Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange, that uses cryptography to secure the exchange of digital information. There are a variety of blockchain companies or entities who uses cryptocurrency on the blockchain to build up an economy fully decentralized and viable. This companies make use of utility tokens or coins to keep the network running and facilitating decentralized services to the world. For the moment most of this cryptocurrencies are speculative of nature and can only be trade on an exchange or kept in a wallet. The most known cryptocurrencies next to bitcoin are; Ethereum, Monero, Ripple.

Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer network centric platform. Its been create in 2008 with the publication of a paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System” written under the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto. Most of the people have the misconception that bitcoin is only a new payment system but in fact its more than that. Bitcoin is a distributed, decentralized trust platform where everything with value can be programmed and shared on. Currency is only its first application – just the first application that you can build on a distributed consensus system. Other applications include distributed fair voting, stock ownership, asset registration, notarization and many other applications we’ve never though of before.

As mentioned before bitcoin is decentralized meaning there is no central authority that has the control of the network. This is made possible by blockchain technology and a method called proof of work where computers all over the world work to solve difficult mathematical equations to maintain the network. This computers are called; nodes and the work is called; mining. The miners get incentivized by a reward in fees and newly created bitcoins. The total supply of bitcoin is fixed at 21 million and the last bitcoin will get mined in 2140 after that the miners will only get rewarded with fees. Bitcoin is peer-to-peer meaning that all individuals are in direct contact with the counterparty without an intermediary like a bank, government or central entity. This is accomplished because bitcoin is network centric and people put their trust in the network instead of institutions or intermediaries. Unlike man made laws, the preprogramed features of bitcoin are very difficult to change if not almost impossible.

Bitcoin is a open, borderless, transnational, neutral and censorship resistant payment system that can serve as the ultimate medium of exchange between all  parties that transact on the internet. The availability of internet to make transaction is not a requirement, one can use satellite transmission, mobile text messages, radio wave communication and more. Bitcoin can be the money of the internet as the internet of the money.