Bitcoin's Trajectory - Crypto Academy S4W5 - Homework Post for @imagen
Hello to all,
Today's homework was both interesting and very educational for me. Thank you very much dear professor @imagen for this nice lesson
1.) How many times has "halving" been made in Bitcoin? When is the next expected? What is the current amount that Bitcoin miners receive? Mention at least 2 cryptocurrencies that are or have halved.
As it is known, Bitcoin rewards its miners in return for their service. The process of halving this reward in certain time intervals is also called halving. To elaborate a little more, Satoshi Nakamoto has limited the production of blocks in the Bitcoin Blockchain to a certain number. In this way, the supply of Bitcoin will remain constant and will ensure that Bitcoin does not lose its value. For this reason, these awards, which are given for a period of approximately 4 years, are halved. In this way, sustainability is aimed. However, even though the rewards are halved, the miners' earnings do not change as the price of Bitcoin increases. This allows mining to continue.
How many times has "halving" been made in Bitcoin?
There have been 3 Bitcoin halvings so far. The first halving took place on November 28, 2012, the second halving was on July 9, 2016, and the last halving so far was on May 11, 2020.
When is the next expected?
As you can see, there are approximately 4 years between halvings. For this reason, the 4th halving is expected in 2024.
What is the current amount that Bitcoin miners receive?
Before the first halving took place, miners were rewarded with 50 BTC. After the first halving, this dropped to 25 BTC, and after the second halving to 12.5 BTC. Finally, the third halving took place and the reward is given as 6.25 BTC.
Mention at least 2 cryptocurrencies that are or have halved.
a- Litecoin
Another coin that performs halving is Litecoin.This coin, which came out as a competitor to Bitcoin, has had two halvings so far. After performing the 2nd halving in 2019, the block reward was 12.5 LTC. There is even a site that counts down for the next halving of this blockchain. The predicted date for the next halving is August 2023. In this blockchain, just like in Bitcoin, the time between halvings is 4 years.
b- Vergecoin
Unlike Bitcoin and Litecoin, Vergecoin performs halvings approximately every 6 months. Just like Litecoin, this coin also has a countdown site. There are also details such as when the next halving will take place, the number of blocks, and how many blocks can be produced until the next halving.
2.) What are consensus mechanisms? How do Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Staking differ?
After the block is produced in a blockchain, it is necessary to confirm the accuracy of the transaction. This confirmation process is also carried out by consensus mechanisms. One of the most important features of blockchains is that they disable third parties. However, in this case, there is a need for units to confirm the accuracy of the transaction. In other words, we can say that it is the consensus mechanisms that enable blockchains to be decentralized. In 2008, the Bitcoin Blockchain entered our lives under the leadership of Satoshi Nakamoto. This blockchain used the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Due to the changing needs and disadvantages of the PoW mechanism over the years, the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism has been developed. To tell the difference between PoW and PoS, we first need to briefly talk about these two mechanisms.
If a blockchain uses the PoW mechanism, every transaction made in that blockchain is committed to the candidate block. Next, miners are asked a very complex mathematical problem, and the first miner who solves this math problem validates this block. After verifying the block, timestamp is processed to the block and the block is created.
In blockchains using the PoS mechanism, the person who will do this verification is selected according to the amount of coins he/she has staked.
The differences between these two consensus mechanisms are as follows;
PoW mechanisms require powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems and consume a lot of energy to solve these problems. On the other hand, the energy requirement in PoS mechanisms is low.
While the cryptocurrency of the blockchain is given as a reward in PoW mechanisms, the reward in PoS mechanisms is by giving the transaction fee to the people who verify.
In order to produce blocks in PoW mechanisms, people need powerful computers. PoS mechanisms, on the other hand, need money so they can invest some money and stake the cryptocurrency.
PoW mechanisms are completely decentralized. However, although PoS mechanisms are decentralized, they are more centralized than PoW. Because strong stake holders have more say.
In order to cheat in PoW systems, you must have at least 51% block hash on that blockchain. Thus, malicious people can affect this decision mechanism if they have more than 51% blockhashes.
PoS mechanisms are faster than PoW.
Due to its speed and high energy efficiency, PoS mechanisms are more scalable than PoW mechanisms.
3.) Enter the Bitcoin explorer and indicate the hash corresponding to the last transaction. Show Screenshot.
I used one of the Bitcoin Explorers, blockstream.info, to answer this question. When you log in to the site, you will see the last blocks. I clicked on 7004003, which is the last block from here. Thus, I reached detailed information about the blog.
Block hash is 000000000000000000099537a592238752686dbb1767e08dc9a1f32ee15f2e26. While preparing this article, this block received 1 confirmation. Block timestamp was 2021-10-07 23:21:35 GMT +3.
4.) 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.
The name Altcoin is formed by the combination of the words alternative and coin. As we now know very well, the first cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. From this point of view, the alternatives to Bitcoin, that is, coins other than Bitcoin are called altcoins. However, there are some who think that cryptocurrencies that are highly accepted in the market such as Etherium and Cardano, which are in the top ten in the world of cryptocurrencies, do not fall into this group. So in this case, coins other than the top ten cryptocurrencies can be called altcoins.
Are we currently in Altcoin Season?
The site blockchaincenter.net has done a good job on this subject. I used this site to answer this question. First we need to answer what is Altcoin Season. Altcoin season is when altcoins in the market increase their dominance compared to Bitcoin.
The blockchaincenter.net that I just mentioned created an index in this way. If 75% of the top 50 altcoins outperform Bitcoin in the last 90 days, then they agree that we are in altcoin season.
At this moment, the altcoin index is 47 and the current season is NOT the altcoin season.
When was the last Altcoin Season?
The period between March 2021 and June 2021, when the altcoin index exceeded 75, was the last altcoin season we experienced.
Mention and show 2 charts of Altcoins followed by their growth in the most recent Season. Give reasons for your answer.
As the chart below shows, the best performing altcoins in the past season are FTM and ATX. Therefore, I wanted to examine these two altcoins.
According to Coinmarketcap data, this altcoin is currently ranked 37th.
Looking at the chart of this altcoin, the first thing that draws attention is its increase in September. The coin price increased from 0.4 USDT to 2 USDT levels. We see that it has increased by almost 5 times.
When we look at the graph of the altcoin, we see that there was a serious increase in the price of this coin in the first days of October. The price of the coin has increased from 70 USDT levels to 150 USDT levels, which is about double. However, this rise did not last long, and now it has regressed to 124 USDT.
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.
For this question, I chose HOLO, which I have wanted to examine for a long time and is ranked 69nd according to coinmarketcap.
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
I made the purchase from my Binance account. When I logged into my account to buy HOT USDT, the price of this coin was 0.009449 USD. In other words, when I bought 1600 coins, I was making a purchase of 15.11 USD. I placed an order for 1600 HOT at 0.009449.
Why did you choose this coin?
To be honest, I don't have much experience in the cryptocurrency world. Like everyone else, I had heard of coins like Bitcoin and Etherium, but I didn't know exactly how they worked. Recently, I started to examine cryptocurrencies because I have invested in very small amounts. HOLO was also a coin that I came across during this period and I wanted to examine this altcoin because I heard its name often.
Apart from that, I also heard about the Airbnb relationship with HOLO. Airbnb is an application that I use frequently and when I am looking for a place to stay when I go on vacation. I have never had a problem in my experience with Airbnb and it will be my first choice for my next vacations. For this reason, it seems reasonable to me to invest in HOLO.
What is the goal or purpose behind this project?
The purpose of Holochain is to provide a decentralized internet experience. People can perform applications on this chain.
Although it contains a chain called Holochain, it is not a blockchain.The difference from blockchains is that in a blockchain, data creates this chain as we know it. In Holochain, these chains are people. So each individual is a chain. In addition, the consensus mechanism we mentioned in this assignment is not included in this chain. Instead, this system is managed with distributed hash tables. Thus, this system claims that it will eliminate the scalability problem experienced in blockchains. The crypto currency of Holocchain is HOT. HOT is an ERC20 project.
Who are its founders / developers?
Holochain was founded by two experienced software developers Arthur Brock and Eric Harris-Braun.
Indicate the currency's ATH and its current price.
On March 4, 2021, the HOT coin reached an all-time high. On this date, the price of the coin was 0.02342 USD, while its current value is 0.009461 USD.
6.) Conclusions
In this assignment, we talked about Bitcoin halving, consensus mechanisms and altcoins. Bitcoin will be offered to the market in a certain number. For this reason, it halves the rewards given to its miners as a certain number of blocks are produced.
Another topic of ours was the consensus mechanisms and the differences between these mechanisms. Even though alternatives have been developed today, there are two important consensus mechanisms in the market. While the PoW mechanism has its miners do the verification processes by solving complex problems, the people who have stakes in the PoS mechanism have a say.
Our last main topic was altcoins. Altcoins are coins developed as an alternative to Bitcoin. There are over 12 thousand coins on the market today. Although the main coin dominating the market is Bitcoin, in some periods these altcoins outperform Bitcoin. These periods are called altcoin seasons.
Best Regards, Özge
Great work
Thank you :)
Gracias por participar en la Cuarta Temporada de la Steemit Crypto Academy.
Felicitaciones!
Continua esforzandote, espero seguir corrigiendo tus asignaciones.