Cryptocurrencies as they work

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Being completely virtual, these coins base their life on computer systems that, although varying, still have different aspects in common. The Bitcoin example is perfect and is useful for understanding the operation of others. For a start we are facing an Open Source code, therefore freely accessible and modifiable. This aspect takes control of management from traditional financial powers, which can not in any way exercise a coercive function. In practice, maximum freedom is granted to those who work in this sector. The only constraint is the competitiveness between the various software that derive from the main one. However for the end user, and that is us, Bitcoin is not an application that allows us to use a virtual wallet to cash in and spend money. So in fact nothing different than what we do with home banking or using an online credit card. Instead, what is behind the scenes changes substantially.

The wallet

To be able to use a cryptocurrency we need a program able to manage it, generically called wallet, ie a wallet. Its fundamental functions are to take into account the amount of virtual money we have available and to obtain a web address through which all incoming and outgoing transactions will be performed. On the net we can find various types of wallets for mobile devices, however the former are considered safer because, in addition to ensuring more effective control over operations, they allow archiving of the primary key for encryption. Wallet programs are available for all operating systems, so obviously for Linux-based ones. Here are some examples:

Bitcoin Core Armory ArcBit

Keep in mind that, with certain wallets, when we do the first start we will have to wait a long time for the Blockchain to be downloaded, which is well over 60 GB in size. So we will have to have enough space to do it and a proper Internet connection, so as not to occupy the whole band.

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