💱Blockchain Basics

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to serve as a medium of exchange. Utilising cryptographic techniques for transactions, additional unit creation, and asset transfer verification, most cryptocurrencies operate on a blockchain infrastructure.

What is Cryptography?

Cryptography is the field of study focused on methods for ensuring privacy, data consistency, and authenticity. It serves as a fundamental pillar of the crypto industry by safeguarding personal information, preventing unauthorised data modifications, and verifying authentication and other object properties.

What is Market Capitalization in the Crypto Industry?

Market capitalization (market cap) represents the total value of cryptocurrency in circulation, calculated by multiplying the current coin price by the total number of coins issued.

What is a Public Key?

The public key is a freely accessible character string paired with a private key corresponding to a Bitcoin address. This cryptographic pair ensures the security and integrity of transactions within the blockchain network, where the public key serves as the identifier for receiving funds.

What is a Private Key?

The private key is a character string that grants access to a wallet or Bitcoin address. Possession of the private key confers control over the associated funds, emphasising the need for secure management.

What is a Distributed Ledger?

A distributed ledger is an agreement on data synchronisation and reproducibility. In cryptocurrency networks, data distribution occurs across multiple processors and networks, differing from centralised ledgers where a single entity manages all synchronised and reproduced data.

What is a Pool?

A pool, or mining pool, refers to computing resources combined by multiple miners. Participants in the pool distribute profits based on the individual efforts each contributed to solving tasks.

What is FUD?

FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) is a market manipulation strategy involving the dissemination of disinformation to decrease prices. Genuine FUD may also arise from factors such as potential regulatory actions affecting cryptocurrency values.

What is a Node?

A node is a network point crucial for the secure functioning of a cryptocurrency network. A network can resolve the double-spending problem using randomly selected nodes to validate transactions.

What is Mining?

Mining is a foundational element in the cryptocurrency structure. Miners who perform mining add transaction blocks to the blockchain, earning cryptocurrency as a reward.

What is Hashrate?

The hash rate refers to the hardware processing capacity for cryptocurrency mining, measured in hash per second. This metric quantifies the speed at which a mining device can execute complex mathematical algorithms, determining its efficiency in solving blocks on the blockchain.

Who are Whales?

Whales are individuals or groups with substantial cryptocurrency holdings, enabling them to influence the market through their significant share.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a distributed ledger of financial transactions, forming a chain where each unit is cryptographically linked to the preceding one. It serves as a secure and unalterable database of transactions managed by a peer-to-peer network.

What is Proof-of-Work?

Proof-of-Work (PoW) is the process of validating new blocks in a blockchain, requiring validators to solve puzzles using computing power to verify transactions and create new blocks.

What is an ICO?

ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a method of raising capital with cryptocurrency, analogous to crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. Developers present their projects, and individuals invest in them using cryptocurrencies.

Is Mining Cryptos Popular?

Approximately 17 million bitcoins have been mined, constituting 80% of the total possible supply. So, yes, mining cryptos is a viral phenomenon.

What is Sharding?

Sharding is a scalability solution for blockchain where each node holds a partial replica of the entire blockchain. This method enhances the overall capacity and consensus speed of the network.