Bitcoin for Beginners
Bitcoin (₿) is a cryptocurrency invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto and started in 2009 when its implementation was released as open-source software.It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin. Bitcoin has been praised and criticized. Critics noted its use in illegal transactions, the large amount of electricity used by miners, price volatility, and thefts from exchanges. Some economists, including several Nobel laureates, have characterized it as a speculative bubble. Bitcoin has also been used as an investment, although several regulatory agencies have issued investor alerts about bitcoin.
Bitcoin (₿) is a cryptocurrency invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto and started in 2009 when its implementation was released as open-source software.It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin. Bitcoin has been praised and criticized. Critics noted its use in illegal transactions, the large amount of electricity used by miners, price volatility, and thefts from exchanges. Some economists, including several Nobel laureates, have characterized it as a speculative bubble. Bitcoin has also been used as an investment, although several regulatory agencies have issued investor alerts about bitcoin.
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MAJOR
CRYPTOCURRENCY
ABBREVIATIONS
ASIC – Application Specific Integrated
Circuit - An application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC) miner is a device that is
designed for the sole purpose of mining—not
coal, but rather digital currency. Generally,
each ASIC miner is constructed to mine a
specific digital currency.
BFA - Brute Force Attack - During the bruteforce
attack, the intruder tries all possible
keys (or passwords), and checks which one of
them returns the correct plaintext.
Bech32 - Bitcoin address format (also known
as bc1 addresses) - A Bitcoin address, or
simply address, is an identifier of 26-35
alphanumeric characters, beginning with the
number 1, 3 or bc1 that represents a possible
destination for a bitcoin payment.
CPU - Central Processing Unit - Each
standard computer is equipped with a Central
Processing Unit (CPU), which is a processing
device that acts as a master of the whole
computer system.
BFT – Byzantine Fault Tolerance - The
characteristic known as " Byzantine fault
tolerance " (BFT) is one of those concepts
worth understanding. The ability to tolerate
what computer scientists call "byzantine
failures" is a crucial part of blockchains' ability
to maintain reliable records of transactions in
a transparent, tamper-proof way.
DAG - Directed Acyclic Graph - A DAG is a
different kind of data structure – think of it like
a database that connects different pieces of
information together. "Directed acyclic graph"
is a loaded term, so let's start by breaking it
down.
DAPP or dApp – Decentralized Application -
Decentralized applications (dApps) are digital
applications or programs that exist and run on
a blockchain or P2P network of computers
instead of a single computer, and are outside
the purview and control of a single authority.
DDoS – Distributed Denial of Service - A
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is
a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal
traffic of a targeted server, service or network
by overwhelming the target or its surrounding
infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.
DEVCON - Developers Conference - The
Developer Conference is a technical
conference for developers, hardware
engineers and architects working on IoT
solutions. Learn from the world's leading
companies and open source projects who will
present the information needed to lead
successful IoT developments.
GPU – Graphical Processing Unit - A
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is
a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal
traffic of a targeted server, service or network
by overwhelming the target or its surrounding
infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.
IPFS – Interplanetary Files System - The
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol
and peer-to-peer network for storing and
sharing data in a distributed file system.
PKI – Public Key Infrastructure - A public key
is a cryptographic code that allows users to
receive cryptocurrencies into their accounts.
The public key and the private key are the
tools required to ensure the security of the
crypto economy.
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