INTRODUCTION

Greetings friends and everyone in steemit cryptoacademy,it's indeed a great week with such an amazing lectures by Prof. @imagen. I must say this topic is quite interesting as it tends to teach me more about Bitcoin and also helped me to understand, research and learn more about Bitcoin, I appreciate the professor once more. I will like to answer the homework Questions based on my little understanding.

QUESTION NO 1.

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

How many times has Bitcoin been halved?

To answer this question, I will like to share little information about Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that has ever existed and an even which is called halving occurs in the blockchain. This halving occurs within the period of 4years intervals and within this time frame a total of 210,000 blocks will be mined. For halving to occur in Bitcoin Blockchain, it means that the reward of the miners will be reduced to half. Having known this information about Bitcoin halving, let me answer the question.

The first Bitcoin halving took place on the 28th day of November 2012 and the reward of the miners was 25BTC per block instead of 50BTC per block because it was halved, the second one occured on the 2nd July 2016 and the reward was halved to 12.5BTC per block ,the third halving took place on the 11th of May 2020 and the reward was halved to 6.25BTC per block. So Bitcoin has been halved for three (3) times.

When is the next halving expected?

Since Bitcoin halving occurs in four (4) years intervals and the last one happened in the year 2020, the next halving is expected to occur in the year 2021 with the reward of 3.125 BTC per block.

Note.... It is estimated or recorded that Bitcoin halving will end in the year 2140

What is the current amount that Bitcoin miners receive?

Based on the last halving which occured in the year 2020, Bitcoin miners are currently recieving 6.25BTC per block.

Mention at least 2 cryptocurrencies that are or have halved.

Two cryptocurrencies that are halved are;

• Litecoin (LTC)

LTC halving started just like BTC halving. It shares almost the same similarities with BTC because it started rewarding it's miners with 50 litecoins per block. After the first halving with took place on the 25th of August 2015,the reward came down to 25litecoins per block and the halving occurs every 4years just like BTC. LTC halving occurs every 840,000 blocks but Bitcoin halving occurs every 210,000 blocks).

• Electric Cash (ELCASH)

Eectronic cash coins halving once every year. It started in the year 2020 and it will be ending in the year 2030.

QUESTION NO 2.

WHAT ARE CONSENSUS MECHANISMS? HOW DO PROOF-OF-WORK AND PROOF-OF-STAKING DIFFER?

WHAT ARE CONSENSUS MECHANISMS?

To talk about consensus mechanism,I will like to explain what consensus means. For a group of individuals to make a final decision on a particular matter means that they have reached a consensus and mechanism can represent any method,idea,solution which consider will be best for achieving their agreement,this is a very simple definition in a lay man's understanding.

In the blockchain world,there is a language that is being used to reach out an agreement and solve a problem and that language is a computer language. So consensus mechanism can be said to be a computer algorithm,programing or instruction used in the blockchain system to validate transactions and data that enters the blockchain. This allows the system or the computer networks to work together because they reached an agreement with the computer system and also they ensures safety in the system/blockchain. In the blockchain world, there are many consensus mechanisms such as Proof-of-Work, Proof-of-Stake amongst others.

HOW DO PROOF-OF-WORK AND PROOF-OF-STAKING DIFFER?

There are too many differences which exists between PROOF-OF-WORK and PROOF-OF-STAKING consensus mechanism. These difference ranges from their mode of operation to the result they generate.

The difference between PROOF-OF-WORK and PROOF-OF-STAKING consensus mechanism are;

• Proof-of-work consensus mechanism requires the miners solving a very tough mathematical puzzles while proof-of-staking requires only a validation from those who has a bigger coins.

• For Proof-of-work to work effectively, it and consumes a higher level of electrical energy and also requires a high computing power while proof-of-staking doesn't require all these energy which makes it more friendly to the users and the environment at large.

• In Proof-of-work, the miners recieves block rewards after a successful mining while in proof-of-staking the validators recieves a transaction fee after a successful validation or transaction.

• Proof-of-work can easily be hacked because of the high risk of 51% attack while proof-of-staking has a higher security level which makes the 51% attack impossible.

There are many more differences which exists between the two, but the above mentioned are more popular amidst others.

QUESTION NO 3.

ENTER THE BITCOIN EXPLORER AND INDICATE THE HASH CORRESPONDING TO THE LAST TRANSACTION. SHOW SCREENSHOT.

To answer this question,I will login to the Bitcoin explorer

From the screenshot above, the hash corresponding to the last transaction of Bitcoin with the time it occured.

Time: 2021-10-05, 03:36:07

Block number: 703604

Hash:0000000000000000000bf192140431a034e0ee713a13355bc36d0ec516f16094

QUESTION NO 5

MAKE A PURCHASE FROM 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.

Making a purchase in my BINANCE wallet.

My verified Binance exchange

For the sake of this homework,I will like to purchase Etherum classic (ETC)

I made a purchase of Etherum classic worth $17 from my verified BINANCE exchange wallet.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS COIN?

I choose the coin because I observed it's market cap and it has a market cap of $7,123,134,867, it is ranked #28 and quite a large number of this coin is in circulation in the market. Also this coin when high with +0.85% with 24hours and the difference between the highest and lowest price within 24hours is very small,so looking at the chart of this coin and it's qualities I'm convinced that this coin will still go higher within few days time which is why I choose it.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OR PURPOSE BEHIND THIS PROJECT?

Etherum classic ETC is the hard work of Etherum. It was developed so that it can carry out the purpose of smart contract network and also to support DApps.

WHO ARE ITS FOUNDERS / DEVELOPERS?

It was developed by those that found Etherum because it belongs to the Etherum chain. The base of the founders are Vitalik Buterin and Gavin wood.

INDICATE THE CURRENCY'S ATH AND ITS CURRENT PRICE. REASON FOR YOUR ANSWERS. SHOW SCREENSHOTS.

The CURRENCY'S ATH is $167.09 which was reached on the 6th May,2021. The current price of ETC according to coinmarketcap as at the time of this homework is $54.79.

CONCLUSION

I must not fail to thank the professor @imagen for such an amazing lecture. Indeed this topic took me too deep into making research and studying more about Bitcoin.

This is the first time am hearing about altcoin season. Prior to now u never know that there are some coins that challenges and outrun Bitcoin, I've always had a fixed mindset that Bitcoin is the highest and no cryptocurrency can challenge it but this lecture is an eye opener and also a task for me to go and do more research on it. Am glad to take part in this exercise.

Thank you so much Prof. @imagen.

CC;
@imagen
@awesononso
@steemblog