Key term you need to understand when beginning your crypto journey.

Cryptocurrency is the new phase of money which aimed at replacing the old traditional banking system where you need your bank permission to complete a transaction. Crypto aim is to eliminate that discomfort and put your own money in your own hand.

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Cryptography makes Cryptocurrencies as safe has it could get. With all these advantages cryptocurrencies brings, it no surprise that its popularity will keep on growing been widely accepted mostly by the younger generations. They are so many crypto terms that will sound like a different language if you not familiar with them. So in this post I will be covering some of the important crypto terms to help us better understand when next we hear that word.

• Altcoins:

These are cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Each of this cryptocurrencies has its own set of properties, rules and specific use cases. In some cases altcoins can be a completely new technology or a forks of existing cryptocurrencies.

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• All-time high and all-time low:

Cryptocurrencies are very volatiles in nature so most time before investing in a token you need to investigate it price form the first day of the project to be able to know how the price has either grown or decline over that period. So all-time high refer to the highest price of that asset since been in existence and the opposite goes for all-time low.

• Bull market:

This describe a situation where the market price of most top token are generally trending upward over some period of time and holders and traders have a positive perception.

• Bear market:

This is a reverse situation of the bull market where most top coins are trending downward and the public have a negative perception of the market.

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• Blockchain:

This is a very common term use in the crypto word and it no surprise because blockchain is where all information and transactions are stored in a decentralized way. This data are duplicated and distributed/spread across network of computers systems on that blockchain. Blockchain is usually operated by either miners or validators which does not require a central authority to operate.

• Block:

Blockchain are made up of blocks linked together with a chain, so when a block is filled with information, another block is created and the old block join the blockchain. Each block contains cryptographic reference which makes tampering with a block almost impossible and this create trust among cryptocurrency users.

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-Block reward:

Remainder in the above definition I said a new block is created after an old block is filled so the people in charge of creating this blocks are called miner or validator depending on the consensus. So these people are rewarded for their effort of creating blocks with a token. On this platform, those in charge of creating blocks are called witnesses so it is important to vote for your witness so they can be selected for creating blocks.

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• Consensus:

This has a lot of definitions but when we are referring to cryptocurrency, consensus means the method which is agreed upon by all blockchain participants on what should be included into the blockchain. So there are two main consensus use by crypto network and there are proof-of-work and proof-of-stake so this is what will determine if the block creator are either miners (PoW) or validator (PoS).

• Cryptography:

This is what keeps information safe and secure from hackers. Cryptography uses a method called hashing to secure information in the blockchain. Hashing in a simple team is a way of coding an information in a unique way by using set of numbers and alphabet and that information can only be decode by a computer with the same hash function. This process and use of private and public keys has been keeping information safe on blockchain.

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• Dapp:

Decentralized application (Dapp) are program or application run on blockchain networks and uses smart contracts to secure information. Ethereum protocol is the most widely adopted smart contract platform with hundreds of Dapps built on it.

Conclusion

Cryptocurreny is getting recognized every day and it important to know all the related terms so you will be able to join a conversation with friends when every a crypto related discussion comes up. I will be making a second part of this post because there are still many terms to cover so hoping to see you soon. Thank you for reading.

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