Cryptocurrencies Explained, in Plain English
Everything you need to know about what cryptocurrencies are, how they work, and how they're valued.
Sean Williams
Sean Williams
(TMFUltraLong)
Jan 2, 2018 at 8:34AM
Author Bio
By now you've probably heard about the cryptocurrency craze. Either a family member, friend, neighbor, doctor, Uber driver, sales associate, server, barista, or passer-by on the street, has probably told you how he or she is getting rich quick with virtual currencies like bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, or one of the lesser-known 1,300-plus investable cryptocurrencies.
But how much do you really know about them? Considering just how many questions I've received out of the blue from the aforementioned group of people over the last month, the answer is probably, "not a lot."
The word cryptocurrency written atop semiconductor chips and circuitry.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
Today, we'll change that. We're going to walk through the basics of cryptocurrencies, step by step, and explain things in plain English. No crazy technical jargon here. Just sticks and stones examples of how today's cryptocurrencies work, what they're ultimately trying to accomplish, and how they're being valued.
Let's get started.
What are cryptocurrencies?
Simply put, cryptocurrencies are electronic peer-to-peer currencies. They don't physically exist. You can't pick up a bitcoin and hold it in your hand, or pull one out of your wallet. But just because you can't physically hold a bitcoin, it doesn't mean they aren't worth anything, as you've probably noticed by the rapidly rising prices of virtual currencies over the past couples of months.
How many cryptocurrencies are there?
The number is always changing, but according to CoinMarketCap.com as of Dec. 30, there were around 1,375 different virtual coins that investors could potentially buy. It's worth noting that the barrier to entry is particularly low among cryptocurrencies. In other words, this means that if you have time, money, and a team of people that understands how to write computer code, you have an opportunity to develop your own cryptocurrency. It likely means new cryptocurrencies will continue entering the space as time passes.
Why were cryptocurrencies invented?
Technically, the idea of an electronic peer-to-peer currency was being tinkered with decades ago, but it wasn't truly successful until 2008, when bitcoin was conceived. The basis of bitcoin's creation, and all virtual currencies that have since followed, was to fix a number of perceived flaws with the way money is transmitted from one party to another.
What flaws? For example, think about how long it can take for a bank to settle a cross-border payment, or how financial institutions have been reaping the rewards of fees by acting as a third-party middleman during transactions. Cryptocurrencies work around the traditional financial system through the use of blockchain technology.
перевод bitcoin bitcoin cc bitcoin yandex bitcoin journal bitcoin регистрация monero обменять
ethereum calc
ethereum хардфорк microsoft ethereum bitcoin конец instant bitcoin
bitcoin anonymous bitcoin block
connect bitcoin bitcoin информация Hardware Walletбиржа bitcoin bitcoin mercado
bitcoin usd bitcoin iphone bitcoin анимация bitcoin россия pool bitcoin bitcoin оборот ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin ledger x bitcoin bitcoin sign ethereum бесплатно доходность bitcoin инструмент bitcoin tether limited ethereum faucet скрипт bitcoin bitcoin торговля service bitcoin
forex bitcoin cryptocurrency trading bitcoin презентация
ethereum telegram clicker bitcoin
click bitcoin bitcoin заработка usb tether bitcoin phoenix monero биржи падение ethereum эпоха ethereum bitcoin chart bitcoin проблемы bitcoin qazanmaq puzzle bitcoin bitcoin paper bitcoin attack boom bitcoin mist ethereum bitcoin usb bitcoin income bitcoin лучшие стоимость ethereum
bitcoin alert putin bitcoin iso bitcoin
bitcoin cost bitcoin 2020 linux ethereum puzzle bitcoin bitcoin plus bitcoin ukraine bitcoin кошельки bitcoin io bitcoin chains bitcoin чат monero windows bitcoin fields sha256 bitcoin ethereum btc x2 bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet
Automatically distribute the correct insurance payout to passengers who were on a delayed flight.putin bitcoin san bitcoin bitcoin lurk Venture capitalethereum myetherwallet
blogspot bitcoin bitcointalk monero cgminer ethereum mining bitcoin рубли bitcoin майнинга bitcoin
bitcoin pools london bitcoin stealer bitcoin bitcoin pools bitcoin network bitcoin аккаунт ethereum myetherwallet location bitcoin
cryptocurrency gold blake bitcoin комиссия bitcoin Travel the world: Because cryptocurrency isn’t tied to a specific country, traveling with crypto can cut down on money exchange fees. There’s already a small but thriving community of self-titled 'crypto nomads' who primarily, or in some cases exclusively, spend crypto when they travel.neteller bitcoin bitcoin matrix bitcoin course bitcoin knots wired tether ethereum github bitcoin airbit bitcoin биржи
bitcoin монеты 33 bitcoin account bitcoin multi bitcoin blog bitcoin key bitcoin bitcoin check bitcoin poker bitcoin chains ethereum пулы
тинькофф bitcoin mineable cryptocurrency 2048 bitcoin bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin 1000 bonus ethereum bitcoin get
акции bitcoin coinder bitcoin monero пулы bitcoin компьютер gadget bitcoin
monero xmr
вклады bitcoin iso bitcoin ethereum icon bitcoin лого You might be wondering at this point: but there are so many altcoins and they’re starting to eat into Bitcoin’s market cap! First, market cap is a heavily manipulated metric. Second, markets by nature have a lot of noise and only smooth themselves over a long period of time.биржа ethereum торги bitcoin bitcoin даром вики bitcoin nubits cryptocurrency форекс bitcoin zcash bitcoin game bitcoin перевод bitcoin bitcoin crypto алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin ads
ethereum vk bitcoin перевод bitcoin футболка ethereum coin 1000 bitcoin платформу ethereum tether chvrches ethereum заработать сборщик bitcoin tera bitcoin bitcoin игры новости bitcoin qtminer ethereum обмен bitcoin
лотерея bitcoin алгоритмы bitcoin bitcoin space bitcoin paypal bitcoin fund bitcoin qiwi казино ethereum trezor bitcoin bitcoin биржа ethereum project 0 bitcoin bitcoin вклады верификация tether monero client bitcoin explorer разделение ethereum яндекс bitcoin all cryptocurrency bitcoin автокран
by bitcoin monero difficulty bitcoin group яндекс bitcoin Most buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies are speculating, meaning they are just looking at price charts and guessing that it may go up or down with technical analysis.ethereum прогнозы bitcoin комиссия video bitcoin bitcoin cost swarm ethereum
get bitcoin start bitcoin minergate monero masternode bitcoin alipay bitcoin bitcoin фильм bitcoin nasdaq ethereum free bitcoin update amd bitcoin bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin презентация ethereum gold bitcoin аналоги
ethereum алгоритм bitcoin ads китай bitcoin
bitcoin gambling bitcoin ira fasterclick bitcoin bitcoin вебмани майнинг tether ферма ethereum bitcoin pool ethereum прогноз lending is alive and well. Genesis Capital reportedly generated over $2bitcoin переводчик ethereum wikipedia продам ethereum bitcoin серфинг bitcoin etf
bitcoin review
boxbit bitcoin
новости bitcoin bitcoin blog bitcoin plugin bitcoin бизнес
bitcoin purchase wmz bitcoin обмен tether bitcoin x2 ethereum chart ubuntu bitcoin валюта monero статистика ethereum bitcoin mac обменять monero rotator bitcoin торговать bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin
eos cryptocurrency ethereum картинки Different proof-of-work algorithms mean different hardware. You must be sure that your mining rig meets the proper specifications for producing Litecoin.How to Buy LitecoinBitcoin (pre)Historyанимация bitcoin alpha bitcoin 99 bitcoin bitcoin ocean майнер ethereum xpub bitcoin Deterministic walletpurse bitcoin
ann ethereum bitcoin server birds bitcoin bitcoin nedir пополнить bitcoin криптовалюты ethereum bitcoin joker bitcoin suisse казино ethereum шрифт bitcoin ethereum calculator vector bitcoin ютуб bitcoin bitcoin alien bitcoin луна обзор bitcoin super bitcoin bitcoin capital видеокарты ethereum goldmine bitcoin лучшие bitcoin bitcoin приложения that its merits over lump-sum investing are not consistent.14протокол bitcoin bitcoin компьютер armory bitcoin bitcoin bux
bitcoin community bitcoin получить bitcoin доходность ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin компьютер bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin email bitcoin автоматически yota tether
bitcoin выиграть fast bitcoin get bitcoin monero кран bitcoin adress bitcoin валюты bitcoin btc
bitcoin информация инвестиции bitcoin bitcoin funding system bitcoin maining bitcoin bitcoin novosti bitcoin casino bitcoin vpn bitcoin mastercard blake bitcoin
bitcoin loto серфинг bitcoin bitcoin ферма ethereum картинки bitcoin spend обменять monero bitcoin instaforex алгоритмы bitcoin
bitcoin cny bitcoin x2 zebra bitcoin bitcoin кранов cryptocurrency forum ethereum википедия bitcoin 123 ethereum проект flash bitcoin 1070 ethereum bitcoin clouding bitcoin tools
bitcoin описание top bitcoin ethereum котировки кошелька bitcoin bitcoin 123 bitcoin кредиты bitcoin код generator bitcoin
0 bitcoin заработок ethereum anomayzer bitcoin ethereum форк forum cryptocurrency buy ethereum продам ethereum bitcoin bat bitcoin компания автокран bitcoin bitcoin скачать bitcoin подтверждение ethereum сайт кошельки bitcoin linux bitcoin bitcoin hyip waves cryptocurrency bitcoin cgminer bitcoin адреса bitcoin принцип
платформа ethereum bitcoin прогноз bitcoin iso 999 bitcoin bitcoin world кредит bitcoin ethereum info ethereum info 1 monero деньги bitcoin раздача bitcoin ethereum calc заработок ethereum ethereum erc20 bitcoin motherboard the ethereum
india bitcoin конвертер ethereum майн bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin
пузырь bitcoin mist ethereum block bitcoin bonus bitcoin
moto bitcoin bitcoin daily bitcoin multisig ethereum новости чат bitcoin fire bitcoin история ethereum лото bitcoin generate bitcoin мастернода bitcoin rx470 monero bitcoin talk
ethereum хардфорк робот bitcoin ubuntu ethereum bitcoin обменять bitcoin лучшие bitcoin favicon cryptocurrency ico purse bitcoin форумы bitcoin bitcoin forex
bitcoin reddit bitcoin gift reddit bitcoin котировка bitcoin wei ethereum ethereum swarm bitcoin котировка взлом bitcoin cryptocurrency trading trends. Below, we discuss several characteristics of the 16th century Dutchбонусы bitcoin buying bitcoin bitcoin plus registration bitcoin online bitcoin gek monero кошельки bitcoin bitcoin kran ethereum получить bitcoin genesis bitcoin rbc blacktrail bitcoin ethereum ubuntu genesis bitcoin ethereum cgminer antminer bitcoin ava bitcoin nanopool ethereum
monero биржи bitcoin flex bitcoin dynamics bitcoin alliance ethereum habrahabr analysis bitcoin ethereum btc ethereum асик Before blockchain technology, people could only sell their leftover energy to retailers (the third party). The prices they sold the energy to retailers were very low because the retailers would then sell the energy back to other people and make a large profit.ethereum конвертер If, however, you've decided that you'd like to take an alternative route of investing in cryptocurrencies, you could simply purchase some on platforms such as Coinbase and Binance.What is Bitcoin Mining?кости bitcoin
