Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a type of currency which uses digital files as money. Often, people create these files using the same ways as cryptography (the science of hiding information). Cryptocurrency users can use Digital signatures to keep the transactions safe, and to let other people check that the transactions are real.^[1][2][3] The creators of the first cryptocurrencies made them to be free of government-given currencies.

No single person controls cryptocurrencies. Instead they are decentralized and controlled by many people.^[4] This is different from 'centralized' electronic money and central banks, which a small group of people control.^[5] The control of each cryptocurrency works through a distributed ledger (a list of transactions shared by everyone), usually a blockchain.^[6] This lets everyone know all of the financial transactions that happen.^[7]

Bitcoin, first released as open-source software in 2009, is famous because it was the first decentralized cryptocurrency.^[8] Since then, people have created more than 4,000 cryptocurrencies (sometimes called altcoins, or alternative coins). ^[9]

1. ↑ Andy Greenberg (20 April 2011). "Crypto Currency". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
2. ↑ Cryptocurrencies: A Brief Thematic Review Archived 2017-12-25 at the Wayback Machine. Economics of Networks Journal. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Date accessed 28 august 2017.
3. ↑ Schueffel, Patrick (2017). The Concise Fintech Compendium. Fribourg: School of Management Fribourg/Switzerland. Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
4. ↑ McDonnell, Patrick "PK" (9 September 2015). "What Is The Difference Between Bitcoin, Forex, and Gold". NewsBTC. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
5. ↑ Allison, Ian (8 September 2015). "If Banks Want Benefits of Blockchains, They Must Go Permissionless". NewsBTC. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
6. ↑ Walters, Steve (27 Sep 2017). "Beginners Guide to Blockchains". Coin Bureau. Retrieved 25 Jun 2018.
7. ↑ Matteo D’Agnolo. "All you need to know about Bitcoin". timesofindia-economictimes. Archived from the original on 2015-10-26.
8. ↑ Sagona-Stophel, Katherine. "Bitcoin 101 white paper" (PDF). Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 Aug 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
9. ↑ "Number of cryptocurrencies worldwide from 2013 to November 2021". Statista.