#Club100 | Crypto Academy Season 5 Beginners' course - Task 5: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Public chains by @lolitsmaryam | Repost

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What Is Cryptocurrency and How You Would Like To See Cryptocurrency In The Future?

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What Is Cryptocurrency?

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Cryptocurrency, also known as virtual or digital currency is a non-physical currency that exists online. Unlike the traditional currency, we can’t physically carry cryptocurrency in our wallets. Rather, it is kept online in a digital wallet that can be accessed anywhere in the world. The purpose of cryptocurrency is same as of the traditional currency i.e. it is used for buying/selling goods, making payments, taking services, trading and making investments etc.

The first ever cryptocurrency called Bitcoin was founded in 2009 by a programmer Satoshi Nakamoto whose real identity still remains a mystery. To this day, more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies have been discovered out of which the 10 most popular ones can been seen in the image below:

Screen shot taken from coinmarketcap

The reason for inventing cryptocurrency was to perform transactions. But, why was there a need to create it when the same purpose could be achieved through the traditional system? Well, the reason is that unlike the traditional baking system, cryptocurreny is found on a decentralized platform based on blockchain technology. This means that it connects the sender with the receiver directly and does not require a central server/third party like the bank to carry out the transaction. It is done instantly without having to pay high transaction fee.

Moreover, cryptocurrency is secured using cryptography technology. The transaction to be made is first encrypted into unreadable format and then transmitted to the receiver that needs to be decrypted to be accessed. For this purpose, the users are provided with a Public key (to access the wallet and a Private Key (to send and receive the tokens).

There are several pros and cons of cryptocurrency that I will discuss now.

Pros	Cons
Cryptocurrency is highly versatile and can be used to purchase and accept any kind of goods or services. It has made the process of sending/receiving money extremely fast and easy. Transactions can be made from anywhere to anywhere with little to no fee applied.	Unfortunately, cryptocurrency is not yet accepted everywhere in the world. In fact, it is even banned in some countries which limits its use, however; slowly it is gaining the popularity that it deserves so it may get legalized in the future.
Thanks to cryptography, the use of Public Key and Private Key has made the transaction of cryptocurrency extremely safe from fraud or theft. The transaction made is encrypted into a code and then decrypted only by the user's Private key.	It is important that the keys are saved properly somewhere, especially the Private key as once it is lost it will be impossible to recover it and tokens present in the wallet would never be accessed.
Cryptocurrency can be a great investment as it is highly volatile. Its value can increase drastically in a matter of short period and can result in higher return potential.	As the value of cryptocurrency is not stable, its value can also decrease in a snap and investors can face major financial losses.
Cryptocurrency has made international trading increasingly efficient, fast and easy as compared to the traditional banking system which is slow and expensive. Moreover, as it is based on a decentralized system, It allows users the full autonomy of sending funds to whoever they want whenever they want.	It is important that the person dealing with cryptocurrency and transactions is well trained as a small mistake can lead to huge loss. For example: If the funds are sent to the address then it will be impossible to recover them.

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How You Would Like To See Cryptocurrency In The Future?

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Cryptocurrency is starting to become increasingly popular. In the future, I see it reaching greater heights and changing the global economy. I would like to see the adaptation and legalization of cryptocurrency all over the world as this would help entrepreneurs flourish their businesses by establishing relationship with international customers since it makes the process of buying and selling much easier, safer and faster.

Moreover, I see it shaping the future of blogging and content creation. As cryptocurrency is based on a decentralized authenticated platform, it will only appreciate and reward content that is unique or a result of creative thinking and will reject any work found to be copied or stolen. This will allow bloggers and content creators the power to create content without the fear of their work getting stolen or taken monetary advantage of by others. This will increase the usage of websites such as steemit where authors are curated for their hard work with cryptocurrency and this will directly result in the increase in prosperity of cryptocurrency.

Lastly, I would also like to see cryptocurrency being used for normal day to day shopping of grocery items, payment of bills and services, etc. The digital mode of payment through cryptocurrency will not only be convenient but also fast and secure. It will also alleviate the hassle of carrying physical money round or having the need to withdraw money from an ATM.

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Conclusion

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In a nutshell, cryptocurrency will play an important role in shaping our future and how we perceive the world to be. It will definitely make our lives much easier, hassle free and will lead to booming of the global economy. Lastly, I would like to thank the Professor for the informative lecture.
Thank you!

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