Traditional Currencies vs. Cryptocurrencies

Welcome to “crypto” world!

– A domain of Blockchain technology

– A market of cryptocurrency

– A closet of Bitcoin payment system.

So, here is the trend or you can term as a “digital currency world” with a great move to go up in the game.

If you are avoiding Bitcoin and cryptocurrency today, then, you will be going to fall in a bad ditch tomorrow. It is actually the present and future of currency that doesn’t know how to cease steps. Since its inception to till date, it is growing and helping many individuals all over the world.

Whether it is Blockchain to record transactions or Bitcoin system for handling entire payment structure or Erc20 token wallet to define rules as well as policies for Ethereum token- everything is going hand-in-hand and towards the new ray of currency in the world.

Sounds great, isn’t it?

Moreover, with the advent of such successful currency mode, many of the firms love to be part of this game. In fact, it’s all about assisting businesses or organizations to get Blockchain technology or cryptocurrency without any hassle through a reliable Blockchain development company. With loads of knowledge and potential, these companies develop this currency and play a vital role in the digital economy.

Just for a nano-second, let if we assume that cryptocurrency won’t exist anymore, then what will happen?

Might be, time will counter-attack on your thought!

Very first launched by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin was the colonizer and from that initiation, an innovative digital currency evolved with spectrum of good things.

So, the question arises- does cryptocurrency development or its originator cryptocurrency development company will vanish or stay till the end?

Actually, it’s not possible to predict future, but we can say that cryptocurrency or Erc20 or Blockchain or Bitcoin wallet Development Company will be there with same flair of enthusiasm and passion to lend a hand to business verticals and organizations.

John Donahoe, the former CEO of eBay has said- “Digital Currency is going to be a very powerful thing.”

And, it is proving very accurate, as the time crawls.

Actually, it has some valid grounds behind the success of this concept.

Fraud-Proof:

With cryptocurrency, blockchain is associated. So, each transaction is recorded in this public ledger, avoiding any hoax. And, all the identities are encrypted to overcome the identity theft.

Erc20 takes care of all rules and protocols, so no infringement of rules and orders. If you are in, then don’t forget to contact Erc20 development company and get it developed to be within rules.

You are the sole owner:

No third party or no other assistant or no electronic system to evaluate what you are doing. Just you and your client maintaining end-to-end experience. Isn’t it a great concept?

Withal, the settlement is instant and it’s all between you and your vendor without any other disruption. At the end of the day, it’s your call.

Easily Approachable:

Internet has made everything within reach and at fingertips. It plays an indispensable role in digital currency market or exchange market. You will have a better option for currency exchange instead of using traditional and time-consuming ways. And, a wonderful way to be clued-in as an enthusiastic for cryptocurrency sphere.

If you are a business owner and anticipating to welcome cryptocurrency in your zone, always move ahead with a determination shot. Approach a trustworthy vendor or cryptocurrency exchange development discuss everything with all cards opened and then hit the ball in court.

In the times that we’re living in, technology has made unbelievable advancement as compared to any time in the past. This evolution has redefined the life of man on almost every aspect. In fact, this evolution is an ongoing process and thus, human life on earth is improving constantly day in and day out. One of the latest inclusions in this aspect is cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency is nothing but digital currency, which has been designed to impose security and anonymity in online monetary transactions. It uses cryptographic encryption to both generate currency and verify transactions. The new coins are created by a process called mining, whereas the transactions are recorded in a public ledger, which is called the Transaction Block Chain.

Little backtrack

Evolution of cryptocurrency is mainly attributed to the virtual world of the web and involves the procedure of transforming legible information into a code, which is almost uncrackable. Thus, it becomes easier to track purchases and transfers involving the currency. Cryptography, since its introduction in the WWII to secure communication, has evolved in this digital age, blending with mathematical theories and computer science. Thus, it is now used to secure not only communication and information but also money transfers across the virtual web.

How to use cryptocurrency

It is very easy for the ordinary people to make use of this digital currency. Just follow the steps given below:

• You need a digital wallet (obviously, to store the currency)
• Make use of the wallet to create unique public addresses (this enables you to receive the currency)
• Use the public addresses to transfer funds in or out of the wallet

Cryptocurrency wallets

A cryptocurrency wallet is nothing else than a software program, which is capable to store both private and public keys. In addition to that, it can also interact with different blockchains, so that the users can send and receive digital currency and also keep a track on their balance.

The way the digital wallets work

In contrast to the conventional wallets that we carry in our pockets, digital wallets do not store currency. In fact, the concept of blockchain has been so smartly blended with cryptocurrency that the currencies never get stored at a particular location. Nor do they exist anywhere in hard cash or physical form. Only the records of your transactions are stored in the blockchain and nothing else.

A real-life example

Suppose, a friend sends you some digital currency, say in form of bitcoin. What this friend does is he transfers the ownership of the coins to the address of your wallet. Now, when you want to use that money, you’ve unlock the fund.

In order to unlock the fund, you need to match the private key in your wallet with the public address that the coins are assigned to. Only when both these private and public addresses match, your account will be credited and the balance in your wallet will swell. Simultaneously, the balance of the sender of the digital currency will decrease. In transactions related to digital currency, the actual exchange of physical coins never take place at any instance.

Understanding the cryptocurrency address

By nature, it is a public address with a unique string of characters. This enables a user or owner of a digital wallet to receive cryptocurrency from others. Each public address, that is generated, has a matching private address. This automatic match proves or establishes the ownership of a public address. As a more practical analogy, you may consider a public cryptocurrency address as your eMail address to which others can send emails. The emails are the currency that people send you.

Understanding the latest version of technology, in form of cryptocurrency is not tough. One needs a little interest and spend time on the net to get the basics clear.

Over the past year, the cryptocurrency market took a series of heavy punches from the Chinese government. The market took the hits like a warrior, but the combos have taken its toll in many cryptocurrency investors. The market lackluster performance in 2018 pales in comparison to its stellar thousand-percent gains in 2017.

What has happened?

Since 2013, the Chinese government have taken measures to regulate cryptocurrency, but nothing compared to what was enforced in 2017. (Check out this article for a detailed analysis of the official notice issued by the Chinese government)

2017 was a banner year for the cryptocurrency market with all the attention and growth it has achieved. The extreme price volatility forced the Central bank to adopt more extreme measures, including the ban of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and clampdowns on domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Soon after, mining factories in China were forced to close down, citing excessive electricity consumption. Many exchanges and factories have relocated overseas to avoid regulations but remained accessible to Chinese investors. Nonetheless, they still fail to escape the claws of the Chinese Dragon.

In the latest series of government-led efforts to monitor and ban cryptocurrency trading among Chinese investors, China extended its “Eagle Eye” to monitor foreign cryptocurrency exchanges. Companies and bank accounts suspected of carrying out transactions with foreign crypto-exchanges and related activities are subjected to measures from limiting withdrawal limits to freezing of accounts. There have even been ongoing rumors among the Chinese community of more extreme measures to be enforced on foreign platforms that allow trading among Chinese investors.

“As for whether there will be further regulatory measures, we will have to wait for orders from the higher authorities.” Excerpts from an interview with team leader of the China’s Public Information Network Security Supervision agency under the Ministry of Public Security, 28th February

WHY WHY WHY!?

Imagine your child investing his or her savings to invest in a digital product (in this case, cryptocurrency) that he or she has no way of verifying its authenticity and value. He or she could get lucky and strike it rich, or lose it all when the crypto-bubble burst. Now scale that to millions of Chinese citizens and we are talking about billions of Chinese Yuan.

The market is full of scams and pointless ICOs. (I’m sure you have heard news of people sending coins to random addresses with the promise of doubling their investments and ICOs that simply don’t make sense). Many unsavvy investors are in it for the money and would care less about the technology and innovation behind it. The value of many cryptocurrencies is derived from market speculation. During the crypto-boom in 2017, participate in any ICO with either a famous advisor onboard, a promising team or a decent hype and you are guaranteed at least 3X your investments.

A lack of understanding of the firm and the technology behind it, combined with the proliferation of ICOs, is a recipe for disaster. Members of the Central bank reports that almost 90% of the ICOs are fraudulent or involves illegal fundraising. In my opinion, the Chinese government wants to ensure that cryptocurrency remains ‘controllable’ and not too big to fail within the Chinese community. China is taking the right steps towards a safer, more regulated cryptocurrency world, albeit aggressive and controversial. In fact, it might be the best move the country has taken in decades.

Will China issue an ultimatum and make cryptocurrency illegal? I highly doubt so since it is pretty pointless to do so. Currently, financial institutions are banned from holding any crypto assets while individuals are allowed to but are barred from carrying out any forms of trading.

A State-run Cryptocurrency Exchange?

At the annual “Two Sessions” (Named because two major parties- National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPCC) both take part in the forum）held on the first week of March, leaders congregate to discuss about the latest issues and make necessary law amendments.

Wang Pengjie, a member of the NPCC dabbled into the prospects of a state-run digital asset trading platform as well as initiate educational projects on blockchain and cryptocurrency in China. However, the proposed platform would require a authenticated account to allow trading.

“With the establishment of related regulations and the co-operation of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and China Securities Regulatory Commission(CSRC), a regulated and efficient cryptocurrency exchange platform would serve as a formal way for companies to raise funds (through ICOs) and investors to hold their digital assets and achieve capital appreciation” Excerpts of Wang Pengjie presentation at the Two Sessions.

The March towards a Blockchain Nation

Governments and central banks worldwide have struggled to grapple with the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies; but one thing is sure, all have embraced blockchain.

Despite the cryptocurrency crackdown, blockchain has been gaining popularity and adoption in various levels. The Chinese government have been supporting blockchain initiatives and embracing the technology. In fact, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) have been working on a digital currency and have conducted mock transactions with some of the country’s commercial banks. It is still unconfirmed if the digital currency will be decentralized and offer features of cryptocurrency like anonymity and immutability. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if it turns out to be just a digital Chinese Yuan given that anonymity is the last thing that China wants in their country. However, created as a close substitute of the Chinese Yuan, the digital currency will be subjected to existing monetary policies and laws.

People’s Bank of China Governor, Zhou Xiaochuan. Source: CNBC

“Lots of cryptocurrencies have seen explosive growth which can bring significant negative impact on consumers and retail investors. We don’t like (cryptocurrency) products that make use of the huge opportunity for speculation that gives people the illusion of getting rich overnight” Excerpts from Zhou Xiaochuan interview on Friday, 9th March.

On a media appearance on Friday, 9th March, Governor of People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan criticized cryptocurrency projects that leveraged on the crypto-boom to cash in and fuel market speculation. He also noted that development of the digital currency is ‘technologically inevitable’

On a regional level, many Chinese cities have are driving blockchain initiatives to promote growth in their region. Hangzhou, renown for being the headquarters of Alibaba, have stated blockchain technology to be one of the city’s top priorities in 2018. The local government in Chengdu city have also been proposed the building of an incubation center to foster the adoption of blockchain technology in the city’s financial services.

Local conglomerates such Tencent and Alibaba have also formed partnership with blockchain firms or initiated projects on their own. Blockchain firms such as VeChain have also secured multiple partnerships with Chinese firms to improve supply chain transparency in China.

All clues point to the fact that China is working towards a blockchain nation. China has always had a open mentality to emergent technologies such as mobile payment and Artificial Intelligence. Henceforth, it is without a doubt that China will be the first blockchain-enabled country. Will we see the Chinese government backing down and let its citizens trade again? Probably, when the market has matured and is less volatile but definitely not in 2018.

Cryptocurrency is a digital alternative to using credit cards or cash to make everyday payments in a variety of situations. It continues to grow as a workable alternative to traditional payment methods, but still needs to become more stable before it is fully welcomed by ordinary people. Let’s take a look at a few of the many advantages of using cryptocurrency:

Fraud – any issue with fraud is kept to a minimum because cryptocurrency is digital which can prevent a reversed or counterfeited payment. This type of action can be a problem with other traditional payment options, such as credit card, because of charge-backs.

Identity theft – there is no need to give personal information that can lead to identity theft when using cryptocurrency. If you use a credit card, the store is given a lot of information related to your credit line, even for a very small transaction. Also, the credit card payment relies on a pull transaction where a specific amount is requested from an account. With a cryptocurrency payment, the transaction is based on a push basis, which gives the account holder the option to only send the exact amount due with no extra information.

Versatile use – a payment by cryptocurrency can easily be made to comply with certain terms. A digital contract can be created to make a payment subject to completing on a future date, reference external facts, or get third-party approval. Even with a special contract in place, this type of payment is still very fast and efficient.

Easy access – the use of cryptocurrency is widely available to anyone that has access to the internet. It is growing very popular in certain parts of the world, such as Kenya, which has nearly 1/3 of the population using a digital wallet via the local microfinance service.

Low fees – it is possible to complete a cryptocurrency transaction without having to pay extra fees or charges. However, if a digital wallet or third-party service is used to hold the cryptocurrency there is likely to be a small charge.

International trade – this type of payment is not subject to country specific levies, transaction charges, interest rates, or exchange rates, which makes it possible to complete cross-border transfers with relative ease.

Adaptability – with nearly 1200 unique cryptocurrency types in the global market, there are plenty of opportunities to use a payment method that matches the specific needs. Even though there are plenty of options to use the coins for everyday use, there are also those intended for a specific use or in a particular industry.

ICO has proven to be a revolutionised way for many companies and projects to raise money. ICO can be said as the blend of conventional methods and advanced techniques. The primary thing to consider here is that investors investing in the ICO will be 100% free of risk due to the technology used.

Till now, most of the ICO funds have been collected via Bitcoins (BTC) or Ether (ETH). While performing the ICO, the project produces a Bitcoin or Ethereum address to receive funds and then, shows it on the respective web page. The procedure is same as opening a bank account, and then showcasing it on a particular web page to people so that they may send money.

Initial coin offering (ICO) is basically an illegal way to collect crowdfunding via various cryptocurrencies (fiat currencies in a few cases) and is functioned by cryptocurrency organisations to obtain the capital funds required to execute the project. In an ICO, a particular part of the recently issued cryptocurrency is being sold to investors in exchange for any legalised tender or any other cryptocurrency. It can be said as token sale or crowd sale that involves taking investment amount from investors and providing them with some features associated with the project to be launched.

IPO, i.e. Initial Public offering is a process somehow relatable to ICO in which investors receive shares in the ownership of the company. While in ICO, the investors purchase coins of the company that can increase in value if the business gets amplified.

The first token sale, i.e. an ICO was conducted by Mastercoin in July 2013. Ethereum collected money through an ICO in 2014. ICO has taken an entirely new definition in past years. In May 2017, there were approx. 20 offerings, and also a recent web browser Brave’s ICO generated about $35 million in just 30 seconds. Till the end of August 2017, a total of 89 ICO coin sales worth $1.1 billion had been conducted starting from January 2017.

Investors send Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other cryptocurrency to the given address and then in exchange, they get new tokens that can benefit them greatly if the project gets hit.

• ICO is basically conducted for cryptocurrency based projects which rely on decentralised technique. So naturally such projects would compel only those investors who have a keen interest in the concept of cryptocurrency and are friendly with the technology used.
• The document that belongs to an investor indeed remains in the form of a webpage, whitepaper or web post. Some of these documents show exact details about the project, whether some other literally fake its features to mislead the interested ones. So before relying on any white paper or e-document, better go through a quality check.

The cryptocurrency trading software package is an integrated system to manage all aspects of cryptocurrency trading platform like all kinds of crypto buy, sell, exchange, lending, MLM & affiliate management, converting, live market comparison & analyzing etc.

Important features you should consider:

Buy, Sell And Exchange: Nishue is the impressive trading management system offers a smooth and secure methodology for your users to effortlessly Buy, Sell and exchange cryptocurrencies.

Lending system management: This system is completely brokering friendly has a system to manage Crypto lending service, like create manage offers, maintain and moderation etc

Unique Admin Module: Nishue contains a secure and advanced Admin Module for you to control your Cryptocurrency exchange end-to-end.

Separate customer profile: Separate customer profile module that helps your users to easily track and check all Open deposit or withdraw orders, Records, Transactions etc. on just a click.

MLM & affiliate management: This marketing ready automation tools facilitate to manage your level wise affiliate commission, contribution history, and documents.

Market comparison & Converter: Two additional system has been integrated for live Crypto Comparison, Conversion & Depth analysis.

How Cryptocurrency Trading Software Is Helping To Grow Your Crypto Platform:

Coin Deposit & Withdraw: Crypto trader need to maintain enormous Deposit and Withdraw request daily. Trading software aid to manage your activity with its auto set algorithm.

Coin Package & Lending offer: Keep your various coin package and lending offer at the fingers end of your customer. You can create, manage and advertise your offer using a well-designed package.

Level wise commission: If you follow the MLM strategy to reward your respective participants, and worried about set their commission? OK, It is ready to auto calculate their level wise commission.

Notification & Risk management: Every crypto trading platform must arrange push notification system to keep itself and its client up to date about many alarming issues thus help eliminate risk. In this case, a system project is totally perfect.

Multiple Payment Gateway: You can Integrate your cryptocurrency wallet, Local currency, Payeer Even Mobile Banking system as a Payment method within this software to make your transaction hassle free.

Daily, Weekly & Monthly ROI: Are you worried about maintaining ROI as per you said. This cryptocurrency trading management software can auto calculate ROI, commission, and others as per your given instruction.

Free Responsive Website: It must have integrated a fully responsive, SEO optimized dynamic website with our system and it is totally free. It will help you to manage your enterprise smoothly.

Crypto Comparison, Conversion & Depth analysis: Crypto live market cap & coin convertor two addition system has been integrated for live Crypto Comparison, Conversion & Depth analysis

100% secured System: A trading software is designed after having highly security issue in mind. Secured Integer framework, two-factor authentication, and much other security systems have been applied in this cryptocurrency trading software.

The absolute package exclusively for spot cryptocurrency trading that allows users to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin through Coinbase. Built upon the same technology that powers the Nishue software, It incorporates proven market-leading tools developed over 25 years to provide both professional and active cryptocurrency traders with a better experience than what’s currently offered by other crypto-only trading solutions.

These days, the global economy is just moving towards a complete digital eco-system and therefore everything starting from money transfer to investment are going paperless. And the cryptocurrency is the latest as well as the most capable addition to the field of digital payment. The cryptocurrency is basically an exchange medium like the normal currencies like USD, but it is mainly designed for exchanging digital information. And here are some of the reasons why cryptocurrency has become so popular in the recent past.

1. Asset transfers: The financial analysts often define cryptocurrency as the method that on a certain level can be used to enforce and execute two-party contracts on the commodities like real estate and automobiles. Besides, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is also used to ease some specialist transfer methods.
2. Transactions: In the conventional methods of business dealings, legal representatives, agents, and brokers can add some great cost and enough complication to even the straightforward transaction. Besides, there are brokerage fees, commissions, paperwork and some other special conditions that may apply as well. On the other hand, the cryptocurrency transactions are one-to-one affairs that mainly take place on some peer-to-peer structure of networking. This thing results in better clarity in setting up audit trails, greater accountability and less confusion over making payments.
3. Transaction fees: Transaction fees often take enough bite out of the assets of a person, mainly if the person performs loads of financial transactions every month. But as the data miners do number crunching that mainly generates different types of cryptocurrencies get the compensation from the network involved and therefore here the transaction fees never apply. However, one may have to pay a certain amount of external fees for engaging the services of any third-party management services to keep up the cryptocurrency wallet.
4. More confidential method of transaction: Under the credit/cash systems, the complete transaction history can become a reference document for the credit agency or bank involved, every time while making transaction. At the simplest level, this might include a check on the account balances to make sure the availability of adequate funds. But in the case of cryptocurrency, every transaction made between two parties is considered as a unique exchange where the terms can be agreed and negotiated. Besides, here the information exchange is performed on a “push” basis where one can exactly send what he/she likes to send to the recipient. This thing completely protects the privacy of the financial history as well as the threat of identity or account theft.
5. Easier trading system globally: Although cryptocurrencies are mostly recognized as the legal tenders on the national levels, these are not dependent on the interest rates, exchange rates, transaction charges or any other levies that are imposed by any particular country. And by using the peer-to-peer method of the blockchain technology, transactions, and cross-border transactions can be performed without any complications.
6. Greater access to the credits: The Internet and the digital data transfer are the media that ease cryptocurrency exchanges. Therefore, these services are available to people with knowledge of the cryptocurrency networks, a workable data connection and immediate action to the relevant portals and websites. The cryptocurrency ecosystem is capable of making transaction processing and asset transfer available to all the wiling people after the necessary infrastructure is present in place.
7. Strong security: After authorizing the cryptocurrency transfer, this can’t be reversed like the “charge-back” transactions of different credit card companies. This can be a hedge against the fraud that needs to make particular agreements between sellers and buyers about refunds of the return policy or a mistake in the transaction.
8. Adaptability: There are around 1200 types of altcoins or cryptocurrencies present in the present world. Some of these are a bit of ephemeral, but an adequate proportion is used for specific cases, which depict the flexibility of this phenomenon.

The concept of cryptocurrency was coined in 1991. However, the first real implementation was done in 2008 by Nakamoto. The first question arises, what is cryptocurrency. It’s a financial setup in which the currency is being transferred between the two parties. In the beginning, problems like double error method arose, though the problem was solved afterward through concepts such as block chain technology. The whole process is governed through the cryptographic algorithms. A set of public and private key is being transferred between the two parties. The detail of each transaction is stored in each block and for each client;a chain of blocks forms the complete list of transaction. All the blocks together form the block chain. These block chains are nothing else but the financial ledger. The power of this new currency transaction system depends upon the power of cryptographic algorithm. With implementation of algorithms like DES, the secrecy of each financial transaction (block chain) has been strengthened. However, still the concept has not been approved by many countries. The data of each block cannot be altered retroactively or without network consensus. The share of cryptocurrency is not that much currently though with time, it is expected to rise.

Some of the features of cryptocurrency are:

• Decentralized

• Distributed

• Public ledger

The most important aspect of cryptocurrencyis the above but technology requires security for effective usage. Problems like double error have occurred in the past though that problem is solved now. The biggest advantage of cryptocurrency is its update feature without touching the central server. Thus, we need to make no changes to the server. Also, the transaction can be done between any two members of the network or three or more.

Thus various advantages that you attain through the cryptocurrency are as below:

• Safe

• Fast

• Reliable

• Accurate

However, the technology has developed though it is not being accepted by all the countries. The biggest sensation in cryptocurrency is the bitcoin. It’s being accepted by many countries. Similarly, you can find many more type of cryptocurrency. Each of them uses a unique type of algorithms. All of them, you can learn through the cryptography. It’s a vast subject and the application in the form of crypto currency is one of the major breakthroughs of past decade. The use might increase four fold in coming years definitely.

Digital currency is additionally utilized as a part of questionable settings as online illicit businesses, for example, Silk Street. The first Silk Street was closed down in October 2013 and there have been two more forms being used from that point forward. In the year following the underlying shutdown of Silk Street, the quantity of unmistakable dim markets expanded from four to twelve, while the measure of medication postings expanded from 18,000 to 32,000.

Darknet markets exhibit challenges concerning lawfulness. Bitcoins and different types of digital money utilized as a part of dim markets are not obviously or lawfully ordered in all parts of the world. In the U.S., bitcoins are named as “virtual resources”. This sort of questionable arrangement puts weight on law authorization offices around the globe to adjust to the moving medication exchange of dim markets

The emergence of cryptocurrency is already taking over in our daily transactions. Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that exists in the crypto world with many referring to it as ”digital gold”. But what really is cryptocurrency? You must be wondering.

This is a digital asset intended to be used as a medium of exchange. Clearly, this is a close substitute for money. However, it uses a strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, to verify the transfer of assets and control the creation of additional units. All cryptocurrency is either virtual currency, digital currency or alternative currency. It is imperative to note that all cryptocurrencies use a decentralized system of control as opposed to the centralized systems of banks and other financial institutions. These decentralized systems work through a distributed ledger technology that serves a public financial database. Normally, a blockchain is used.

What is a blockchain?

This a continuously growing list of records which are linked and secured using cryptography. This list is called blocks. A block chain is an open, distributed ledger which can be used to record transactions between two parties in a manner that is verifiable and permanent. To enable a block to get used as a distributed ledger, it is managed by a peer-to-peer network which collectively adheres to a protocol for validation of new blocks. Once the data is recorded in any book, it cannot be altered without the alteration of all other blocks. Therefore, blockchains are secure by design and also act as an example of distributed computing system.

The History of cryptography

David Chaum, an American cryptographer discovered an anonymous cryptographic electronic money that was called ecash. This happened in the year 1983. In the year 1995, David implemented it through Digicash. Digicash was an early form of cryptographic electronic payments that required user software in order to withdraw notes from a bank. It also allowed the designation of specific encrypted keys before being sent to a recipient. This property allowed the digital currency to be untraceable by the government, the issuing bank or any third party.

Following increased efforts in the following years, Bitcoin was created in the year 2009. This was the first decentralized cryptocurrency and was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous developer. Bitcoin used SHA-256 as its cryptographic hash function (proof-of-work scheme). From the release of bitcoin, the following cryptocurrencies were also released.

1. Namecoin (April 2011)

2. Litecoin (October 2011)

3. Peercoin

These three coins and many others are referred to as altcoins. The term is used to refer to the alternative variants of bitcoin or simply other cryptocurrencies.

It is also imperative to note that cryptocurrencies are exchanged over the internet. This means that their use is primarily outside the banking systems and other governmental institutions. The cryptocurrency exchanges include exchange of cryptocurrency with other assets or with other digital currencies. Conventional fiat money is an example of an asset that can be traded with cryptocurrency.

Atomic Swaps

These refer to a proposed mechanism whereby one cryptocurrency will be able to get exchanged directly from another cryptocurrency. This means that with atomic swaps, there wouldn’t be a need for participation third party in the exchange.