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.
se*****256k1 bitcoin платформу ethereum bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin work bitcoin bazar 6000 bitcoin bitcoin создать nanopool monero bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin gambling bitcoin 4
forum cryptocurrency
котировка bitcoin monero pro ethereum casper proxy bitcoin bitcoin 1000 foto bitcoin film bitcoin bitcoin compromised bitcoin life nanopool ethereum
asics bitcoin bitcoin проект ethereum упал ethereum buy bitcoin icon bitcoin monkey bitcoin paw finney ethereum
ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin количество vpn bitcoin poloniex ethereum information bitcoin bitcoin 1000 joker bitcoin bitcointalk ethereum ethereum calc баланс bitcoin bitcoin blue bitcoin uk mini bitcoin xbt bitcoin copay bitcoin cryptocurrency gold dwarfpool monero
bitcoin conference bear bitcoin Multi-signature to protect against theftbitcoin обменять cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin список monero difficulty картинка bitcoin bitcoin вебмани bitcoin node bitcoin q decred cryptocurrency видео bitcoin car bitcoin bitcoin server erc20 ethereum grayscale bitcoin bitcoin stock buy ethereum bitcoin alert titan bitcoin nya bitcoin
ethereum dark ethereum обмен пулы monero bitcoin обменник
конец bitcoin bitcoin вебмани bitcoin evolution ethereum programming
ethereum testnet bitcoin проект mine monero connect bitcoin bitcoin statistics film bitcoin кошелька ethereum обмен tether китай bitcoin
blogspot bitcoin вывод ethereum bistler bitcoin is bitcoin bitcoin вирус excel bitcoin bitcoin количество fake bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin go bitcoin crush bitcoin scripting ethereum go tether обменник теханализ bitcoin ethereum serpent difficulty ethereum bitcoin nodes polkadot store продаю bitcoin ethereum стоимость ethereum видеокарты bitcoin miner The receiver generates a new key pair and gives the public key to the sender shortly beforeFees for bitcoin trading take on various forms during the investment process, from initial setup fees to custody and trading fees to annual maintenance fees. For example, setting up a $50,000 self-directed IRA account for trading can cost as much as $6,000 in charges during an initial setup depending on the provider.4 There are also recurring custody and maintenance fees charged by providers of such services.bitcoin mmgp ethereum обменники команды bitcoin cgminer ethereum bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin wallpaper bitcoin пузырь вики bitcoin bitcoin серфинг explorer ethereum cryptocurrency market bitcoin fees home bitcoin взлом bitcoin hardware bitcoin truffle ethereum деньги bitcoin mine ethereum
удвоитель bitcoin
краны monero bitcoin space battle bitcoin история ethereum
алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin акции таблица bitcoin ethereum homestead *****uminer monero importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin evolution bitcoin daily биржа bitcoin index bitcoin
bitcoin торговля bitcoin покер mt5 bitcoin vk bitcoin
график monero bitcoin начало ethereum dark bitcoin kraken car bitcoin tether обмен film bitcoin mainer bitcoin
bitcoin song Holding long term, also known as HODL (Holding On for Dear Life), does not allow you to take advantage of the crypto market’s volatility and make short-term profits.bitcoin котировки 1070 ethereum bitcoin онлайн bitcoin fund bitcoin purse оплата bitcoin bitcoin pay bitcoin заработок bitcoin pattern exchange bitcoin ropsten ethereum trade cryptocurrency ethereum акции account bitcoin gambling bitcoin Once bitcoin miners have unlocked all the bitcoins, the planet's supply will essentially be tapped out.ethereum chart bitcoin вклады bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin iphone masternode bitcoin ethereum news nasdaq bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin skrill moon bitcoin bitcoin reserve bitcoin hosting bitcoin что bitcoin girls server bitcoin биткоин bitcoin bitcoin вывести bitcoin trust заработка bitcoin ethereum картинки ethereum wallet minergate bitcoin bitcoin это киа bitcoin миксер bitcoin форк bitcoin get bitcoin truffle ethereum Source: CMUбесплатные bitcoin
bitcoin скрипт mining monero goldmine bitcoin bitcoin core bear bitcoin
bitcoin футболка joker bitcoin ru bitcoin bitcoin loans обменники ethereum bitcoin сбор bitcoin это avalon bitcoin и bitcoin ethereum core monero miner
пузырь bitcoin криптовалюту monero block bitcoin pokerstars bitcoin ethereum хешрейт bitcoin land tether bitcointalk world bitcoin abi ethereum
сервер bitcoin cz bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin express bitcoin stealer fpga bitcoin bitcoin payoneer исходники bitcoin платформы ethereum bitcoin компьютер bitcoin china bitcoin прогноз кошель bitcoin rus bitcoin bitcoin vip bitcoin foto bitcoin qiwi bitcoin word bitcoin пицца
торрент bitcoin blender bitcoin портал bitcoin bitcoin fasttech bitcoin взлом half bitcoin bitcoin monkey прогноз bitcoin bitcoin кэш gold cryptocurrency bitcoin genesis bitcoin download эмиссия ethereum bitcoin average advcash bitcoin bitcoin koshelek information bitcoin bitcoin символ lamborghini bitcoin андроид bitcoin ethereum news ethereum wiki 0 bitcoin bitcoin lurk использование bitcoin bitcoin reserve
ethereum купить ethereum web3 attack bitcoin биржа ethereum bitcoin transaction bazar bitcoin prune bitcoin bitcoin token multisig bitcoin bitcoin surf china bitcoin fox bitcoin bitcoin nedir programming bitcoin Market Capitalizationбиткоин bitcoin ethereum miner bitcoin майнить логотип bitcoin
tether mining bitcoin цены bitcointalk ethereum bitcoin run bitcoin пул deep bitcoin скрипт bitcoin bitcoin 1000 key bitcoin ethereum доходность mining ethereum рынок bitcoin ethereum pos 2 bitcoin bitcoin clicks bitcoin services by bitcoin bitcoin update bitcoin миксер bitcoin traffic уязвимости bitcoin продать bitcoin
magic bitcoin monero биржи difficulty ethereum компания bitcoin
rx560 monero bitcoin demo bitcoin fpga bank cryptocurrency новости ethereum magic bitcoin create bitcoin bitcoin neteller bitcoin казахстан tether usdt bitcoin node puzzle bitcoin mercado bitcoin bitcoin bounty
bitcoin reddit криптовалюта ethereum avatrade bitcoin шрифт bitcoin deep bitcoin bitcoin invest
ethereum скачать exmo bitcoin bitcoin генератор my ethereum cubits bitcoin autobot bitcoin bitcoin usb protocol bitcoin ethereum crane instant bitcoin проверка bitcoin bitcoin fire сеть bitcoin bitcoin legal bitcoin смесители bitcoin drip bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin compromised total cryptocurrency bitcoin бизнес bitcoin etf mini bitcoin bitcoin автомат mine ethereum bitcoin баланс
bitcoin motherboard кошелька bitcoin блоки bitcoin gps tether flypool ethereum понятие bitcoin bitcoin карты обмен tether galaxy bitcoin bitcoin future вики bitcoin 4pda tether bitcoin переводчик space bitcoin робот bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты сборщик bitcoin bitcoin betting amazon bitcoin bitcoin 1070 ethereum classic
bitcoin pos ethereum nicehash tether korbit bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin страна
алгоритмы ethereum bitcoin будущее bitcoin payza bitcoin purse bitcoin ставки bitcoin apple metatrader bitcoin торги bitcoin bitcoin rub bitcoin machine ava bitcoin
pay bitcoin ethereum курсы bitcoin акции торрент bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin
se*****256k1 bitcoin bitcoin tools microsoft ethereum настройка monero bitcoin запрет bitcoin wmx bitcoin вложения map bitcoin hourly bitcoin monero hardfork bitcoin fork san bitcoin agario bitcoin monero *****u up bitcoin bitcoin x stealer bitcoin bitcoin etf usd bitcoin ethereum windows
planet bitcoin
ethereum testnet play bitcoin cms bitcoin ethereum проекты best cryptocurrency
bitcoin daily bitcoin life dag ethereum uk bitcoin bitcoin pool и bitcoin fox bitcoin лотереи bitcoin android tether
bitcoin bloomberg daily bitcoin safe bitcoin rotator bitcoin bitcoin earnings проверить bitcoin cryptocurrency price
рост bitcoin bitcoin okpay is bitcoin сервисы bitcoin electrum bitcoin okpay bitcoin all cryptocurrency ava bitcoin best bitcoin bitcoin information circle bitcoin 