Steemit Crypto Academy Season 4 Beginners' course - Task 3: The Genesis Block @srrebullient
Hello everyone, I welcome you all to the crypto academy season 4 introductory course task 3.
First of all, I would like to appreciate our noble Professor @awesononso for all his wonderful contributions to our community. Thank you, Professor.
I would like to first of all outline the questions that I have chosen to answer out of the optional 3 questions.
3a) What is 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
QUESTION 3a
WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY
The word cryptocurrency is a combination of two words Crypto and Currency.
- What is Crypto?
The word crypto originated from the Greek word "Kryptos" which means hidden.
According to mariam-webster dictoinary,
the word crypto simply means not openly avowed or declared. It is also regarded as a person who adheres or belongs secretly to a party, sect, or other groups.
From all the above definitions, it is apparent that the word crypto has to do with something being secret, hidden, or concealed.
- What is Currency?
Currency can be regarded as anything that is generally accepted as a medium of exchange. It is usually in the form of paper or a coin.
According to Dictionary.com,
Currency is something that is used as a medium of exchange; money. It also means the fact or quality of being widely accepted and circulated from person to person.
The first known form of currency which is the Mesopotamian shekel was introduced nearly five thousand years ago.
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Before the invention of currency, people make use of the barter system.
- Trade by barter
Bartering doesn't require any currency in exchange for goods or services. It is a direct trade of goods and services. A hunter may choose to trade a chevon for some tubers of yam with a farmer who is willing to trade.
The barter system was very much difficult and time-consuming as one will have to go in search of another who is willing to accept what one has to offer in exchange for what one wants. This difficulty made people look for ways to exchange goods and services with more ease and that was what led to the invention of currency.
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In an actual sense, a currency is without value but its value is dependent on its acceptance by the people.
The evolution of currency is what has brought us to what we know today as Cryptocurrency.
What is cryptocurrency?
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Having known what crypto and currency are respectively, we will now talk about cryptocurency.
Cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital currency built on blockchain.
One of the major aims of cryptocurrency is to nullify the effect of third-party which is one of the problems of fiat and other traditional currencies.
Cryptocurrency is decentralized means that it is not owned or governed by any person, institution or government. This act of decentralization is made possible by the use of blockchain technology which serves as the platform on which cryptocurrency is built.
A blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions in a way that it is impossible to change, hack or even delete. All activities on the blockchain are duplicated and shared among a different network of nodes and this is what makes a blockchain activity impossible to compromise.
Unlike our traditional currency exchange which works by going through a third party (banks), the cryptocurrency transaction is based on (peer to peer) and this (peer to peer) is made possible by the blockchain technology which is backed by smart contracts. The smart contract performs the activities of a third party.
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The first-ever cryptocurrency (BITCOIN) was registered on the 18 of August 2008 and on the 31st of October 2008, the white paper which was written by Satoshi Nakamoto was released. After the invention of Bitcoin, about 6,500 different cryptocurrencies have been created. Some of them include; Ethereum, Litecoin, BNB, Dogecoin, Steem, Tron, etc.
QUESTION 3b
What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure
Cryptography is a combination of two words, crypto, and graphy.
We already know that the word crypto has to do with something being secret or concealed, lets now look at the word "graphy"
The word graphy originated from the Greek word graphia which means "writing".
According to Dictionary.com, the word graphy means a combining form denoting a process or form of drawing, writing, representing, recording, describing, etc., or an art or science concerned with such a process.
Cryptography
With the above meaning of both crypto and graphy, we can simply add that cryptography is a method of keeping data and information secret and safe in other for it to be revealed to only those it is intended for.
encryption
This is achieved by encrypting the information ie converting it to codes in other for it to be decrypted and read by only those it is intended for. This decryption is done with the use of their private keys.
- How cryptography makes cryptocurrency secure
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Cryptography
Security is one of the basic things in the world of cryptocurrency. Before the invention of cryptocurrency, cryptography has been in practice. People tend to rearrange words to have other meanings or have no meaning at all. This is a way of preventing the information from being revealed to a third party.
In the world of cryptocurrency, cryptography has been in constant use. Data sent to a public key (wallet address) is encrypted ie rearranged in a more complicated way in other for the owner of the address to decrypt using his/her private key. The public key (wallet address) can be likened to a mailbox that anyone can deposit at any time but the information in the mailbox can only be accessed by the mailman who has the secret key.
This is to prevent information from being compromised or stolen by who or those it is not intended for. This data encryption makes cryptocurrency a very secure way of passing and storing data/information without any fear of it getting compromised. This is why it is highly important for a person not to disclose his or her private key information.
QUESTION 3c
Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion
To expore the steem genesis block you have to first log into steemworld.org and click on blockexplorer.
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After that, click on Ok with a block number of 1 showing as the genesis block number.
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After clicking "Ok", you will be taken to the first block on steem.
Some details on the genesis block include;
| Timestamp | 2016-03-24, 17:05:00 |
|---|---|
| Block Id | 0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086 |
| Previous Id | 000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Signing key | STM8GC13uCZbP44HzMLV6zPZGwVQ8Nt4Kji8PapsPiNq1BK153XTX |
| Witness | Initminer |
| Witness signature | 204f8ad56a8f5cf722a02b035a61b500aa59b9519b2c33c77a80c0a714680a5a5a7a340d909d19996613c5e4ae92146b9add8a7a663eef37d837ef881477313043 |
- Signing in as proof of completion
On the top right corner, click on sign in.
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Enter your username and private posting key.
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Your username and profile picture will appear at the right top corner showing you have been signed in.
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CONCLUSION
Cryptocurrency has made a lot of improvements in the world of finance by making it more secure and private through the use of cryptography. The genesis block being the first-ever transaction block on a blockchain creates a blueprint of which other preceding transaction blocks should follow. I appreciate our noble Professor @awesononso for this wonderful lecture which has widened my knowledge on the security and privacy of the cryptocurrency space and on how to explore and find out information concerning the genesis blocks especially that of steem.