Cryptocurrency facts takes a simplified look at digital currencies like Bitcoin to help explain what cryptocurrency is, how it works, and its implications. On this site, we cover everything you need to know about:
- Cryptocurrency basics and the history of digital currencies / digital assets
- Types of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and stable coins.
- Cryptocurrency exchanges / brokers like Coinbase, GDAX (Coinbase Pro), Bittrex, ShapeShift, and Kraken
- Trading cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency investing
- Cryptocurrency transactions, wallets, blockchains, smart contracts, DApps, DEXs, forks, airdrops, fees, bots, order types, etc
- Cryptocurrency mining (including a guide to mining Litecoin in 30 minutes or less)
- Cryptocurrency legality, taxes, rules, and regulations
- Up-to-date news and opinion regarding cryptocurrency in terms of tech and price
- Tips for seasoned cryptocurrency miners, users, investors, and traders
- And generally everything the average person would want to know about digital currency / digital assets.
TIP: If you are new to cryptocurrency, check out our guide to cryptocurrency for beginners for a crash course on the basics. Or, check out our cryptocurrency investing starter kit.
This video discusses bitcoin, but most of what they talk about here is common between all cryptocurrencies. We suggest watching this video before moving on as it gives what we consider to be one of the best explanations of bitcoin available on the internet.
What is Cryptocurrency?
As of 2019, cryptocurrency has been used as a decentralized alternative to traditional fiat currencies (which are usually backed by some central government) such as the US dollar (USD).
For the average person using cryptocurrency is as easy as:
- Get a digital wallet to store the currency.
- Use the wallet to create unique “public addresses” to receive currency.
- Transfer funds in or out of your wallet using public addresses.
How do I get cryptocurrency? If you want to get cryptocurrency you can mine it or trade goods and services for it. However, cryptocurrencies can be traded on exchanges and bought via brokers using dollars and other cryptocurrencies. Check out Coinbase for a broker/exchange/wallet solution.
What is a cryptocurrency address?: A public address is a unique string of characters used to receive cryptocurrency. Each public address has a matching private address that can be used to prove ownership of the public address. With Bitcoin the address is called a Bitcoin address. Think of it like a unique email address that people can send currency to as opposed to emails.
The History of Cryptocurrency
The first decentralized digital cryptocurrency can be traced back to “bit gold” (not to be confused with Bitgold), which was worked on by Nick Szabo between 1998 and 2005 but was never implemented.
Although bit gold is considered the first precursor to bitcoin, cryptocurrency pioneer David Chaum’s company DigiCash (a company founded in 1989 which attempted to innovate digital currency), Wei Dai’s b-money (a conceptual system published in 1998 which Satoshi cites it in the Bitcoin white paper), and “e-gold” (a centralized digital currency that started in 1996) are all notable early mentions.
With that history noted, modern digital currency starts in 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto (an anonymous person and/or group) released their paper detailing what would become Bitcoin.
Bitcoin became the first decentralized digital coin when it was created in 2008. It then went public in 2009.
As of 2019, Bitcoin is the most commonly known and used cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, other coins including Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and more are notable mentions.
Given the popularity of Bitcoin as well as its history, the term “altcoin” is sometimes used to describe alternative cryptocurrencies to bitcoin (especially coins with small market caps).
As of January 2015, there were over 500 different types of cryptocurrencies – or altcoins – for trade in online markets. However, only 10 of them had market capitalizations over $10 million.
As of September 2017, there were over 1,100 cryptocurrencies and the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies reached an all-time high surpassing $60 billion! Then, by December 2017, the total market cap reached $600 billion (a multiple of 10 in only two months).
In other words, although the future is uncertain, cryptocurrency seems to be more than just a fad. Today cryptocurrency is shaping up to be a growing market that (despite the pros and cons) is likely here for the long haul.
On this site, we explore every aspect of cryptocurrency. Simply choose a page from the menu, visit our “what is cryptocurrency” page for a more detailed explanation of cryptocurrency, or jump right in to the “how cryptocurrency works” section to start learning about transactions, mining, and public ledgers.