There has been a lot of talk in recent years about cryptocurrencies. We have all heard of Bitcoin and its soaring and plummeting stock depending on the time of year you look into it. But there are far too many people that don’t know what cryptocurrencies are, how they work, or really anything past the existence of Bitcoin.
If you are looking to submit a cryptocurrency guest post, it helps to first have a positive understanding as to what they are and what they entail. With a better understanding, you can find yourself not only knowledgeable on a subject that is growing in popularity, but become an authoritative voice on an important matter.
How Does Cryptocurrency Work?
What few people know is that cryptocurrencies actually emerged as a side project to another invention. The unknown inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, never actually intended to create a form of currency. Bitcoin was not only the first of its kind but still remains one of the most important companies in the cryptocurrency game.
Satoshi, when announcing the creation of Bitcoin back in 2008, said that he had developed a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.”
The goal here was to create something that many had failed to create before digital cash became a possibility: a decentralized monetary system with no central authority or server. That latter part was the biggest revelation of Bitcoin. Going back to the 1990s, many had attempted to create digital money but had failed.
The difference here is that they attempted to create centralized digital money whereas Satoshi did so without that central entity. This was the birth of cryptocurrency.
To realize digital cash, there needs to be a few different things to make it possible: accounts, balances, and transactions. A major problem that every network has to solve is to prevent what is known as double spending: that is to prevent one entity from spending the same amount twice. This is done with a centralized server that keeps records of the balances.
Without that network, there would be no server. The thought was that digital currency could not survive without that centralized authority in place. Bitcoin proved that it is possible, achieving consensus without a centralized authority.
While still in its infancy as far as global acceptance, the possibilities remain incalculable. Bitcoin as the face of the cryptocurrency movement means that there is a company those in favor of the system can point to as a beacon of success.
There are steps to be taken yet, but Bitcoin is the first major block in the cryptocurrency foundation.
