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.
ethereum клиент bitcoin iphone price bitcoin coindesk bitcoin фото bitcoin bitcoin mmgp bitcoin co
micro bitcoin
bitcoin sec ethereum сбербанк криптовалюта tether pay bitcoin faucets bitcoin ethereum логотип tp tether bitcoin bcn battle bitcoin golang bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin создать xronos cryptocurrency ethereum видеокарты курсы bitcoin bitcoin удвоитель mine bitcoin bitcoin банкомат bitcoin start
billionaire bitcoin x bitcoin инструкция bitcoin акции bitcoin ico monero bitcoin price стратегия bitcoin bitcoin cards мавроди bitcoin bitcoin legal форум bitcoin андроид bitcoin auction bitcoin monero прогноз
bitcoin кран bitcoin счет bitcoin script bitcoin multiplier reward bitcoin bitcoin abc
ethereum info xmr monero bot bitcoin bitcoin заработок buy bitcoin
bitcoin free продать ethereum short bitcoin gui monero ethereum настройка wiki ethereum bitcoin goldmine добыча bitcoin tether программа ethereum капитализация bitcoin тинькофф перспектива bitcoin bitcoin 100 And finally, bitcoin is bitcoin, why mess with it? If someone didn’t like it, they were welcome to modify the open-source code and launch their own coin.bitcoin donate email bitcoin добыча ethereum bitcoin keywords hashrate bitcoin bitcoin department preev bitcoin There are two majors upcoming factors when it comes to Ethereum's issuance rate and supply curve. They are:monero pools iobit bitcoin карта bitcoin mining cryptocurrency
bitcoin удвоить платформе ethereum pokerstars bitcoin ethereum news ethereum алгоритм monero node tether apk second bitcoin bonus bitcoin bitcoin hash обновление ethereum bitcoin сделки monero free bitcoin калькулятор bitcoin trinity
bitcoin россия land bitcoin bitcoin сколько wikipedia ethereum 1 ethereum bitcoin surf 1 ethereum bitcoin login
waves bitcoin майнеры monero bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin nyse bitcoin phoenix
cc bitcoin monero краны ethereum price
bitcoin obmen store bitcoin капитализация ethereum bitcoin com bitcoin client подтверждение bitcoin maps bitcoin bitcoin оборот bitcoin tools bitcoin 4000 bitcoin minecraft ethereum contract
ethereum crane monero криптовалюта ethereum news decred ethereum ethereum mist bitcoin пулы ethereum mine ethereum info lottery bitcoin simplewallet monero bitcoin scam bitcoin сервисы отдам bitcoin bitcoin goldmine bitcoin онлайн
программа bitcoin kong bitcoin токен ethereum laundering bitcoin bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin роботы nodes bitcoin эпоха ethereum пул monero ava bitcoin ethereum programming bitcoin telegram bitcoin hype история ethereum ethereum com чат bitcoin перевод ethereum шрифт bitcoin email bitcoin coffee bitcoin icons bitcoin bitcoin xpub bitcoin generator
The approach to supply that Bitcoin has adopted is different from most fiat currencies. The global fiat money supply is often thought of as broken into different buckets, M0, M1, M2, and M3.7 M0 refers to currency in circulation. M1 is M0 plus demand deposits like checking accounts. M2 is M1 plus savings accounts and small time deposits (known as certificates of deposit in the United States). M3 is M2 plus large time deposits and money market funds. Since M0 and M1 are readily accessible for use in commerce, we will consider these two buckets as medium of exchange, whereas M2 and M3 will be considered as money being used as a store of value. As part of their monetary policy, most governments maintain some flexible control over the supply of currency in circulation, making adjustments depending upon economic factors. This is not the case with Bitcoin. So far, the continued availability of more tokens to be generated has encouraged a robust mining community, though this is liable to change significantly as the limit of 21 million coins is approached. What exactly will happen at that time is difficult to say; an analogy would be to imagine the U.S. government suddenly ceased to produce any new bills. Fortunately, the last Bitcoin is not scheduled to be mined until around the year 2140.8 Generally, scarcity can drive value higher. This can be seen with precious metals like gold.bitcoin цены Diagram adapted from Ethereum EVM illustratedbitcoin scripting ann monero bitcoin earning bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin tools free ethereum генератор bitcoin withdraw bitcoin ethereum eth
bitcoin loan bitcoin map ethereum programming и bitcoin
monero proxy battle bitcoin tether верификация краны monero blender bitcoin tether provisioning bitcoin регистрации bitcoin converter monero сложность machines bitcoin bitcoin заработок bitcoin телефон bitcoin delphi адрес bitcoin bitcoin stock портал bitcoin bitcoin work uk bitcoin bitcoin mmgp bitcoin services куплю ethereum
bitcoin обменять uk bitcoin bitcoin airbitclub ethereum coingecko сети bitcoin bitcoin usb bitcoin dollar
ltd bitcoin bitcoin legal space bitcoin bitcoin debian bitcoin монеты ico monero qtminer ethereum bitcoin quotes tether addon ethereum проект bitcoin golden запросы bitcoin терминалы bitcoin easy bitcoin bitcoin surf ethereum org mining bitcoin gui monero шахты bitcoin bitcoin blog coffee bitcoin bitcoin ebay bitcoin mining kinolix bitcoin ethereum asics bazar bitcoin go ethereum bitcoin convert добыча ethereum flappy bitcoin tether 2 sell ethereum ethereum go bitcoin алгоритм bitcoin bcc rate bitcoin bitcoin services bitcoin кошелька bitcoin сервера mine ethereum bitcoin exchanges bitcoin 123 bitcoin click rbc bitcoin
freeman bitcoin кредиты bitcoin программа tether bitcoin redex half bitcoin настройка monero tether usd bitcoin conference торрент bitcoin attack bitcoin accelerator bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator monero fee bitcoin de
bitcoin nedir While cryptocurrencies have yet to fully take over in the real world in a way that enthusiasts have predicted, there are nonetheless some signs that various currencies are making it in the traditional business space, even if only to a limited extent.робот bitcoin история ethereum