10 Cryptocurrency vocabulary you should know

If you're in crypto world there are some words that you might not know what do they mine, even though you've seen or heard them. So here we go:

Altcoins
An altcoin is the community accepted name for any coin that isn’t Bitcoin. Altcoins are for example Dash, Doge, Monero.

Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a the most known cryptocurrency, based on the proof-of-work blockchain.

Blockchain
A blockchain is a data system that allows for the creation of a digital ledger of transactions on a non-centralized network. Cryptography is the main operator that allows for users to engage with the ledger without the need for any central figurehead. In layman’s terms, this means that people and computers all over work together to create a network instead of a network being made by one single person or company. This network is enabled and protected through cryptography! We have seen this used in currency, data transfer and on. The blockchain is comprised of “blocks” and is constantly growing as each new record, datum, or block is added onto the chain for everyone to see.

Blocks
Blocks are essentially pages in a ledger or record keeping book. Blocks are the files where unalterable data related to the network is permanently stored. Forever. Like eternity.

Ethereum
Ethereum is an open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables developers to write smart contracts and build and deploy decentralized applications.

Fork
A fork is the permanent divergence of an alternative operating version of the current blockchain. Forks come into existence when a 51% attack occurs, a bug in the program, or more commonly a new set of consensus rules come into existence. These happen when a development team creates and inserts notably substantial changes into the system. The successful fork is decided by the height of their blocks.

Mining
Mining is the term used for discovering and solving blocks along the blockchain. A reward is given for solving the algorithm and lengthening the chain, called a mining reward. The mining reward for the Bitcoin blockchain is Bitcoin.

PoW
Proof of work was a concept originally designed to sieve spam emails and prevent DDOS attacks. A Proof of Work is essentially a datum that is very costly to produce in terms of time and resources, but can be very simply verified by another party. The proof of work for Bitcoin is referred to as a “nonce,” or number used only once. This has been considered an energy intensive alternative to proof of stake as the computers unfortunately have to be on and running, which also drives the market towards centralization of hashing power… which is what the blockchain aims to defeat!

PoS
Proof of stake has been considered the greener alternative to PoW. Where PoW requires the prover to perform a certain amount of computational work, a proof of stake system requires the prover to show ownership of a certain amount of money, or stake.

Public/Private Key
In cryptography, a public key is a cryptographic key that can be utilized by any party to encrypt a message. Another party can then receive the message and using a key that is only known to that individual or group, decode the message.