It's another great day steemians ! Trust everyone is doing great, I want to post my Task 3 Homework on The Genesis Block.
Cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital currency that can be used for transaction purpose without having to rely on the banks or government to verify and transaction. With the use of cryptocurrency, payment/transactions can be made anywhere and anytime online and they are normally processed instantly or within few mins except on some different occasions that could take days. cryptocurrency make use of a decentralized digital blockchain technology that nobody can control. This blockchain is a ledger that serve the purpose of recording every transactions made in code/blocks. Bitcoin was the first crypto coin to be launched in the year 2009 by the Japanese man Satoshi Nakamoto.
However, after the introduction of Bitcoin, several other cryptocurrencies began to emanate. Today we now have over thousands of crypto on the coinmarketcap. Also it is to be noted that Cryptocurrencies are normally stored in a wallet. Every cryptocurrency has their own unique wallet.
KEY CONCEPTS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
I will like to point out some unique concepts or attributes that makes cryptocurrency different from others.
PRIVACY
Transactions that happens on the Cryptocurrency blockchain are usually kept private without being compromised. Unlike our local bank payment/transaction whereby sensitive information like name and address are usually displayed so in cryptocurrency there is very little risk of our personal data been stolen.
SECURITY
Most cryptocurrencies make use of blockchain technology which is one of the most secured and safe system. Hence, one's crypto coin can remain in the wallet for as long as possible without any compromise. And as far as I know, the bitcoin blockchain has never been hacked, so that says a lot about how secured the system is.
TRANSFERABILITY
All cryptos can be transferred from one user to another end user without any difficulty or stress.
IRREVERSIBILITY
Transfers that takes place in the crypto space cannot be reversed once it has been processed unlike in the conventional local bank system where money or transactions are normally reversed.
TRANSPARENCY
In cryptocurrency, every transaction that occurs can be seen publicly. This doesn't give room for any form of manipulation of transactions.
3B. WHAT IS CRYPTOGRAPHY AND HOW DOES IT MAKE CRYPTOCURRENCIES SECURE
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Cryptography is a phenomenon that involves converting plaintext or ordinary text into ciphertext, the process is known as encryption and then from ciphertext back again to plain words, the process is known as decryption. By so doing, only those who the information is meant for can decode the meaning. People who study cryptography are known as cryptographers.
The application is being used in many fields like cryptocurrency, banking, transaction card, computer password etc. Another thing that makes Cryptography very sanscrosant to the blockchain technology is that it helps to protect data from thrift or alteration and can also be used for user authentication. However, we have symmetric and Asymmetric cryptograhy.
SYMMETRIC CRYPTOGRAPHY vs ASYMMETRIC CRYPTOGRAPHY
In symmetric cryptography, both the sender and recipient usually use the same key for encryption and decryption that they both know while in asymmetric cryptography, the sender normally make use of two different keys for encryption and decryption. This two keys are private key which should be kept secret at all times while the public key can be revealed.
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HOW DOES CRYPTOGRAHY MAKES CRYPTOCURRENCY SECURE
Cryptography has a significant role in cryptocurrency, it makes cryptocurrency secure by helping to secure Transaction that happens on the blockchain through hashing and blockchain encryption system, cryptography also helps in controlling the creation of additional units and as well as authentication of the transfer of assets.
However, cryptocurrency make use of the 'public key' cryptography also known as the asymmetric encryption which i discussed earlier. This public key helps to give people an address to send money into. This address can be in form of random numbers and letters. The private keys will now help to unlock the public key so that the user can receive the money or Asset that has been sent to them.
I will love to use this illustration to buttress my point proper :
I can send a mail to a public mailbox address, this mailbox is the public key in this instance, while only the mailman who have the private key to the public mailbox can open the mailbox and have access to the mail sent, this same illustration also applies to cryptography used in cryptocurrency whereby anyone can send money or coin to a specified address (mailbox) but it is only the user (mailman) with the private key to the wallet (mailbox) that can have access to the money/coin sent to the address.
The use/application of public key cryptography in cryptocurrency has helped to curb fraudulent acts and prevents a third party meddling with transactions on the blockchain. It is a technological advancement that has helped to improve and safeguard transactions that occurs online.
EXPLORE THE STEEM GENESIS BLOCK AND SIGN AS PROOF OF COMPLETION
STEP 1
To explore the STEEM genesis block, the first step to take is to visit
https://steemworld.org
STEP 2
After that, you click on 'Block Explorer' as seen on the webpage below
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STEP 3
After clicking on the block explorer, this response will pop-out on the screen, the figure '1' as appeared on the box is the default setting. One can choose to check for a higher block number which I will be doing, I will be increasing the block number to '2'
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STEP 4
Click 'ok' and the details of the Genesis block you have chosen will be shown as seen in the screenshot below
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BELOW IS THE SEARCH RESULT OF THE BASIC DETAILS
Timestamp - 2016-03-24, 17:05:36
Block Id-00000002ed04e3c3def0238f693931ee7eebbdf1
Previous Id-0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086
Witness : initminer
STEP 5
After doing all this, I can now sign in as proof of completion. The sign in button is usually at the top right corner of the webpage
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CONCLUSION
The importance of cryptocurrency cannot be overemphasized, it has helped a lot of persons carry out safe and fast transactions online and I must say, have learnt a lot from this course task. Big thanks to professor
@awesononso for doing a great job
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Cc:
@steemcurator01
@steemcurator02
@sapwood