{"id":9995,"date":"2017-10-31T13:20:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T13:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appdupe.com\/?p=9995"},"modified":"2018-08-30T14:06:06","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T14:06:06","slug":"an-economic-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appdupe.com\/blog\/an-economic-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"An Economic Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"

From an age of barter system and using salt and cocoa beans for currency, we have definitely come a long way to the age of Blockchain and Bitcoins. Welcome to the world of cryptocurrency. So what is cryptocurrency? It can be defined as digital cash that can be transferred online, directly between two users, without interference from any governmental or financial institution. Bypassing such intermediaries(Banks), puts the user in direct control over their digital assets and makes \u00a0it a decentralized market. It is a fresh change from decades of trusting \u00a0third parties to facilitate transactions and is a power we have never had before. All transactions are confirmed by \u2018Miners\u2019 who are individuals who confirm every transaction as legit and record them in an irreversible shared ledger called the \u2018Blockchain\u2019. The \u2018Blockchain\u2019 is made up of individual \u2018Blocks\u2019 which are similar to folders containing transaction information which can be viewed by all connected miners. To prevent forged transactions, the miners are required to derive a hash( a product of a cryptographic function), that connects each new block with its predecessor. Any attempt at forgery would require a miner or group of miners to derive hash functions for the entire blockchain, or create a new chain which would not be feasible against the already existing verifiable blockchain. This peer-to-peer verification system based on cryptography ensures that transactions are not altered. Cryptocurrency is immune to corruption because it is not secured by people or by trust, but by math. The probability of a cryptocurrency address being compromised is lower than an asteroid landing in your backyard.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How does a transaction take place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are no actual cryptocurrencies. Only records of cryptocurrency transactions exist. A cryptocurrency user holds two pieces of information \u2013 A cryptocurrency address and a private key. The cryptocurrency address is generated randomly and is a sequence of letters and numbers. The private key is another similar sequence but unlike the address, the private key is kept secret. Think of the cryptocurrency address as a safe with a glass door. Everyone can view what is in it but only the private key can add or take from it. Let\u2019s say Alex sends some cryptocurrency to Bob, the transaction will have three pieces of information.<\/span><\/p>\n