Have you been hearing this word more and more and are still wondering what the hype is all about? I know that some of you are fully hooked on the idea, and if so this article is probably not for you. But there are so many that are still feeling confused and don’t really understand what it’s all about and therefore are very weary of the entire concept. I will try to explain as best I can how it all works, so please keep reading.
Bitcoin first made an appearance in 2009. Since then over 4,000 altcoins (alternative variants of bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies) have been created and more and more are being added on a daily basis. That’s not to say they will all be successful, time will tell!
Since its inception in 2009 many changes and upgrades have taken place making the process of buying, selling, as well as exchanging your Bitcoin and other altcoins to conventional currencies faster, cheaper and more user friendly. In some countries Bitcoin ATM’s can already be used to draw cash.
So let’s have a closer look at and define some of the terms you keep hearing and don’t really understand!
Crypto Currency
Basically crypto currency is a medium of exchange. It is a digital currency is designed/created using powerful cryptography in order to secure all transactions, control the creation of new units as well as controlling and verifying the transfer of all assets.
Decentralization
The principal where management and control are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Unlike today’s banking system where a handful of people control the entire world’s money!
Distributed Ledger Technology
This is the technology which serves as a public transaction database and is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data spread across multiple sites, numerous countries as well as institutions. This is the beauty of the system, and also what keeps the cryptocurrencies “decentralised”. There is no particular person, company or group in charge, unlike at our banks.
P2P
This stands for peer-to-peer transactions. Essentially what this means is that you can transfer cryptocurrencies to anyone you wish, directly. The beauty about this is, that there are no exchange controls, no excessive fees and no paperwork with questions as to why and what for. The action is instantaneous and private.
Mining
This is the process by which new cryptocurrencies are created and this procedure in undertaken by dedicated and specialized computers.
The role of these miners is to secure the network and to process every Bitcoin transaction. This process is achieved by solving computational problems which allows them to link/chain together blocks of transactions (hence the word “blockchain”).
For their services, miners are rewarded with newly-created Bitcoins and transaction fees.
There are many “Mining” companies and sites on the internet today. Some ask for an upfront payment to mine on your behalf, while others allow you to mine on their sites and make their money mainly from advertising and small percentages of what you are mining. But it you are new to the technology, this is a nice way to get started and familiarize yourself with how it all works.
Be careful however there are sharks out there, so in order to get you started, I will give you some trusted links (they have been around for a while and always pay) as well as a wallet you can use to store your mined crypto currencies.
Wallet
What is a wallet and why do you need one for your crypto assets?
Once you have either bought your crypto currencies through and exchange or mined them, you will require a safe place to store them. Exchanges are very public places, and prone to hackers. So whilst the exchange does supply you with a wallet to store your newly purchase coins, I would strongly advise against keeping your crypto currencies there for any length of time. Transfer them to your private wallet.
Here is a very nice video to watch, and he explains the process in easy to understand terms. Please leave a “like” on the video if you enjoyed it.
Useful links to start you on your mining adventure:
First, we need to open up a wallet for you. The Faucet links I will share with all pay directly into this wallet once you made a claim.
Coinpot is the one to use! so go ahead and register an account with them now before proceeding to the Faucets (mining sites) to begin your mining.
There are 7 different Faucets addresses which I will list and all of them pay into the Coinpot Wallet.
Within the Coinpot Wallet you can also mine directly. You will see the drop-down menu under each crypto currency and there will find a tab for mining. However, unless you have a dedicated PC doing only mining I would not suggest to open them all, because it may slow down your PC or laptop to much.
Be sure to read the rules carefully and adhere to them. If they ban you from the site, there is very little chance of you getting back into the site.
So have fun mining and familiarizing yourself with the new world of crypto currencies. It all seems overwhelming, but don’t worry we all had to start somewhere.
