REPOST - Steemit crypto Academy season 5- Task 5 [Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Public chains]
(1) What Is Cryptocurrency and How You Would Like To See Cryptocurrency In The Future?
a) What is a Cryptocurrency?
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Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital money that does not exist physically as such and are also not stored anywhere other than on the network, through a decentralized system called the blockchain.
They are easily accessible currencies and their management depends solely and exclusively on who owns them and for this only requires access to the internet through a computer or smartphone, that is, it does not need an intermediary to be able to carry out operations with it as it would usually be done in a bank.
Cryptocurrencies can be said to be part of a monetary system and do not have a value for the material they are made of as in the case of gold or silver, these do not depend on any institution or government but on supply and demand, that is to say, that the value is given by people, the more people who are interested in cryptocurrencies, the more their value will increase.
The first cryptocurrency that was created was bitcoin but today there are more than 100 different tokens. It is attributed in the name of cryptocurrency due to its encrypted nature, that is, protected through keys, which makes it attractive because it costs to steal them.
Cryptocurrencies arise in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto had the idea of joining technology and the internet to get out of the system (banks, governments) Nakamoto created an idea in which a person could pass value from one person to another without going through an intermediate entity. It is important to say that electronic money existed but to operate you needed a bank to which you have a commission.
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How do cryptocurrencies work?
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Cryptocurrencies work through a blockchain. Each transaction that is made is called a block and is assigned a unique and unrepeatable code, that code is recorded forever with detailed information of the sender, and receiver of the exchange, amount among other data. The network of users registers the operation virtually immediately and that block joins a huge chain in which all the operations carried out with that cryptocurrency is listed. As they are listed chronologically and are duplicated in many accounts it is impossible to delete or alter operations.
For example, if a person who works in a store has written down in a notebook all the operations that have been carried out and want to make a fraud, it will be enough to modify some and not report it. But if that same record is kept by ten people, fraud would not be possible because each one keeps a record of those same operations. On blockchain it works the same, but with thousands of people and computers around the world.
Characteristics of cryptocurrencies
There are more than 100 cryptocurrencies today.
They are based on speculation, which gives a lot of instability because one day the price of the cryptocurrency can rise but the next day it drops abruptly, and instead of winning it is lost.
In the market, I see it more as a bet than an investment in which you can make a profit if the predictions come true.
They are managed by each of the people who own them, that is, there are no intermediaries who tell us when we are going to transfer or what we have to do.
There is no single issuer, so it is a decentralized system.
It has high standards of incorruptibility since all operations are carried out through a blockchain in which thousands of people participate. In addition, the money can be stored in wallets with encrypted systems.
How would you like to see cryptocurrency in the future?
Although little by little digital money has been gaining ground, in the future I would like cryptocurrencies to be part of our daily lives as does physical money. It would be very good to see that employees can be paid with digital money, that it can be bought normally and in its entirety in commercial premises with electronic money because while it is true that there are premises that admit cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, they are really a minority in the global market.
It would also be interesting to handle cryptocurrency debit cards that their use is as common as common money. The more people in the world take an interest in the world of cryptocurrencies and accept them, the greater the odds that the world's governments will study the possibility of allowing cryptocurrencies as currencies of exchange.
It would be incredible to be able to see Steem in the future as one of the most quoted and stable cryptocurrencies on the market.
CONCLUSION
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and the proof of this is that every day there are many people who are still interested in them, it is part of our present and will be part of the future economy and finance. Without a doubt, cryptocurrencies are an excellent option and can also be handled by any type of person.
cc - @dilchamo