SteemKids Crypto Education (Vol. 1)- Basics of Cryptocurrency
Introduction
Dear, Steem kids. It's my great pleasure to be sharing with you today in Volume 1 of our crypto education. I am so glad that you now have a place on Steem and I look forward to seeing you growing with Steem and doing great things in the soonest future. In this article today, I will be exposing you to the basics of cryptocurrency in the simplest way possible as I can. Stay with me on this.
Designed with Adobe Photoshop
What is Cryptocurrency?
The word cryptocurrency can be seen as two separate words conjoined to form cryptocurrency, "crypto" is the short form of the technology behind this type of "currency". In short, cryptocurrency can be defined as a digital currency (asset) that uses several technologies like cryptography and blockchain technology to perform transactions of choice and in a secured manner.
Cryptocurrency is used in several parts of the world to make payments which could be school fees, cable bills, charity, purchase from the store, and so on. Think of cryptocurrency as a version of currency used in different parts of the world but with some clear differences when compared to the conventional and official currency of a nation as issued by the country's central bank.
Examples of Cryptocurrency
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Steem (STEEM)
- Tether (USDT)
- Solana (SOL)
- Fantom (FTM)
- Tron (TRX)
- BitTorrent (BTT)
- Polkadot (DOT)
The above is just a few examples of cryptocurrencies, we have many thousands of cryptos in the crypto ecosystem. As time goes on, you would learn about more of them.
Characteristics of Cryptocurrency
Volatility
Cryptocurrency is volatile and what this means is that it is subjected to rise or fall in value over time which is not seen in conventional currencies offered by the central bank (even though they lose value against other currencies in the world over time).
To understand this better, we would be taking USD (US Dollar) issued by the US central bank (The Federal Reserve System) as an example, for instance, 1 USD would remain 1 USD in the next one month (it might gain strength against other currency) but it remains 1 USD. We listed Bitcoin as an example of cryptocurrencies earlier, 1 BTC (Bitcoin) as at the time of writing this article is about 43,700 USD and it can be worth 60,000 USD or even 40,000 USD in the next one month.
In the brief illustration above, this shows you the characteristics of cryptocurrency as it's prone to rise or fall over time. I hope you are getting the concept.
Immutability and Transparency
Immutability means that certain information can't be changed and this is one of the characteristics of cryptocurrency. Transactions done with cryptocurrency is stored on the blockchain (digital ledger), recorded in such a way that it cannot be changed and can be checked by anyone and anytime.
For example, Joe went to his mom's bank to get his momma's bank statement over a period, the bank would deny him because he's not a signatory to the account. In cryptocurrency, Joe can get his mom's transactions history over time by using just the address and lookup for it on the block explorer, this brings about transparency.
Decentralization
This is another characteristic of many cryptocurrencies such that everyone can act on their own without having to go through a third party as seen in the conventional financial system. One can perform any transaction of choice at any time of the day without waiting for an intermediary, in short, no central server. We would take a look at some examples so that you can understand them better.
Designed with Adobe Photoshop
From the two diagrams in the image above, the first one is an example of the system used in cryptocurrency such that there is no central authority but all works on their own. And the second shows the other system which has to await approval from a central system and that is different from the one used in most cryptocurrencies.
Designed with Adobe Photoshop
In the situation above, Jane's card issuer has their server down which made her transaction unsuccessful. Joe chooses to pay with cryptocurrency, remember, no central server and all the nodes work independently. Joe's transaction was successful and he was not delayed with such a situation encountered by Jane.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you have been exposed to the basics of cryptocurrency and now, you can differentiate between cryptocurrency and the conventional currencies offered by the central bank of any country. The characteristics like volatility, transparency, and others have been considered in this context. It's great to share with you today and I hope you had a great read. Thanks to @steemkidss for the opportunity given to me to share with the kids.
Homework Task
- What is cryptocurrency? List 5 examples of cryptocurrency apart from the one given in the lecture.
- Explain one characteristic of Cryptocurrency. In the example given in the lecture, whose choice would you go for, Jane's or Joe's? Why?
Guidelines
- Write an article of at least 200 words. Keep your explanation as simple as possible.
- Include the tag #steemkids-education among the first 4 tags.
- For Steem kids alone.
- I will check your articles and drop comments on the entries submitted now till 11:59 pm UTC, 20/01/2022.
Thank you so much prof for taking your time to teach the kids the future of money, with you around I'm sure they will learn so much!
It's a great pleasure to do this. It's all about preparing the kids for the things ahead and I'm glad I made myself available to contribute my own part. Thanks for having me here.
Thanks for this great lecture and very soon I my make my post.
I I look forward to seeing what you have learned in the lecture.
Okay sir.
Wow this is simply amazing 🤩 thank you so much for teaching our kids and adding value to our community. The lectures is simple and I believe that our kids will attempt the homework. I hope you will continue teaching them, we love and appreciate you💕
It's my pleasure to contribute to the community. Thanks for having me on this, @goodybest.
Smiles 😊
Woow this is extremely very beautiful professor.. thanks alot for creating out time to produce this quality content about crypto currency for our kids. I believe they will grap so much knowledge from this
Thank you, @chiabertrand. I'm glad I did this, the kids deserve a solid foundation in the crypto ecosystem.
Yes for sure professor. Thanks once more
Alright, man.
Congratulations for this publication, it is good that the children learn all these things, you have done a beautiful job, I wish you much success for the next classes.
Thank you, @mariajruizb
Thank you @fredquantum for the well thought out crypto lesson for our #steemkids. The lesson is well explanatory and understandable. Thank you once more
You are welcome, @jespy. Thanks for sharing your view on the lecture presented. Steem On!
https://steemit.com/hive-139765/@jespy/participation-in-grassroot-crypto-education-by-jespy
Thank you. Doing my post now.
Good one.
I love this lesson because is the right time to carry kids along in this community and next season will be more terrific as kids will be in the mix to run crypto Academy assignment. God bless you sir.
Thank you, @benson6. You are right about the time when it's necessary to carry the kids along crypto education on Steem.
Learnt a lot
Done with my homework task
Homework task
https://steemit.com/hive-139765/@rhema01/steemkidss-crypto-education-vol-1-basics-of-cryptocurrency-or-or-homework-task-or-or-10-payout-to-steemkidss-or-or-by-rhema01