The Genesis block - Steemit Crypto Academy Season 4 - Homework Post for Task 3 by @obikay

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

What is a Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a form of virtual money this is supposed to behave as a medium of exchange for buying and selling of any commodities, stock and as well to receive payment. Cryptocurrency has turn out to be famous in the world, in particular, with Bitcoin turning into the most extensively tracked alternative currency.

Cryptocurrency is not controlled by anyone or any Government body or organization, and it's secret, just as the name implies. It’s additionally very tough to counterfeit because of the blockchain ledger system that handles the currency.

There are different kinds of cryptocurrencies in existence today. The most known of them is Bitcoin. Some other cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, XRP, and Bitcoin Cash etc. Cryptocurrency is kept in a digital wallet. Anyone can be part of and take part inside the blockchain, but individuals data on transaction and the persons in it is protected with the use of cryptography. For every transaction brought to the blockchain, there’s a virtual validation technique to affirm it and save you from fraud.

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What is Cryptography, and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?

Let's take for instance, sir kay wants to send a private message to his friend (Mr Emi) and he wants no third party to see it . Now he makes use of a public forum like the internet for sending his message. Let's say Mr Hanks a third party got access to the communication channel, he could do more like changing the message himself. What if Mr Hanks gets access to the private information?. Well that could actually result to a big catastrophe. So how can sir kay be sure that no third party could access the message sent to Mr Emi. The main aim is to make communication secure and that is where cryptography comes in.

Cryptography can be said to be the practice or act of securing communication, information and data, so that only those whom the message is meant for will be able to access it.
So let's check out how cryptography can help secure connection betweven the two friends. For sir kay to protect his messages, he converts the readable message to an unreadable form, here he converts to some random numbers and when done, he makes use of a key to encrypt his message and when this is done, a new value is created called cipher text. He then sends the cipher text over a communication channel, he won't have to worry of a third party discovering the private message even if a third party does, it won't be possible without the proper key to unlock the message. Let's say Mr Hanks (third party) manages to tamper with this message. Now when this message gets to Mr Emi using the proper key will convert the cipher text to numerical value responding to the plain text, now after using the key for decryption what he will have is the original plain text message or error. This error tells that a third party has tampered with the message.

how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?

In the crypto world, cryptography assures that the participants and transactions in the network are secured and also helps keeps the contents of records personal, and makes sure that the integrity of data, proving it was not altered. It also helps in regulating the creation of new currency units, transfer confirmation of assets and tokens.

Symmetric key cryptography make use of Same cryptography keys for both encryption of plaintext and decryption of cipher text. The key maybe identical or otherwise. The key represent a shared secret between two or more parties that can be used to maintain a private information link. The symmetric key is also called the secret key.
Asymmetric key cryptography which makes use of two separate keys (public and private) for encryption and decryption of data. The public key which is dispersed widely and the private key which is only known to the owner.

Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion

Open the website steemworld.org
choose block explorer

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Inside the box that should pop up input 1 and click ok

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Here we have the Genesis block

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To sign in, click on "sign in" as shown

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it requires your username and password to proceed

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And am signed in

Conclusion

While cryptocurrency virtually has a few capacity benefits, it additionally has extreme drawbacks that thus far make it unusable as a currency. Investors should take adequate measures with cryptocurrency, due to its volatility and numerous risks.

Thank you professor @awesononso for the lecture.