Steemit Crypto Academy Season 5 Beginners' course - Task 3: The Genesis Block by @yakeen20
Introduction
Question 3
3a) What is Cryptocurrency?
b) What is Cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies secure?
c) Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion.
a. What is a cryptocurrency?
The Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency used in performing transactions, buying online goods and services, and trading or exchanging other currencies. There are more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies traded in the world. Cryptocurrency is decentralized and digital which means that it can't be stored in a physical state but rather online.
Their decentralized nature also makes it impossible for no other third party to have any influence on them including the government or the central banks. They are being maintained and controlled by their users and also the consensus algorithms they operate on. They are also used as a medium of exchange especially in exchanging cryptocurrencies.
The first-ever cryptocurrency to have been launched in the world is the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is currently the dominant currency ranked first in the crypto market. There are other currencies challenging the Bitcoin currency and they include, Ethereum, Ripple, Dogecoin, Litecoin, etc.
On the 31st of October 2008, Bitcoin was first launched by a mysterious individual called Satoshi Nakamoto whose identity is unknown to date.
The genesis block of Bitcoin was first mined on 3rd January 2009 by this unknown individual (Satoshi Nakamoto) and an amount of 50 Bitcoin was seen in the first transaction performed.
The first transaction or block mined on the Bitcoin blockchain is termed as the Bitcoin Genesis Block (Block 0).
| Advantages of Cryptocurrency | Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency |
|---|---|
| They are safe and secured in making transactions | permanent loss of one's account when one's private key is hacked or missing |
| They help in performing transactions at high speed | There are high fluctuations in the market due to its volatility. |
| There are low transactions fees with cryptocurrencies | There is a high risk of getting stolen or attack due to its dependence on the internet |
Question 2
b.What is cryptography and how does it make cryptocurrencies safe?
What is Cryptography
Cryptography is a method of securing transactions performed on a blockchain network by making sure that no messages are leaked to the public/any other third party through the use of codes on the blockchain network. Cryptography is from the two Greeks words "Cryptos" which means "hidden or secret" and "Grafe" which means "writing". This means that cryptography is the process of writing information or communication secretly without any leakage to any third party other than the receiver. Cryptography is in two types and I would briefly explain them in my article. They include; Asymmetric and symmetric cryptography
Asymmetric Cryptography:- This is a type of cryptography that requires the use of two separate keys in its processing i.e. the Public key and the Private Key. The Public key is used in encrypting the message whilst the Private key is used in decrypting the message by the receiver. This implies that asymmetric cryptography deals with the use of both the Public Key and the Private Key in order to send and receive messages secretly between two parties. The Private should be kept secret and shouldn't be known to anyone else other than the owner.
Symmetric Cryptography:- This is a type of cryptography that requires only the use of a single key in sharing and transferring information or messages between two parties. The key used here is the Private Key which is also called the Secret Key. As the name suggests its must be kept secret between the two individuals only and shouldn't be disclosed to any other person. The same Key is used in encrypting and decrypting messages unlike in the case of the asymmetric where two differents keys were used in performing each task separately. Symmetric cryptography is not secured as compared to asymmetric cryptography due to the use of only one key.
How does CryptoGraphy make cryptocurrencies secure?
Asymmetric cryptography is utilized in the securing of cryptocurrencies and as said earlier it uses two separate keys i.e. Public key and Private Key. Over here, the Public Key is first used to encrypt the message and the Private Key of the Public key used is used to decrypt the message sent by the sender. The Private key is used in securing cryptocurrencies wallets through the use of the alphanumeric codes being generated by the cryptography.
Question 3
c) Explore the Steem Genesis Block and Sign in as proof of completion.
The Genesis Block
The Genesis Block as the word genesis suggests it's meaning " beginning" refers to the beginning of the first block of a blockchain. Every block and their genesis block. It represents the established order of a blockchain network. The Bitcoin Genesis Block created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 is a good example of it. Satoshi Nakamoto first mined the genesis block of Bitcoin in 2009.
The Steem Genesis Block
Steem's genesis block is Block 0 and not Block 1 as we saw in Bitcoin and other currencies. The genesis block of steem was first created on the 24th of March 2016. I would illustrate practically how to locate the steem Genesis Block.
Step 1:- First of all click and visit the steemworld.org
Step 2:- Click on Sign In to login with your account details
Step 3:- Enter your username (yakeen20) and then your Private Posting Key in the spaces provided as indicated below.
Step 4:- Click on Block Explorer after successfully signing In.
Step 5:- As stated already that the genesis block of steem is block 1 so we can see from the screenshot below. We then click on OK to further continue.
Step 6:- Check and confirm the detailed information of Steem Genesis (Block 1). They include Timestamp, Block Id, Previous Id, Signing Key, Witness, Witness Signature, Transaction Merkle Root, Extensions, etc. as shown below.
Conclusion
To conclude I would like to summarize what has been done in this article so far. First of all, we looked at the basis of cryptocurrency where we looked at the definition of cryptocurrency and its uses. We also looked at the advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrencies. We further went on and looked at what cryptography is and we briefly talked about the two types of cryptography.
Moreover, we looked at how cryptography secures cryptocurrencies. We again explore more about the genesis block and we also did explore the genesis block of steem blockchain
I would like to say thank you to professor @awesononso for such a wonderful lecture taught this week and I look forward to participating in your subsequent homework tasks.
Thank You.
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