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.

The mechanism of bitcoin halving is the process in which the mining reward is halved after a certain period of time. Bitcoin halves the miner fee after every 4 years. Initially, the mining fees were 50BTC on the mining of a single block it was halved to 25 BTC in 2012.

The second half period was in 2016 and the fees were reduced to 12.5 BTC. The third half period was in 2020 when the reward was reduced to 6.25 BTC/block. The next expected half period is in 2024 and the miner reward will be reduced to 3.25 BTC/block. This follows the same pattern of halving pattern of 4 years.

After the 2020 halving period the BTC miners currently receive 6.25 BTC/block and this will continue until the next halving period in 2024. Two of the many currencies with a halving period are dogecoin and LTC.

LTC has a halving period much similar to Bitcoin that is every 4 years. Its initial mining reward was 50 LTC after the first halving period it was 25 LTC and now it is 12.5 LTC/Blocks. In the case of Dogecoin initially, the network used to reward 500 doge/ block, and now it has been halved to 250/block after that the halving mechanism was paused in 2014.

What are consensus mechanisms? How do Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Staking differ?

The consensus mechanism is an algorithm that is used to verify the information hashed in a transaction and then store it in the form of blocks. Different Blockchains use different consensus mechanisms such as the proof of stake, proof of work, delegated proof of stake, etc.

The nodes of the network store the information of a transaction and record it their records but this may differ slightly from others so as to achieve a consensus an algorithm is set up in each blockchain network. The most famous of these is proof of work and proof of work.

Proof of work consensus

In proof of work consensus, all the miners and nodes on the network are responsible for collecting the data on the network and then compete to solve complex mathematical functions this data is stored on the memes pool and the network notes the information of the node as being interested in the generation of the block.

The one who solves these complex functions first is referred to as the block generator and store in the form of a block on the network. The ability to become the block generator depends on the specs of the hardware of the miner and the computational power. The system is very competitive as there is a lot of nosed participating at a given time. The complex function is solved on the basis of the hit and trial method and cannot be calculated in a single step and hence requires a lot of energy and completive hardware.

There is no middle case you and the miner are only rewarded only if he completely mines a block. So there is either a reward or no reward no middle condition. Once the block is generated the corresponding transactions are removed from their initial storage in the meme pool.

Proof of stake consensus

Proof of stake consensus is also designed to add new blocks to the blockchain. But as the name suggests the position of a node is verified as the transaction validator only if he has a set amount of staking in the network and thus there is a specific criterion the nodes fulfilling that are only allowed to mine. Thus there are less fewer miners and hence the task to add a block can be done by the use of less computational power and cost overall.

The power of the validator depends on the staking in the native token by the validator. The validator with more stakings has a higher chance of validating a block. The POS blockchain incentivizes its validators with the transaction fees on the network.

Enter the Bitcoin explorer and indicate the hash corresponding to the last transaction. Show Screenshot.

When we open the Bitcoin explorer we see a number transactions listed under the blocks we will open the last transactions.

Visit https://explorer.viawallet.com/btc and select the last transaction

Latest transaction

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.

Altcoin season is defined as the season of the crypto market or the time period in which 75% of the top 50 coins perform better than Bitcoin over a period of 3 months or 90 days. This is a period of the rapid growth of the alternatievcoisn in comparison to Bitcoin.

We are not currently in altcoin season as the altcoin index currently is lower than 75%.

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The middlebox shows that the bar is between are slightly between the bitcoin altcoin season scale. For the market to be in altcoin season the bar should be towards the right and the index should be at least 75%.

The last altcoin season was from March to June in this time frame the altcoin index was more than 75% as indicated in the screenshot below

source

Now if we see the individual progress of the altcoins we see that the rapid growing altcoins include AXS, FTM, BCHA,LUNA, AR, AVAX , SOL, etc.

The assets I am choosing are: AVAX and SOL

AVAX

The AVAX has a current growth rate of about 392.6%. It is currently ranked 14th on coinamarketcap.com with a market cap of $12,978,809,998. From a technical point of view, AVAX is peaking a coin. In September 2020 its price was 4.5$ and now its price is about 58$. The chart below shows a significant price rise and thus it is a good investment option.

SOL

The Solana token has a current growth rate of about 387.1%. It is ranked 7th on the coin market cap.com with a market cap of about $45,940,426,613. The coin is currently trading at 154$ and at the time of its launch its price was just 0.78$. The chart below shows a significant price rise and thus it is a good investment option.

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.

Here I am choosing SHIBA INU coin. SHIBA INU is ranked at number 27 on coinmarketcap.com

My Purchase

The current price is 0.00001811$ and an all-time high of the coin according to coin market cap.com is0.00001562$.

The coin has been able to reach 6 figures and specifically 3 billion in terms of market cap in less than 12 months. Following the footsteps of Dogecoin, it has become one of the very popular cryptocurrencies. The reason I chose SHIB is due to its low price but better ranking in terms of market cap. It is a good investment coin based it is still it is expected to reach its ATH in the coming future. The coin has traveled from 0.0000075$ to 0.00001811$ to now. Thus it has achieved a lot in much less time.

The SHIBA INU has a very innovative goal it is developed to protect a species for dogs that is the same as its name. the project is designed to encourage buyers on Amazon to make purchases through the Amazon smile app through SHIB coin the SHIB NGO foundations fund the activities behind the stage through the business through this app. The users on the other hand do not have to pay any additional cost.

The developer or co-founder of the network is known by the pseudonym "Ryoshi". In addition to that in the whitepaper of the project, you can find various names associated with the project such as the social media developers and influencers and other active team members.

Conclusions

Once Bitcoin reached its all-time high investors have to look for other investment options and that is when the market of many new cryptocurrencies rising. This competition in turn raised their prices and we saw them growing. This is now termed the altcoin season. On the whole, the altcoin season determines the potential of various other projects