Steemit Crypto Academy Season 4 Beginners' course - Task 3: The Genesis Block

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is secured by cryptography making it impossible to forgery or double spending. A digital asset based on a decentralized network. They are virtual tokens that allow for secure payment online by a ledger entry internal to the system.

The word cryptocurrency is coined from cryptography an ancient Greek word synonymous with the word encryption. Which is converting an information to unintelligible nonsense that can only be understood by the recipient.

Cryptocurrencies function on decentralization eliminating any form of third party. There is no center control, owners of the cryptocurrencies have absolute control over their assets. Unlike our traditional bank where all activities are overseen by a third party.

What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?

Cryptocurrency is derived from encryption techniques used to secure the network which is cryptography. In cryptocurrency this cryptography is given in form of keys, there is the private keys and public keys they both work hand in hand.

The public key is the wallet address while private key is used to sign transactions. To make a transaction, a coin is transferred to the wallet address which you would give the sender which is encrypted on the public key and recorded on the ledger. To gain access to the coin sent, you would need need to decrypt it, this is done using the private key.

These keys are very important especially the private key, the loss of your key would mean you can't decrypt and as such cannot access your cryptocurrency. This makes cryptocurrencies very secure because anyone who would want to get a hold of your money cannot without your key which is peculiar to just you and you alone.

Cryptography prevents sensitive data from been compromised and falling into the wrong hands. Information can only be received by the designated recipient. Transactions are secure, anonymous and duplicate transactions are avoided with cryptography.

Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion

The Steem Genesis Block can be accessed using the website https://steemworld.org/.

In this case;
1st step: visit https://steemworld.org/
2nd step: Click on Block explorer

3rd step: click on "OK"

4th step: You'll be able to see details of the Block Genesis

• Timestamp : 2016-03-24 17:05:00 UTC + 1
• Block ID : 0000000109833ce528d5bbfb3f6225b39ee10086
• The Previous Block ID is not available because there is no previous.
• 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
• Witness : initminer

5th step:Now sign in

6th step: Log in with your private posting key

Done

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies have become a vital part of the finance today. It has become a day to day secure currency of exchange and this could not have been possible without the cryptography.