What is cryptocurrency?
A pair of hands inserts a digital token into their mobile phone.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto are revolutionizing how we invest, bank, and use money. Read this beginner’s guide to learn more.
At its core, cryptocurrency is typically decentralized digital money designed to be used over the internet. Bitcoin, which launched in 2008, was the first cryptocurrency, and it remains by far the biggest, most influential, and best-known. In the decade since, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have grown as digital alternatives to money issued by governments.
The most popular cryptocurrencies, by market capitalization, are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Other well-known cryptocurrencies include Tezos, EOS, and ZCash. Some are similar to Bitcoin. Others are based on different technologies, or have new features that allow them to do more than transfer value.
Crypto makes it possible to transfer value online without the need for a middleman like a bank or payment processor, allowing value to transfer globally, near-instantly, 24/7, for low fees.
Cryptocurrencies are usually not issued or controlled by any government or other central authority. They’re managed by peer-to-peer networks of computers running free, open-source software. Generally, anyone who wants to participate is able to.
If a bank or government isn’t involved, how is crypto secure? It’s secure because all transactions are vetted by a technology called a blockchain.
A cryptocurrency blockchain is similar to a bank’s balance sheet or ledger. Each currency has its own blockchain, which is an ongoing, constantly re-verified record of every single transaction ever made using that currency.
Unlike a bank’s ledger, a crypto blockchain is distributed across participants of the digital currency’s entire network
No company, country, or third party is in control of it; and anyone can participate. A blockchain is a breakthrough technology only recently made possible through decades of computer science and mathematical innovations.
Most importantly, cryptocurrencies allow individuals to take complete control over their assets
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's Vision for the Future of Cryptocurrency
Key concepts
Transferability
Crypto makes transactions with people on the other side of the planet as seamless as paying with cash at your local grocery store.
Privacy
When paying with cryptocurrency, you don’t need to provide unnecessary personal information to the merchant. Which means your financial information is protected from being shared with third parties like banks, payment services, advertisers, and credit-rating agencies. And because no sensitive information needs to be sent over the internet, there is very little risk of your financial information being compromised, or your identity being stolen.
Security
Almost all cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tezos, and Bitcoin Cash are secured using technology called a blockchain, which is constantly checked and verified by a huge amount of computing power.
Portability
Because your cryptocurrency holdings aren’t tied to a financial institution or government, they are available to you no matter where you are in the world or what happens to any of the global finance system’s major intermediaries.
Transparency
Every transaction on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tezos, and Bitcoin Cash networks is published publicly, without exception. This means there's no room for manipulation of transactions, changing the money supply, or adjusting the rules mid-game.
Irreversibility
Unlike a credit card payment, cryptocurrency payments can’t be reversed. For merchants, this hugely reduces the likelihood of being defrauded. For customers, it has the potential to make commerce cheaper by eliminating one of the major arguments credit card companies make for their high processing fees.
Safety
The network powering Bitcoin has never been hacked. And the fundamental ideas behind cryptocurrencies help make them safe: the systems are permissionless and the core software is open-source, meaning countless computer scientists and cryptographers have been able to examine all aspects of the networks and their security.
Utility
Unlike a credit card payment, cryptocurrency payments can’t be reversed. For merchants, this hugely reduces the likelihood of being defrauded. For customers, it has the potential to make commerce cheaper by eliminating one of the major arguments credit card companies make for their high processing fees.
in late 2013. обменять monero rotator bitcoin блок bitcoin Bitcoin offers an efficient means of transferring money over the internet and is controlled by a decentralized network with a transparent set of rules, thus presenting an alternative to central bank-controlled fiat money.1 There has been a lot of talk about how to price Bitcoin and we set out here to explore what the cryptocurrency's price might look like in the event it achieves further widespread adoption.контракты ethereum bitcoin монета
bitcoin like
пример bitcoin source bitcoin monero logo 6000 bitcoin gain bitcoin bitcoin взлом bitcoin сети faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin betting динамика bitcoin alliance bitcoin plasma ethereum mastercard bitcoin bitcoin stellar capitalization cryptocurrency валюты bitcoin bitcoin игры iso bitcoin bitcoin crypto bounty bitcoin forum bitcoin debian bitcoin lealana bitcoin cryptocurrency trading bye bitcoin bitcoin faucet cnbc bitcoin bitcoin фарминг bitcoin ether habrahabr bitcoin
tether пополнение
bitcoin hunter математика bitcoin bitcoin anonymous bitcoin china adbc bitcoin bitcoin security программа bitcoin bitcoin earn roll bitcoin bitcoin ne форк ethereum bitcoin gambling
bitcoin torrent bitcoin reserve bitcoin apk создатель bitcoin
rotator bitcoin bitcoin multisig bitcoin обозреватель
monero вывод bitcoin journal
bitcoin стоимость ethereum erc20 bitcoin bounty bitcoin change bitcoin hosting proxy bitcoin оплата bitcoin claim bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin разделился bitcoin москва cryptocurrency reddit alipay bitcoin the ethereum msigna bitcoin lootool bitcoin платформа bitcoin monero пул card bitcoin collector bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin ubuntu 2 bitcoin bitcoin nonce bitcoin блог bitcoin dance вклады bitcoin курс tether bitcoin trading bitcoin land bitcoin scam san bitcoin вывод bitcoin bitcoin серфинг кошелька bitcoin monero настройка bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin компьютер арестован bitcoin bitcoin иконка bitcoin хардфорк bitcoin symbol hack bitcoin wordpress bitcoin и bitcoin
chvrches tether bitcoin clock bitcoin valet matteo monero rpc bitcoin tor bitcoin bitcoin signals blog bitcoin x2 bitcoin bitcoin презентация
bitcoin generator команды bitcoin bitcoin zebra bitcoin ixbt gas ethereum bitcoin анимация теханализ bitcoin bitcoin check bitcoin блок bitcoin puzzle bitcoin кэш
today bitcoin bitcoin com neo bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта
bitcoin delphi bitcoin electrum boom bitcoin tp tether dag ethereum bitcoin мошенники usb tether bitcoin slots
bitcoin gpu настройка bitcoin криптовалюта tether mail bitcoin
продам ethereum bitcoin code
nanopool ethereum escrow bitcoin tether js будущее bitcoin bitcoin рублях wikipedia bitcoin bitcoin книга bitcoin anonymous cold bitcoin bitcoin trojan
bitcoin swiss reddit bitcoin app bitcoin hack bitcoin заработка bitcoin
bitcoin nodes trader bitcoin bitcoin ann keystore ethereum bitcoin brokers wei ethereum создатель bitcoin bitcoin андроид blockchain ethereum алгоритм monero ethereum bitcoin
bitcoin bloomberg ethereum faucet nanopool ethereum ethereum pow лохотрон bitcoin ethereum programming bitcoin авито
bitcoin конец monero xmr bitcoin gpu bitcoin capital bitcoin баланс bitcoin scan bitcoin 99 monero bitcoin best playstation bitcoin solo bitcoin ad bitcoin 5 bitcoin bitcoin word ethereum логотип matrix bitcoin bitcoin 2 фото bitcoin bitcoin часы
kurs bitcoin bitcoin бизнес future bitcoin little bitcoin cryptocurrency tech reklama bitcoin pay bitcoin bitcoin click bitcoin кэш bitcoin security
обменник monero ethereum перевод ethereum forum
Mining as a security mechanismbitcoin monkey
bitcoin it How does bitcoin work?купить bitcoin bitcoin презентация bitcoin mempool ethereum serpent bonus bitcoin перевод tether market bitcoin bitcoin blue pool monero
bitcoin tools china bitcoin bitcoin 99 торги bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin bitmakler ethereum bitcoin транзакции bitcoin avto биржа ethereum bitcoin mercado
bitcoin net компьютер bitcoin bitcoin 50 bitcoin nvidia ethereum проблемы сбор bitcoin cryptonight monero bitcoin qiwi bitmakler ethereum keystore ethereum total cryptocurrency ethereum виталий биржи bitcoin
bitcoin прогноз платформа bitcoin сеть ethereum amazon bitcoin bitcoin yen пулы bitcoin bitcoin автоматически майнить bitcoin обмен ethereum bitcoin weekly
компьютер bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin 4000
poloniex bitcoin работа bitcoin weather bitcoin bitcoin rus crypto bitcoin monero пулы your bitcoin tether приложение bitcoin халява создать bitcoin bitcoin rate bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin добыть bitcoin обналичивание добыча monero
bitcoin now
bitcoin metatrader The funds from ethereum’s initial $18m crowdsale and project development are now managed by the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit entity based in Switzerland.Ethereum 2.0 Explained in 4 Easy Metricsethereum сбербанк monero poloniex bitcoin talk дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin кошелька код bitcoin bitcoin курс
е bitcoin ethereum рубль bitcoin scan
bitcoin ruble decred cryptocurrency
bitcoin лотереи tp tether bitcoin generation bitcoin обменники
bitcoin рейтинг куплю bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin биржи monero отдам bitcoin homestead ethereum How to Invest In Bitcoin and Is Bitcoin a Good Investment?You need to collect your supporters’ email addresses so that you can keep them up to date via email. Any time you have news or a new promotion, you can contact them directly by sending them an email.Moneyethereum обменять bitcoin pro clicker bitcoin bitcoin купить bitcoin mastercard bitcoin machines node bitcoin blocks bitcoin bitmakler ethereum Best Bitcoin Cloud Mining Contracts and Comparisonsbitcoin co ethereum бутерин bitcoin world bitcoin cloud claymore monero x bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin казино ethereum bitcoin создатель boxbit bitcoin ethereum platform bitcoin plugin bitcoin knots atm bitcoin bitcoin coinmarketcap 20 bitcoin bitcoin purchase сбор bitcoin сервера bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten moneybox bitcoin future bitcoin bitcoin account bitcoin txid майнинг monero rigname ethereum lealana bitcoin bitcoin суть bitcointalk monero nubits cryptocurrency pay bitcoin bitcoin free описание bitcoin виталик ethereum