YOUR JOURNEY INTO CRYPTO
Welcome to Crypto Resources. Here you will find essential resources for your entry into cryptocurrencies.
WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY?
Have you ever traveled in a different country? One of the first things you probably did was visit a bank and exchange your money for the local currency. A Benjamin can buy you a nice dinner in the States, but if you want to enjoy fine dining in Italy, then you’ll need some euros! Investing in cryptocurrency is similar to exchanging your money in a new country. Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ether are a few examples of “foreign currencies” that work in a very specific context within certain online communities. Exchanging any type of currency is built upon shared trust. We value dollars and Euros because we know that we can purchase goods or services with them.
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.
TYPES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
The first blockchain-based cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, which still remains the most popular and most valuable. Today, there are thousands of alternate cryptocurrencies with various functions and specifications. Some of these are clones or forks of Bitcoin, while others are new currencies that were built from scratch.
Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by an individual or group known by the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto." In February of 2021, there were over 18 million bitcoins which, for the first time in history, topped $1 billion in market value.
Some of the competing cryptocurrencies spawned by Bitcoin’s success, known as "altcoins," include Litecoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Cardano. Today, the aggregate value of all the cryptocurrencies in existence is over $1.4 Trillion.