Hello crypto enthusiasts!
I am here again with this homework task for professor @awesononso lesson Steemit Crypto Academy Season 5 Beginners' course - Task 3: The Genesis Block. Enjoy!
3a) What is a Cryptocurrency?
b) What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?
c) Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion.
A cryptocurrency is a digital currency. It is maintained and its verification is carried out by a decentralized system like wallets/exchanges using cryptography, instead of centralized systems like banks. A cryptocurrency is impossible to counterfeit or spend more than once. Most cryptocurrency networks are decentralized and we can say they operate on a technology called blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies are not issued by any central authority, and this makes them free from manipulations or control from the government or any authority.
Cryptocurrencies can be used to perform transactions like buying and selling. It is also a very fast and easy means of transferring or sending money to someone far from you.
The cryptocurrency market is a source of income for many traders. Traders tend to buy and hold cryptocurrencies with good potentials in the long run or they trade them daily using multiple trading platforms like Tradingview that enables them to see the price action chart of various cryptocurrencies. Some website or platforms like coinmarketcap and coingecko holds information like exchanges to buy and sell or swap cryptocurrencies, about almost all cryptocurrencies.
See the table below for some examples of cryptocurrencies and their market cap;
| Cryptocurrency | Market cap |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $921.7 Billion |
| Steem | $173 Million |
| Ethereum | $478 Billion |
| Cardano | $43.2 Billion |
| XRP | $41.8 Billion |
CRYPTOGRAPHY
Cryptography was derived from two Greek words; Kryptos and Graphein. Kryptos which means ‘Secret’ and Graphein which means ‘Writings’.
Cryptography is an accepted method of sending data fully encrypted which can only be decoded or decrypted using a specific unique key or algorithm. It is the genesis of cryptocurrency.
How cryptography makes cryptocurrency secure
Cryptography plays a major role in the security of cryptocurrency. It makes cryptocurrencies secure by relying on modern asymmetric encoding methods and the secure nature of transactions on a blockchain. Cryptocurrency owners use what we call private keys to verify their ownership of their cryptocurrencies. The method of encoding in blockchain and hashing is great because it helps secure transactions
Private keys are a set of numbers and alphabet together used as a password to perform cryptocurrency transactions. They are not usually long and not easy to remember and this is why it is safe for private key owners to keep their keys in a very secured place.
By exploring the steemit Genesis Block, I will show you some information and details on steemit using Screenshots.
Carefully follow the steps below;
Step 1: Go to your browser and visit the site https://steemworld.org and sign in.
Step 2: After you sign in, click on Block Explorer.
Step 3: Type 1 as Block number and click Ok
Step 4: This image below is what will be displayed after you do the step above.
In the screenshot above, we can see some important block details indicated with red arrows.
see table below;
| Title | Info/ID |
|---|---|
| Timestamp | 2016-03-24 17:05:00 UTC + 1 |
| Block ID | 0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086 |
| Previous ID | 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Witness | initminer |
Note: The Previous ID is all zeros because there is no block before it.
The genesis block holds information or details about a cryptocurrency. It tells us when a particular cryptocurrency was founded and about its mining. We can also see the importance of cryptography and its effect on cryptocurrency. I want to say thank you to professor @awesononso for the wonderful lesson on The genesis block.
cc:-
@awesononso
@shemul21