Cryptocurrencies

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Cryptocurrencies emerged as a side product of another invention.

Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin, 2008
After seeing all the centralized attempts fail, Satoshi tried to build a digital cash system without a central entity. Like a Peer-to-Peer network for file sharing.
This decision became the birth of cryptocurrency. They are the missing piece Satoshi found to realize digital cash.

Encrypted database secured by cryptography that acts as an accounting ledger keeping track of digital assets.
Instead of being maintained by a single server like traditional databases, blockchains are decentralized and maintained by a distributed network of computers around the world. This database tracks every bitcoin in the network and each transaction since the very first bitcoin.

People with specialized computers to process transactions by contributing their electricity and computer processing power to the network.
In exchange, they receive transaction fees and/or new bitcoins that are released into the network by the protocol when a new block is added to the chain.
Miners provide a public service by securing the network and the network rewards them for their work.

For this to work, users broadcast transactions to the network and miners record them by racing to complete complex mathematical puzzles.
"Proof-of-work"
Each new block is added to the blockchain and those transactions are confirmed and recorded every 10 minutes.
Then the miners’ race for the next block begins.
SHA-256

A malicious actor compromises the communication between two parties and steals or tampers with the information they exchange.
The only way users can detect and stop the attack is to manually compare the address displayed on their computer with the one that appears on the Ledger’s display.

Hackers know that we rely on secrets to guarantee the integrity of our identities and security of our communications.
A way to authenticate yourself, communicate and share information without the need to exchange secrets...
That is the main idea behind secret-less protocols such as Secret Double Octopus.
- Enables different parties to verify each other’s’ identities without the need to exchange keys or reveal critical information.
- Neither store nor send passwords or keys.

ДИ ЕНД.