The Genesis Block - Crypto Academy S5 - Homework Post for task 3 by @ravigolu

Hello Steemians! I hope everyone is doing well and working hard for achieving your goal.My name is Ravi kumar and I am from India.

Today I am going to complete Home work task 3 of season 5 and task is related to "The Genesis Block"given by the professor @awesononso's.I have read and understand the task.And now I'm posting this homework post for the question 3 as follows:-

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3.a) 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)What is a Cryptocurrency?

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Source

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency which is used cryptography to secure all transactions.Cryptocurrency work on a decentralised blockchain system.Cryptocurrency was launched in 2009 and the very first cryptocurrency was Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency is not look like a real coin or notes,it is a virtual currency.we cannot touch or feel cryptocurrency so that it is stored in digital wallet and also called online cryptocurrency exist in only online form.Cryptocurrency transaction done through computers.The best thing about cryptocurrencies is that it works on a p2p function hence their is no involvement of third party or any kind of single controlling authority! Indian currency or like Euro,Dollar currency is fully controlled by government.But Cryptocurrency is not controlled by any government authorities,it is fully independent.Crytocurrency does not follow traditional banking system.We can use cryptocurrencies as a medium of payment for purchasing/exchanging online goods and services. As per today there are more than 15,000 different cryptocurrencies present in the world. as per the source https://coinmarketcap.com/.Here are examples of some popular cryptocurrency like Ethereum,Litecoin,Ripple,Tether and Libra in which we can invest like Bitcoin.

(b)What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?

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Cryptography is a technique which is used to convert plain text into cipher text and again from cipher text to plain text.Plain text is a normal message which can be read and understand easily and cipher text is a secret message which can be read but can't understand easily.Cryptography is basically used to achieve confidentiality. Moreover, cryptocurrencies are anonymous and secure only because of cryptography and users can do their transactional operations without any kind of interference from any kind of third party. In cryptourrency , cryptography with public and private keys are used. Private keys are used while doing transactional while Public keys are the adress of wallets. These keys Plays a vital role in cryptourrency as without private keys no one can stole anyone's coins.

A simple representation of how cryptography works through an image:-

Source

(c)Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion.

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Now this are the steps we need to follow to explore the Steem Genesis Block. (I explored this through my mobile device) :-

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STEP 1:

Firstly go to browser and login to https://steemworld.org/

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STEP 2:

Now click on the Block explorer option given on homepage as follows-

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STEP 3:

Now click Ok for Block 1

Type 1 in the box because 1 is the genesis block.

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STEP 4:

Now you can see the details of the genesis block as follows:

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Basic Details

• Timestamp-:2016-03-24,21:35:00
• Block Id-:0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086
• Previous Id-:0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
• Witness-:initminer