Today in the modern economy, we have real money in paper and coins form and also the Digital money in the form of electronic wallets, debit and credit cards, etc. which are controlled by central or common authorities.
Cryptography is a similar concept for digital currency but in a decentralized manner i.e., no servers involved for processing transactions and no central authority to govern.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a digital kind of currency that is used in trading and transactions. It is just like paper currency, only that it is not physical. A fun fact is that a cryptocurrency is a decentralized form of money, meaning it is not and cannot be regulated by any government or group of governments.
It mainly works on the principles of cryptography (a method of protecting information and communications through the use of codes so that only those for whom the information is intended can read and process it.) The prefix' crypt' means 'hidden' or 'vault' and the suffix 'graphy' stands for 'writing.'
It is believed that it is impossible to involve in the duplication of the transactions or involve counterfeit currency in this mechanism. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology; it is a list of records that are growing all the time. They are known as blocks that link and secure each type of cryptocurrency. Then there is a single network called mining, in which all the funds are kept. In other words, a process by which the cryptocurrency is validated is called mining. Some of the popular cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Z-cash.
How Cryptocurrency is purchased?
So, the answer is that in order to purchase a cryptocurrency, you must open a digital wallet. This is the place where you can use your currency and can purchase or sell goods or services.
So, whenever the term cryptocurrency is used, Bitcoin comes hand in hand. The original and first form of cryptocurrency was called Bitcoins, after which other forms like; Ethereum, Litecoin, Dark coin, dash, and the likes were brought on stream.
Bitcoin hit the market first in 2009 and has been flooding the business world ever since. The drastic rise in bitcoin was so much that its value went from $1000 to over $19,000 in 2017 alone. This is the first and most popular of all forms of cryptocurrency.
Ethereum is another form of cryptocurrency that kick-started in 2015. Its uniqueness is that it allows for smart contracts and DApps usage without any glitch or scam. Not to omit that it regulates interaction from third parties, and it does not give downtime.
Litecoin, another form of cryptocurrency, started in 2011 and rose to be the silver to bitcoin's gold. This is because it is very similar to bitcoin, only that it has a faster transaction rate.
