THE GENESIS BLOCK - CRYPTO ACADEMY S5 - HOMEWORK POST FOR TASK 3
GENESIS BLOCK
3a) WHAT IS A CRYPTO CURRENCY?
Cryptocurrency is a virtual type of currency used for investment, trading or saving purposes online, by substituting money for digital virtual asset. The first crypto currency and asset to be known worldwide is Bitcoin which was created in the year 2009. Although not factual but Satoshi Nakamoto is rumored to be the creator. The first crypto transaction was made by him and it led to the mining of the first ever crypto block which has been used as reference for the creation of other Cryptocurrencies in line with the Bitcoin algorithm.
Due to this revolutionary invention, various forms of financial transactions can now be carried out in a decentralized form, making transactions encrypted and ungovernable by anyone but the user. Crypto currency has evolved in today’s world and can be used for almost every necessity in our everyday life.
Cryptocurrency is more like an online store of value that appreciate or depreciate with respect to the market movement. A cryptocurrency is a combination of computer codes with the purpose of creating an online token or coin on a distributed ledger. Being a peer-to-peer system makes it uncontrollable by any central authority. The transaction of users are monitored by the individual owners of the crypto account, thereby having full access to do anything with their asset without obstruction. Cryptocurrency is simply a digital currency that functions through the dynamics of cryptography on a blockchain.
3b) WHAT IS CRYPTOGRAPHY AND HOW DOES IT MAKE CRYPTOCURRENCIES SECURE?
Cryptography was coined from two Greek word which are; “kryptós which means “hidden or secret" and “graphein” which means “to write". Hence we can define Cryptography as an art of sending hidden or secret information that can only be understood by the sender & receiver. Cryptography is a secure communication technique which has now transformed modern technology into what it is today by encryption of data and information.
Through cryptography we are able to understand the functions of cryptocurrency better. The term “Cryptocurrency” was coined out from the word “Cryptography”. The purpose of cryptography is to protect information and data from adversaries by encrypting plaintext in a disguised manner known as “Ciphertext”.
There are two major ways cryptography is used in making cryptocurrency secure, one is through the private key and the other is through public key.
The Private key: This is a key used in the signing or approval of transactions. A coin can be decrypted through the use of the private key. Using the private key as permission, coins can be transferred out of the wallet into a different wallet address. Therefore there can be no loss of coin without the access of the private key which is personal to the user.
The Public key: This is known to be the address of the wallet used in receiving tokens from a different wallet address and also used in identifying a specific wallet. When a coin is sent to wallet address, there is a change of ownership and it automatically becomes encrypted with respect to the receiver.
STEP ONE: Visit https://steemworld.org
The above website will take us to a page as shown below.
STEP 2: Tap the “Sign in” button at the top right corner as indicated below.
STEP 3: Input your Steemit username and private posting key as directed below.
STEP 4: Tap the block explorer icon as indicated below.
STEP 5: Tap the “Ok” button for Block Number 1
STEP 6: Details of the Genesis Block
Below are some Basic details as show on the above screenshot.
| Timestamp | 2016-03-24 17:05:00 UTC + 1 |
|---|---|
| Block ID. | 0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086 |
| The Previous Block ID. | 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Witness. | Initminer |
I have fully understood and discussed about cryptocurrency, cryptography and Steem Block explorer.
Crypto currencies as we now have them today has been a major source of making investment, transactions and exchanges online. More users come into the system daily and gradually we could say the world is becoming decentralized.
This lesson has really been of great impact and has inspired more knowledge and ideas in me.
All images were taken and Edited by me on Inshot and corel draw, except for the sourced image