This post answer the question to the homework task for the steemit's Crypto academy fixed beginner's course task 3 by professor @awesononso with the question;

What is a Cryptocurrency?
b) What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?
c) Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion.

What is a Cryptocurrency?

Just like the normal paper money spent in different locations the Cryptocurrency is an invisible form of this money available only online. It is a digital form of currency that can be accepted generally as a form of payment for services rendered. Cryptograhy as a word is coined form two Greek word, crypto which mean hidden and graph which mean to write, which there means to write in hidden language. This is the major bed rock character of Cryptocurrency as a digital currency.

Cryptocurrency is be made secured by cryptograhy which make it's not possible for any form of duplicate for a Cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency are also built on blockchain which give them a great stand towards transparency and decentralisation of the currency. They do not need interference of a third party before transaction can take place using them instead they make use of private key and public key to represent ownership.

The idea of Cryptocurrency was first bring to light by the creator of the first Cryptocurrency which is bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto. After where other token has been created and use for other purposes nationwide. Been digital and portable, Cryptocurrency offers a mobile and free use at any given location in the world without barrier of geographic location.

But on the otherhand, crypto currency has receive some criticism from government and some grop of individual as it is easily used for illegal activities because you do not have to reveal your identity before using them. Likewise the need of modern technology and it's knowhow are requirements of success usage.

What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?

Cryptograhy is a form of tool that are used in science to secure communications and protectibg information by converting the plaintext to a language that can only be understood by the user for which the message is intended. The message are be secure by method of encryption which convert the plaintext to ciphertext Which will need a key to be decrypted for the end user to get the hidden message.

Cryptograhy offers Cryptocurrency it's character of identity security of user and also allows authentication of originality as only the holder of the key can decrypt the details of transaction. It also ensures to the end user that the sender which is been confirmed made the transaction to begin with. And it also ensures that the message data can never be altered and tackle the attempt of double spending.

Cryptograhy are of three types;

• Symmetric cryptograhy: this use a key to encrypt and decrypt information. Any user who has the key will be able to send encrypted message or decrypt any message encrypted using this key.

• Asymmetric cryptograhy: this involves the use of a public and a private key. The public key is for encryption and can be known by anybody but the private key is for decryption only know by its owner.

• Hash function: in this type of cryptograhy that cannot be reversed and it doesn't make use of key. The hash algorithm convert the plaintext to a fixed length of combined text that represent the output of a give word.

How does cryptograhy make cryptocurrencies secure

1. It secures the identity of the user involved in any form of transaction using Cryptocurrency as it offers encryption using key.

2. The encryption do not allow unwanted party to be involved in the transaction and this eliminate threats of theft.

3. The private key offer access only to it's owner heerely a form of proof of ownership

4. It help to avoid double spending and helps to keep proper record of transactions.

Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion

A genesis block is the First block create on any blockchain network. The steem genesis block is the first block on the steem blockchain and it can be accessed by visiting steemworld.

After visiting steemworld, location the block explorer tool and click on it. Then Search for block 1.

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The table below shows the results of the search

Options	details
Timestamp	2016-03-24, 17:05:00
Block Id	0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086
Previous Id	0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Signing Key	STM8GC13uCZbP44HzMLV6zPZGwVQ8Nt4Kji8PapsPiNq1BK153XTX
Witness	initminer25
Witness Signature	204f8ad56a8f5cf722a02b035a61b500aa59b9519b2c33c77a80c0a714680a5a5a7a340d909d19996613c5e4ae92146b9add8a7a663eef37d837ef881477313043
Transaction Merkle Root	0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Extensions	[]

To sign in as proof of completion I click on sign in on the upper right corner, and input my username and steemit posting key. And it's done.

Conclusion

Cryptograhy is the foundation on which Cryptocurrency is been laid as most of it's qualities are been attributed by cryptograhy. Advancement of technology has bring more light to need of digital currency and Cryptocurrency is the king of them all as it offer Decentralization which was first introduced by bitcoin. Many nations has being to accept this new way forward so as to help their citizens to enjoy better life offered by these new advancement.