STEEMIT CRYPTO ACADEMY SEASON 4- HOMEWORK POST FOR TASK 3// THE GENESIS BLOCK by @moureenbronia

For my task 3, I will be attempting question 3 which reads;
(a) 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.

Means of exchange as we know have evolved over the years. First was barter trade where we exchanged good for goods, second came the use precious materials like gold; the human mind then came up with money printing and coin minting. This was followed by the need for banks and other financial institutions. And now we have cryptocurrencies.

(A) WHAT IS A CRYPTOCURRENCY?
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets, they are like all other currencies but the only difference is that cryptocurrencies are 100% virtual/digital. In other words, they have no physical texture.

Cryptocurrencies started to circulate around 2008 when we had the big economic crush. The beauty of cryptocurrencies is, they are decentralized hence eliminating the need for third parties like banks. They give users the opportunity and freedom to move their money around without having the need to go through a third party. Not only does a user not need banks, he also doesn't need to provide personal information in order for him to open a crypto wallet.

When we talk about cryptocurrencies, what most people think about is Bitcoin. However, there are many more cryptocurrencies out there that users can invest in for instance, ethereum, cardano, Steem, litecoin among others.

Image source

Just like the money in the bank is protected by security personnel, even cryptocurrencies have their own "security officer" that is referred to as cryptography.

(B) WHAT IS CRYPTOGRAPHY?
The word cryptography is derived from a Greek word KRYPTO which means "hidden". In simple terms, it is a mathematical and computational practice of secret writing. This secret writing is possible through two processes known as DECRYPTION and ENCRYPTION. Encryption and decryption are used to ensure that only the intended recepient of the message can view the contents.

Cryptography focuses on confidentiality, intergrity and authenticity. Through encryption and decryption, the message or transaction can only be viewed by the intended recipient, information within the message cannot be modified or changed when in storage or transit and finally, both the sender and recepient of the message can verify their identies.

Types of cyptography include;

Symmetric/ Secret key cryptography
This system works with only one key. The message is encrypted and decrypted using this same key.

Asymmetric/ Public key cryptography
Here, the user has two keys; the public key and the private key...just like here on the steemit platform. The public key is used to encrypt the message and the private key decrypts the message. It is impossible to use the same key for both encrypting and decrypting when it comes to asymmetric cryptography.

HOW DOES CRYPTOGRAPHY MAKE CRYPTOCURRENCIES SECURE?
Cryptography is based on the processes of encryption and decryption. This enables it to make cryptocurrencies secure. This is how;

Let me base on the asymmetric system where a user has two keys. A sender creates a message and encrypts it using the public key of the intended recipient. He then sends the encrypted message to his intended recipient who decrypts it using his private key. This makes cryptocurrencies secure because, only the recipient's private key can decrypt the message.

Public keys as we know can be shared with anyone but that is not the case for private keys. Private keys are meant to be kept secret from everyone and not shared no matter what. This is why upon joining the steemit platform, we are highly cautioned to never share any of our private keys with anyone.

A hypothetical example
We have all watched action movies at least once in our lives. Do you notice how the commander in charge gives the other officers signals when they are on the battle field? Now, as a viewer who has no military knowledge, you will not understand the message or be able to break it down (decrypt). Why? You don't have the key (which in this case would be knowledge about military language). Therefore, only the intended officers in the film will decrypt the message because they have the keys.
Cryptography in cryptocurrencies operates in a similar way.

(C) EXPLORE THE STEEM GENESIS BLOCK AND SIGN IN AS PROOF OF COMPLETION
The word Genesis means "the beginning" thus, the genesis block marks the beginning of the mining process on a specific blockchain. The Genesis block is the first block to be mined therefore, it lays a foundation for the other blocks to be mined after it. In other words, it defines how the other blocks will be formed.
You will find that all the blocks on a specific blockchain are linked to eachother by their hashes and you will be able to trace them all the way back to the Genesis block.

This block is denoted as block 0/ block 1. This is so because there is no other block before it since it is the first. As you will notice in the images below, the Steem Genesis block is denoted as block 1.

ACCESSING THE STEEM GENESIS BLOCK
To access the steem genesis block, follow the steps below;

° Step 1
Visit steemworld by going to https://steemworld.org

° Step 2
Once there, scroll down to where the TOOLS are found. Click the BLOCK EXPLORER icon.

°Step 3
After clicking the block explorer icon, the page will appear as shown below indicating block 1. Go ahead and click OK

°Step 4
The details of the steem Genesis block will then be displayed.

From the above image, you will be able to view the timestamp, the witness, witness signature, block ID, signing key and the previous ID. You notice how the ID of the previous block is denoted by zeros, this is because being the genesis block, there is no other block before it.

SIGNING IN
°Step 1
To sign in, tap the SIGN IN tab that is located at the top right corner of the page. When you tap it, a new page will be displayed as you can see in the image below.

°Step 2
You will be required to input your username together with your private posting key. When input correctly, the signing in process will be completed successfully just like I did.

All the unsourced images above are screenshots from https://steemworld.org

CC;
@awesononso
@nane15