Q1:-How many times has Bitcoin been "halved"? When is the next expected? What is the current amount that Bitcoin miners receive? Mention at least 2 cryptocurrencies that are or have halved.

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Bitcoin halving means halving of mining rewards on bitcoin network bitcoin. Bitcoin network is programmed to follow mining rewards after every four years or roughly after mining of 210000 blocks takes place. Bitcoin was launched by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 and since then halving has taken place thrice as tabulated below:-

Halving Date	From	To
28/11/2012	50	25
09/07/2016	25	12.5
11/05/2020	12.5	6.25

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So from the above table, we concluded that the current mining rewards that miners receive per block are 6.25 bitcoins, the next halving is scheduled in 2024.

Two other cryptocurrencies that have undergone halving are Litecoin and Dogecoin. Litecoin has undergone halving twice. During the first halving, mining rewards were reduced from 50 Litecoins to 25 Litecoins, and then to 12.5 Litecoins during the second halving. Dogecoin had undergone the first halving on 28 April 2014 from $500 Dogecoins to 250 Dogecoins per block and has stopped the halving process thereafter.

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What are consensus mechanisms? How do Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Staking differ?

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A consensus mechanism or algorithm is the framework of guidelines to be followed by a particular network to arrive at an agreement on certain parameters related to transactions like validation, verification, storage and rewarding of miners. Examples of different consensus mechanisms that are adopted by various Blockchains are proof of work, proof of stake, proof of capacity, delegated proof of stack etc. The above consensus mechanisms are a set of rules or guidelines that gauge the working of the network to establish the integrity of the network by arriving at an agreement to achieve the above-mentioned parameters. Further clarification of consensus mechanisms would be given by elaborating proof of work and proof of stake consensus in detail below.

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PROOF OF WORK

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Proof of work is a consensus mechanism followed by certain cryptocurrencies like bitcoin ethereum Monero litecoin etc. Proof of work consensus mechanism involves the use of computers with very high computational power to verify and validate the transactions. The crypto transactions following proof of work are not directly recorded on Blockchain instead they are added to an unverified pool of transactions. Each transaction has a unique alphanumeric combination known as transaction hash linked to it. Before recording the transaction on the Blockchain the miners need to find the transaction hash by solving the complex mathematical puzzles linked to each transaction. These puzzles are solved by nodes with the help of their high computational power. The node that finds is the correct hash first is rewarded for carrying out this complex task, the rewards are known as mining rewards and the mechanism is known as proof of work algorithm.

After validation of the transaction by the validator node, the transactions are distributed across the ledger to all the nodes involved in the mining process for independent verification. Once the majority of the nodes verify the transaction only then the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the information is stored in the form of blocks. Each block is linked to its previous block by transaction hash in this way a chain of blocks is formed that goes by the name of Blockchain.

The nodes involved in the mining process consume huge amounts of electricity as very powerful nodes are required to carry out this process. In addition to being energy inefficient mining rigs generate a lot of noise and heat, therefore, making proof of work mechanism as energy inefficient and environment eco-unfriendly, these shortcomings of proof of a mechanism has given rise to other consensus mechanisms.

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PROOF OF STAKE

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The proof of stake mechanism was first adopted by Peer coin later on other coins like Dash, Neo, Tezos etc also adopted it. As the name implies proof of stake mechanism allows only the stakes of a particular token of that network to involve in the mining process. The mining rights are proportionate to the percentage of coins staked. For example, a person who stakes 5% of the coins will be able to mine 5% of blocks, similarly, a person who takes 10% of coins will be able to mine 10% of blocks. We need to understand that in contrast to the proof of work mechanism proof of stake has a barrier to entry for mining which is determined by the staking of coins.

As mentioned above proof of stake is one of the alternatives that claim to be effective than proof of work in certain parameters like energy consumption scalability and environment eco-friendly. As proof of stake mechanism does not involve nodes with high computational power therefore there is no energy consumption issue similarly no heat or sound generation from the mining rigs and is, therefore, environment friendly in that context. Moreover, a proof of work mechanism is considered as a mechanism with poor scalability therefore many well-established cryptocurrencies like there is planning to shift their consensus mechanism from pOw to pOs in ethereum 2.0.

In addition, proof of stack mechanism is less susceptible to 51% attacks because the reward mechanism is dependent upon supply-demand dynamics, in contrast, proof of work mechanism is susceptible to 51% attacks because it is difficult but not impossible for malicious financial institutions to pool their computational power to launch the attack and disrupt the integrity of the network.

As for decentralisation of the network is concerned proof of work algorithm is much better than proof of stake because in proof of work anyone can enter into the mining process only thing required is mining rig whereas in the case of proof of stake mechanism mining rights conferred based on a percentage of token staked.

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Q3:-Enter the Bitcoin explorer and indicate the hash corresponding to the last transaction. Show Screenshot.

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• For this task, I'll be using Blockchair Bitcoin explorer.

• Scroll down until you find the latest blocks.

_{screenshot from Blockchair Bitcoin explorer.}

• Current Block No: 704089

Hash of current block is:-
0000000000000000000d79f763989256256743c7188d3ad63ecf4cd988aa5fc1

_{screenshot from Blockchair Bitcoin explorer.}

• General information.

_{screenshot from Blockchair Bitcoin explorer.}

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Q4:-What is meant by Altcoin Season? Are we currently in Altcoin Season? When was the last Altcoin Season? Mention and show 2 charts of Altcoins followed by their growth in the most recent Season. Give reasons for your answer.

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Altcoin season is defined as the period of 90 days where 75% of the top 50 Altcoins outperform Bitcoin. Generally, altcoins pump with the pumping of bitcoin. During the Altcoin season reverse of the above phenomenon occurs, altcoins are rising in price while bitcoin is decreasing. Probable reasons for such a phenomenon is booking of profit by bitcoin holders and investment into Altcoins, therefore there is an increase in the market capitalisation of altcoins while as Bitcoin MarketCap is decreasing although there is no major setback for the market because the market capitalisation of bitcoin is decreasing but that is not taken out of the exchange by the sellers but is used within the exchange for the purchase of Altcoins.

Another probable reason for the altcoin season is the launch of projects based on altcoins like NFT’s, ICOS, IDOS etc.

Visit to Block centre

Src

The current Altcoin season index is 51. We are not in the Altcoin season now. The last altcoin season was between March to June 2021.

Src

Currently, we are not in the Altcoin season.

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Top 50 performance over the last season.

As indicated in the chart of the altcoin season below, AXS, the top-performing coin which grown 815.8% during the altcoin season. AXS has shown instantaneous growth since its launch, from a price of $0.15(launch) to $124 which equals about 826% growth.

Tradingview

Tradingview

As indicated in the above chart, FTM was the reasonable altcoin of last season with a growth of 803.2%, with the current rank of 34 and price of $2.318 according to coin marketcap

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Q5:-Make a purchase on your verified account of the exchange of your choice of at least 15 USD in a currency that is not in the top 25 of Coinmarket (SBD, tron ​​or steem are not allowed). Why did you choose this coin? What is the goal or purpose behind this project? Who are its founders / developers? Indicate the currency's ATH and its current price. Reason for your answers. Show Screenshots.

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• Launch WazirX

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For this part of the task, I'll purchase wrX worth 15.19 USDT from the wazirX exchange. I am already having 18.29 wrx on the wazirX exchange. For 15.19 USDT I'll get 12.4 USDT so my combined USDT after completion of the transaction would be 30.77 USDT. The complete process is detailed below. I will start by sharing a screenshot of my verified wazirX account, followed by pre-trade balance then trading process and then post-trade balance.

_{Verified Account details}

• Pre-trade balance.

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• Post-trade balance.

Reasons for choosing WRX.

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• Wrx token is giving me a good profit just like other crypto coins. I have been trading this token for quite a long time now.

• In addition to trading that I took from Wrx trading, it is used for getting a discount on the trading fee. As of now, we get a 50% discount on Wazirx Exchange with Wrx token but this benefit is anticipated to halve each year.

• Wrx token is available for trading on some of the leading platforms of the crypto world like Binance, Huobi, Gate.io,Ftxand wazir etc.

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Founder.

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Nischal Shetty is the founder of this project.

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Goal of project.

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Wrx is the utility token of wazirX. This exchange was developed to provide a platform for peoples of the Indian subcontinent, that provides a hustle free exchange and smooth out the barrier of entry in crypto. Before the development of the project, crypto trading was very frustrating for Indian users because of multiple checks and balances, that users had to encounter while depositing or withdrawing funds. Users were subjected to heavy charges on foreign exchange, for the exchange of facts to tokens that we're available for trading in different trading pairs. So the overall profitability of trading was lower.

Currently Wrx rank in the coinmarketcap rank is 150 and price is $1.245.

Coin marketcap

WRX has made an all-time high of $5.939.

Coin marketcap

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Conclusion.

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Bitcoin is a digital currency that unleashed the magic currency to the world. Since the total supply of bitcoin caps to 21,000,000, there is an inherent inflation mechanism to keep a check on the price and supply of bitcoin that goes by the name of the halving of mining rewards. Bitcoin follows the proof of work algorithm to maintain the integrity of the network as nothing is absolute in this world so the same holds for proof of work algorithm and that has paved the way for alternative coins and alternative consensus algorithms. Although Bitcoin keeps on dominating the crypto space the majority of the time sometimes the game takes a turn in favour of altcoins giving rise to altcoin seasons.

Thank you professor @imagen for this wonderful lecture.

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