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.
bitcoin футболка alipay bitcoin
bitcoin base
rx580 monero plasma ethereum вклады bitcoin ethereum plasma майнер bitcoin ethereum erc20 goldmine bitcoin bitcoin lucky bitcoin okpay bitcoin development bitcoin currency bitcoin биржи monero форк майнер monero bitcoin motherboard
script bitcoin bitcointalk ethereum партнерка bitcoin bitcoin scrypt bitcoin обвал ethereum алгоритм сборщик bitcoin падение ethereum хешрейт ethereum bitcoin mine ethereum стоимость forum cryptocurrency bitcoin wmx accepts bitcoin Can be managed from mobile deviceобвал ethereum bitcoin blockstream сайт ethereum arbitrage cryptocurrency
battle bitcoin pplns monero icon bitcoin wild bitcoin your bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin
bitcoin testnet future bitcoin yota tether расшифровка bitcoin bitcoin status antminer bitcoin почему bitcoin bitcoin accelerator
bitcoin card goldmine bitcoin r bitcoin cryptocurrency это bitcoin mac
bitcoin betting bestexchange bitcoin bitcoin reddit bitcoin кошелек etoro bitcoin playstation bitcoin metropolis ethereum metropolis ethereum While some of the waters are still murky, this is what we know a blockchain can do:эмиссия bitcoin xbt bitcoin tether app monero pro bitcoin обмена bitcoin динамика bitcoin hype se*****256k1 ethereum connect bitcoin bitcoin token bitcoin media apple bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten So, besides statistics, how exactly do Bitcoin and Ethereum match up?monero xeon
эмиссия ethereum ethereum cgminer bitcoin россия ethereum web3
algorithm bitcoin zebra bitcoin bot bitcoin bitcoin earnings bitcoin рухнул анимация bitcoin
bitcoin лопнет bitcoin metal bitcoin anonymous tinkoff bitcoin wallet cryptocurrency
bitcoin clicker new cryptocurrency bitcoin valet платформы ethereum перспективы ethereum майнинг bitcoin индекс bitcoin
json bitcoin bitcoin установка
bitcoin создатель bitcoin сигналы btc ethereum bitcoin это bitcoin create ethereum dark
bitcoin википедия zona bitcoin ethereum coins хардфорк monero alpari bitcoin bitcoin 99 комиссия bitcoin индекс bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin fields конвектор bitcoin 6000 bitcoin iobit bitcoin bitcoin com water bitcoin kong bitcoin bitcoin security
программа ethereum будущее bitcoin
tether iphone monero *****u bitcoin go vk bitcoin ethereum contracts hit bitcoin ethereum supernova ethereum myetherwallet
bitcoin видеокарты доходность bitcoin bitcoin ключи code bitcoin happy bitcoin bitcoin прогноз bitcoin com
подарю bitcoin bitcoin prune шрифт bitcoin bitcoin puzzle
bitcoin фарминг blitz bitcoin tether комиссии bitcoin download preev bitcoin goldmine bitcoin spots cryptocurrency bitcoin nedir
mt4 bitcoin ютуб bitcoin bitcoin рбк monero rub bitcoin клиент криптовалюта ethereum tether android bitcoin explorer bitcoin mixer location bitcoin bitcoin explorer bitcoin деньги tether верификация paidbooks bitcoin ethereum биржи bitcoin instagram The most basic version of dividing payments this way is the ‘pay per share’ (PPS) model. Variations on this puts limits on the rate paid per share; for example, equalised shared maximum pay per share (ESMPPS), or shared maximum pay per share (SMPPS). Pools may or may not prioritise payments for how recently miners have submitted shares: for example, recent shared maximum pay per share (RSMPPS). More examples can be found on the bitcoin wiki.криптовалюта monero cryptocurrency это bitcoin hub cap bitcoin bitcoin javascript ethereum токены ethereum project bitcoin казино maps bitcoin bitcoin отслеживание plasma ethereum bitcoin get ethereum создатель monero spelunker rpc bitcoin mining ethereum платформе ethereum bitcoin config ethereum ротаторы ethereum ротаторы ethereum форки bitcoin click bitcoin валюты bitcoin escrow redex bitcoin bitcoin foto ethereum клиент сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin ваучер bitcoin hunter cryptocurrency reddit заработать monero bitcoin world bitcoin forbes direct bitcoin
tether пополнение bitcoin сатоши bitcoin биржа bitcoin site monero spelunker ethereum контракты
bitcoin будущее cryptocurrency calendar wired tether fasterclick bitcoin autobot bitcoin bye bitcoin monero client ethereum casino bitcoin count monero address moon ethereum bitcoin rbc korbit bitcoin monero amd сложность ethereum bitcoin mining mine monero магазины bitcoin bitcoin добыть ethereum картинки tether кошелек партнерка bitcoin bitcoin xl
bitcoin nvidia hack bitcoin bitcoin gpu игра ethereum minergate ethereum bitcoin пример chaindata ethereum
ethereum web3 bitcoin 2017 bitcoin презентация bitcoin film вывод monero bitcoin github bitcoin sec bitcoin чат bitcoin котировки ethereum ротаторы supernova ethereum autobot bitcoin ethereum block masternode bitcoin blockchain ethereum cryptocurrency news bitcoin balance ethereum crane bitcoin ethereum get bitcoin bitcoin 4096 майнить bitcoin bitcoin сегодня bistler bitcoin форк ethereum bitcoin transaction bitcoin lurk
bitcoin терминалы bitcoin войти pull bitcoin cryptonight monero лучшие bitcoin ethereum faucet
bitcoin msigna 100 bitcoin l bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin bitcoin значок
сколько bitcoin
bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin gadget jax bitcoin carding bitcoin
bitcoin download monero proxy
drip bitcoin flypool monero cms bitcoin
ann bitcoin keystore ethereum ethereum клиент generator bitcoin bitcoin fpga monero difficulty bitcoin explorer chaindata ethereum statistics bitcoin
криптовалюты bitcoin monero transaction bitcoin euro unconfirmed monero coinmarketcap bitcoin hashrate bitcoin партнерка bitcoin ethereum описание bitcoin scam ethereum pos кошелька bitcoin bitcoin 100
What is SegWit and How it Works Explainedtotal cryptocurrency pplns monero abc bitcoin ethereum windows заработок ethereum monero hardware продам bitcoin
взлом bitcoin ethereum pow bitcoin калькулятор hyip bitcoin hack bitcoin лучшие bitcoin ethereum майнеры http bitcoin кошелька ethereum сложность bitcoin майнер bitcoin email bitcoin bitcoin зебра bitcoin лого bitcoin wm bitcoin конвектор reindex bitcoin bitcoin landing
bitcoin scripting keystore ethereum bitcoin программа
flypool ethereum bitcoin экспресс
stats ethereum token bitcoin настройка bitcoin
bitcoin reindex roulette bitcoin 1060 monero bitcoin online криптовалюта ethereum addnode bitcoin tether 4pda bitcoin оплатить ethereum упал tether gps The 1990sEthereum is a blockchain-based computing platform that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications—meaning not run by a centralized authority. You can create a decentralized application for which the participants of that particular application are the decision-making authority.That said, many wonder how these contracts would be treated under the current legal system. The answer is complicated. One 2018 research paper from partners Stuart D. Levi and Alex B. Lipton determined that U.S. law should recognize many smart contracts. trade cryptocurrency bitcoin ютуб bitcoin nonce
ethereum биткоин bitcoin 99 polkadot ethereum blockchain bitcoin котировка перспектива bitcoin simple bitcoin casper ethereum адрес ethereum кран ethereum wei ethereum bitcoin бесплатно ethereum forks алгоритм monero
зарегистрировать bitcoin bitcoin tor bitcoin fun poker bitcoin cryptocurrency rx470 monero
криптовалюта tether кошелек ethereum trade cryptocurrency primedice bitcoin bitcoin yandex
ethereum продать
safe bitcoin bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin cudaminer
