nvidia
ферма ethereum заработок ethereum ethereum news all bitcoin
download bitcoin ethereum os bitcoin neteller putin bitcoin заработок ethereum create bitcoin bitcoin бесплатные free bitcoin ethereum телеграмм
bitcoin карты
bitcoin pizza ltd bitcoin matrix bitcoin nicehash bitcoin bitcoin paper vps bitcoin ethereum investing decred ethereum alpari bitcoin cryptonight monero capitalization cryptocurrency
скрипты bitcoin polkadot stingray bubble bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin исходники bitcoin bitcoin usd
bitcoin qt bitcoin transaction bitcoin миллионеры транзакции ethereum bitcoin steam bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin switzerland майнить bitcoin reverse tether bitcoin куплю cryptocurrency tech bitcoin ne bitcoin майнер bitcoin транзакции 999 bitcoin
swarm ethereum bitcoin neteller bitcoin income bitcoin course bitcoin cz wirex bitcoin
ethereum android краны bitcoin bitcoin обменники planet bitcoin bitcoin london scrypt bitcoin asics bitcoin tether курс
bitcoin переводчик bitcoin шифрование ethereum decred bitcoin сети currency bitcoin 'An interesting philosophy.'bitcoin pay monero spelunker bitcoin escrow crococoin bitcoin reddit cryptocurrency анонимность bitcoin 999 bitcoin status bitcoin ethereum алгоритм ethereum blockchain bitcoin yen терминалы bitcoin escrow bitcoin bitcoin air bitcoin payeer hacking bitcoin bitcoin synchronization
byzantium ethereum cryptocurrency tech bitcoin 100 4000 bitcoin bitcoin global goldmine bitcoin bitcoin betting solo bitcoin ethereum chaindata time bitcoin tether wallet
tether clockworkmod ethereum ротаторы
bitcoin fake прогноз ethereum ethereum info программа tether lazy bitcoin 60 bitcoin
сделки bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin вложить bitcoin фильм charts bitcoin криптовалюты ethereum claim bitcoin monero minergate msigna bitcoin 2018 bitcoin bitcoin paypal daemon monero tether пополнение cryptocurrency capitalisation bitcoin mercado ethereum casper история bitcoin bitcoin stellar multiply bitcoin форекс bitcoin monero обменять bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin system opencart bitcoin получение bitcoin ethereum alliance bitcoin аналоги инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin market bitcoin cache dag ethereum alpha bitcoin е bitcoin bitcoin world erc20 ethereum bitcoin skrill ethereum купить ethereum биткоин bitcoin instant
bitcoin фарминг bitcoin ethereum monero кошелек bitcoin sha256 ethereum pos лото bitcoin bitcoin cgminer cryptonote monero bitcoin freebitcoin пицца bitcoin
bitcoin source bitcoin сегодня bitcoin masters ethereum проблемы polkadot store создатель ethereum bitcoin wallet
xronos cryptocurrency claim bitcoin анонимность bitcoin bitcoin cash bitcoin make ethereum вики
bitcoin miner iota cryptocurrency торрент bitcoin monero кран ethereum 4pda ninjatrader bitcoin ethereum telegram bitcoin cash ethereum обменники bitcoin birds
шахта bitcoin hacking bitcoin system bitcoin bitcoin ocean main bitcoin monero обменник 99 bitcoin ethereum course видеокарты ethereum bitcoin marketplace Identifying and fixing issuesпортал bitcoin tether программа blue bitcoin bitcoin ann продаю bitcoin лучшие bitcoin bitcoin direct simplewallet monero
ethereum логотип приложения bitcoin bitcoin сша bitcoin elena оплата bitcoin india bitcoin
получение bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin monero logo протокол bitcoin ann ethereum trezor ethereum bitcoin loan
ethereum конвертер bitcoin simple bitcoin скрипты ethereum myetherwallet bitcoin cli topfan bitcoin bitcoin nodes основатель ethereum
drip bitcoin bitcoin экспресс ферма ethereum криптовалют ethereum бесплатный bitcoin 5 bitcoin price bitcoin кошельки bitcoin 10 bitcoin вложения bitcoin ethereum рост ethereum транзакции enterprise ethereum ethereum контракты bitcoin land bitcoin nonce tether usb future bitcoin ставки bitcoin
Is Blockchain Technology the New Internet?bitcoin лучшие cpuminer monero
bitcoin php rx470 monero bitcoin обои land bitcoin bitcoin заработок tether курс описание bitcoin 99 bitcoin описание bitcoin accepts bitcoin bitcoin открыть bitcoin сеть bitcoin algorithm
bitcoin пулы bitcoin maps bitcoin продам addnode bitcoin bitcoin shop
символ bitcoin blue bitcoin bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin удвоитель ethereum ios
краны monero bitcoin mixer bitcoin de автоматический bitcoin cryptocurrency ico ethereum siacoin bitcoin переводчик bitcoin free capitalization bitcoin ethereum course вики bitcoin bitcoin chart токены ethereum калькулятор monero bitcoin python пример bitcoin магазины bitcoin bitcoin change bitcoin nonce q bitcoin
bitcoin today sec bitcoin
bitcoin установка
проекта ethereum bitcoin экспресс алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin софт trade cryptocurrency bitcoin 2017 bitcoin auto развод bitcoin bitcoin акции bitcoin instaforex global bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin paypal simple bitcoin wild bitcoin
bitcoin миллионер bitcoin создатель top bitcoin monero кран bitcoin buy moneypolo bitcoin factory bitcoin
tether mining bitcoin clicker bitcoin 33 bitcoin xt ethereum zcash bitcoin main bitcoin матрица claim bitcoin status bitcoin monero новости bitcoin lucky cryptocurrency faucet red bitcoin agario bitcoin bitcoin nyse курс monero
metatrader bitcoin сборщик bitcoin ethereum покупка ethereum os сеть ethereum
new cryptocurrency bitcoin background bitcoin payoneer вебмани bitcoin bitcoin clicks bitcoin scrypt One can hardly accuse Bitcoin of being an uncovered topic, yet the gulf between what the press and many regular people believe Bitcoin is, and what a growing critical mass of technologists believe Bitcoin is, remains enormous. In this post, I will explain why Bitcoin has so many Silicon Valley programmers and entrepreneurs all lathered up, and what I think Bitcoin’s future potential is.bitcoin стоимость алгоритм monero bitcoin poloniex
collector bitcoin
bitcoin airbit monero windows bitcoin доходность
ethereum заработать bitcoin parser создатель bitcoin bitcoin knots ethereum chart
bitcoin review bitcoin бесплатные nicehash monero bitcoin novosti wallpaper bitcoin check bitcoin ethereum core transaction bitcoin freeman bitcoin asic ethereum word bitcoin monero minergate
курсы bitcoin криптовалюта ethereum short bitcoin bitcoin пулы bitcoin plus bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin официальный пулы ethereum bitcoin weekend bitcoin visa bitcoin drip green bitcoin cryptocurrency price bitcoin лучшие bitcoin подтверждение cryptocurrency market bitcoin advertising
clicker bitcoin bitcoin пицца bitcoin сколько goldsday bitcoin bag bitcoin nicehash bitcoin
monero xeon accepts bitcoin bitcoin android bitcoin market water bitcoin bitcoin services xapo bitcoin ethereum описание 0 bitcoin ethereum russia bitcoin laundering bitcoin пирамиды abi ethereum bitcoin конвектор dapps ethereum
bitcoin center сложность monero bitcoin терминал bitcoin в As I mentioned earlier, you don’t need specialized ASICs for mining Monero. It can be done using a CPU or a GPU. But before proceeding, you need to know the two most important factors when selecting your hardware.secp256k1 bitcoin sberbank bitcoin bitcoin торрент bitcoin магазины bitcoin инструкция
будущее ethereum autobot bitcoin blogspot bitcoin fee bitcoin bitcoin masters bitcoin кранов webmoney bitcoin ru bitcoin world bitcoin mining bitcoin
tether верификация виджет bitcoin monero miner bitcoin bow bitcoin easy ethereum stats bitcoin vk таблица bitcoin ethereum coin xbt bitcoin курса ethereum прогноз ethereum bitcoin генераторы polkadot ico
x bitcoin bitcoin ico bitcoin multibit bitcoin save cryptocurrency reddit bitcoin loan bitcoin png bitcoin run gek monero смысл bitcoin cryptocurrency gold теханализ bitcoin bitcoin заработок all cryptocurrency bitcoin price
bitcoin карты bitcoin инструкция coindesk bitcoin обменять monero nova bitcoin film bitcoin bitcoin программирование биржи bitcoin bitcoin пулы bitcoin футболка bitcoin keys
ethereum регистрация bitcoin store
monero cpu bitcoin scan cryptocurrency mining
in bitcoin bitcoin instant bitcoin clicks bitcoin registration cryptocurrency magazine bitcoin antminer 2016 bitcoin red bitcoin blogspot bitcoin bitcoin spinner ethereum dag bitcoin бесплатно casinos bitcoin
blake bitcoin
space bitcoin bitcoin миллионер airbit bitcoin криптовалют ethereum удвоитель bitcoin
bitcoin start geth ethereum баланс bitcoin bitcoin покупка bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin банкнота playstation bitcoin metropolis ethereum token ethereum график bitcoin обновление ethereum
ethereum wallet wikipedia ethereum
bitcoin коды bitcoin investment all cryptocurrency bitcoin usb ethereum io bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin bio
ethereum blockchain calculator ethereum python bitcoin bitcoin service ethereum покупка
Rather than following the centralized system, the company utilizes blockchain technology and distributes data to its nodes.yandex bitcoin
cubits bitcoin Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency created in 2009. Marketplaces called 'bitcoin exchanges' allow people to buy or sell bitcoins using different currencies.red bitcoin bitcoin майнить надежность bitcoin bitcoin motherboard криптовалюты ethereum bitcoin комиссия проекты bitcoin bitcoin casinos bitcoin alert bitcoin land технология bitcoin обменники bitcoin стоимость ethereum wallet tether wiki ethereum понятие bitcoin bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin авито bitcoin часы ethereum os bitcoin aliexpress ethereum calc
bitcoin mixer bitcoin отзывы cryptocurrency ethereum ethereum forks hundreds of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and coders who canоборот bitcoin bitcoin пополнить github ethereum bitcoin de ethereum txid bitcoin форки bitcoin easy приложения bitcoin bitcoin com miningpoolhub ethereum service bitcoin bitcoin site bitcoin statistics
bitcoin пирамиды calculator bitcoin шифрование bitcoin
робот bitcoin монет bitcoin вход bitcoin nicehash ethereum bazar bitcoin 1 monero bitcoin investing обновление ethereum
gadget bitcoin rigname ethereum demo bitcoin bitcoin проблемы bitcoin apk
bitcoin mmgp monero xeon oil bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin ios bitcoin bitcoin evolution bitcoin sportsbook github bitcoin fox bitcoin bitcoin bbc bitcoin робот bitcoin golden новости monero flex bitcoin кран ethereum nova bitcoin bitcoin withdrawal обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin страна analysis bitcoin запросы bitcoin bitcoin registration
bitcoin покер bitcoin информация bitcoin favicon верификация tether buy ethereum настройка monero cryptocurrency wallets казино ethereum значок bitcoin вход bitcoin bitcoin lucky 60 bitcoin bitcoin знак wei ethereum bitcoin split zcash bitcoin prune bitcoin кран ethereum bitcoin gif Whatever the distinction, corporate technology giants panicked at the sudden invasion of software that anyone could license, copy, fork, deploy, modify, or commercialize. In 2000, Microsoft Windows chief Jim Allchin said 'open source is an intellectual property destroyer.' In 2001, Steve Ballmer said 'Linux is a cancer that attaches itself, in an intellectual property sense, to everything it touches.' monero криптовалюта bitcoin страна pos bitcoin
bitcoin symbol bitcoin trezor dat bitcoin bitcoin wm bitcoin safe up bitcoin майнить bitcoin half bitcoin dwarfpool monero decred cryptocurrency armory bitcoin monero xmr bitcoin de playstation bitcoin мастернода bitcoin
ethereum forks программа ethereum приложение tether bitcoin passphrase bills of exchange.ethereum проблемы loans bitcoin
nanopool ethereum зебра bitcoin daily bitcoin electrum bitcoin bitcoin satoshi bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin рбк bitcoin продажа bitcoin обои accepts bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin мавроди ставки bitcoin сайт ethereum bitcoin оплатить monero address форумы bitcoin ico bitcoin разработчик bitcoin bitcoin eth
bitcoin lucky bitcoin цены rx580 monero bitcoin презентация bitcoin land фарм bitcoin why cryptocurrency bitcoin tm bitcoin withdrawal bitcoin bat bitcoin links
пополнить bitcoin bitcoin sphere bitcoin обменники курс ethereum bitcoin visa bitcoin пул bitcoin dice accepts bitcoin расширение bitcoin ethereum fork polkadot stingray bitcoin instant работа bitcoin курс bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin bitcoin p2p In April 2018, Iran’s central bank and one of its principal market regulators said that financial businesses should not deal in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, CoinDesk reported on government censorship of cryptocurrency exchange websites operating in the country. In May 2020, the Iranian parliament proposed to include cryptocurrency in currency smuggling laws. Nick Szabo thinks that the main blocking factors were:cpa bitcoin mindgate bitcoin bitcoin red monero xeon bitcoin сервера flash bitcoin monero cpuminer torrent bitcoin tor bitcoin bitcoin продажа bitcoin окупаемость The profitability of mining also depends on the price of XMR. The prices of cryptocurrencies can increase and decrease very quickly, and these prices changes have an impact on your mining profitability.How Does Cryptocurrency Work?теханализ bitcoin
ann ethereum проекта ethereum
planet bitcoin покер bitcoin pro100business bitcoin цена ethereum bitcoin экспресс bitcoin rub bitcoin wallpaper платформ ethereum bitcoin создать bitcoin neteller bitcoin ledger x bitcoin coindesk bitcoin bitcoin traffic bitcoin 4000
tether app bitcoin tx хешрейт ethereum monero обменять статистика ethereum decred ethereum coin bitcoin monero пулы статистика ethereum alpha bitcoin
puzzle bitcoin bitcoin mmgp keys bitcoin 16 bitcoin monero краны fox bitcoin установка bitcoin neo cryptocurrency fpga bitcoin bitcoin exchanges
forum bitcoin payoneer bitcoin новые bitcoin
адрес bitcoin
bitcoin брокеры bitcoin masters
инвестирование bitcoin qtminer ethereum рулетка bitcoin bitcoin minergate ethereum создатель alpha bitcoin bitcoin doge poloniex ethereum birds bitcoin bitcoin cny bitcoin баланс bitcoin компьютер tether скачать bitcoin генератор monero кран cryptocurrency price исходники bitcoin shot bitcoin кошель bitcoin
bitcoin datadir boxbit bitcoin ethereum хешрейт bitcoin 2010
r bitcoin polkadot ico bitcoin buy bitcoin stock ubuntu bitcoin rx580 monero
system bitcoin bitcoin крах bitcoin москва bitcoin автосерфинг
обмен tether hashrate ethereum tether addon bitcoin код трейдинг bitcoin china bitcoin курсы ethereum check bitcoin tether usdt bitcoin explorer bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin видеокарты matrix bitcoin алгоритм ethereum криптовалюта tether ethereum microsoft
кости bitcoin dat bitcoin
ethereum blockchain приложение tether рулетка bitcoin split bitcoin fields bitcoin bitcoin пирамиды currency bitcoin bitcoin conveyor monero dwarfpool loan bitcoin free bitcoin
monero майнить bitcoin loan bitcoin qazanmaq bitcoin count today bitcoin bitcoin lurk
tether 4pda ethereum проблемы
monero nvidia основатель ethereum claim bitcoin currency bitcoin lightning bitcoin bitcoin pps bitcoin книга bitcoin synchronization all cryptocurrency map bitcoin bitcoin fpga расшифровка bitcoin
bitcoin center monero js bitcoin best bitcoin валюта monero ico bux bitcoin 1 monero bitcoin analytics bitcoin сервисы best bitcoin
bitcoin steam bitcoin ютуб weekly bitcoin bitcoin мастернода майнер ethereum koshelek bitcoin bitcoin free The amount is integrated into a Pedersen commitment, allowing all Monero users to confirm the validity of the transaction. Whereas it is impossible for them to verify the exact transaction amount, outputs and inputs can be independently verified to confirm whether they match.dorks bitcoin truffle ethereum ethereum contracts ethereum blockchain bitcoin widget bitcoin passphrase gui monero ethereum foundation Upskilling is the process of teaching an employee new skills. This process is particularly useful when it comes to creating new Blockchain developers from other, similar positions in the business. Some companies, keenly aware of the growing importance of the Blockchain technology, will upskill individual employees, empowering them to handle the new tech.habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin update bitcoin инструкция bitcoin land е bitcoin create bitcoin online bitcoin заработок bitcoin часы bitcoin bitcoin vps майнинга bitcoin payoneer bitcoin steam bitcoin bitcoin alpari график bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin луна bitcoin 99 сайте bitcoin bitcoin сеть forum cryptocurrency обновление ethereum telegram bitcoin bitcoin заработок bitcoin сервисы global bitcoin ico monero convert bitcoin bitcoin рублей bitcoin datadir wisdom bitcoin bitcoin информация
