It took a revolution to get us here! Yes, I’m not kidding, not one, it took several of these actually. Let’s go back into history a little bit – to 6000 B.C. (Go on, read ahead, don’t be afraid xD)
It was then that the concept of currency originated – to have a common system to express an exchange of value. That’s how the Barter System came into being. The challenges, however, were many. Eventually this system evolved to include more widely accepted forms of exchange like cowrie shells, precious metals, coins, and finally the modern-day banking system as we know it.
Bank Notes to Bitcoin: The Journey
Those who designed the banking system did a great job at building interconnectivity across geographies, currencies, and even across governments. As time passed, slowly and steadily the inequities of the banking system unfolded. Citizens across the world sought a stronger, more powerful, and transparent system to hold, and transfer their money – a system without the scope of MONOPOLY AND CENTRALIZED POWER.
That, my friends, was the BIRTH OF BITCOIN.
Bitcoin: The Future of Currency
In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto (a person or group) did something extraordinary. There was chatter since late 2008 (after the Great Recession) about the need for a peer-to-peer exchange of currency without any intermediary. Satoshi got right down to it, made the algorithm, and uploaded it in the form of a whitepaper for public use.
It was just a matter of time before the genius of this network would be adopted, and would change the lives of millions almost permanently.
The Concept of Blockchain
Remember the time when our ancestors painstakingly kept all records in registers – via pen and paper? Think of the Blockchain of a similar record, but with some key characteristics.
Blockchain is:
- A public digital ledger
- Fully transparent
- Fully secure
Blockchain is an extremely vast concept with several use cases. It is the foundation of all cryptocurrencies, and without a blockchain no cryptocurrencies would have existed.
Types of Currencies:
There are over 20,000 currencies out there at the time of writing this article. But you don’t have to worry too much, because it boils down to three main categories:
- Mother Coin: Bitcoin
- Meme Coins: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, etc.
- Fundamental Coins: Ether, Binance Coin, Matic, etc.
Now that you’ve started with the basics of Blockchain and Crypto, give yourself a pat on your back because you’ve set out on a journey to understand its past, and explore endless opportunities.
In the following blogs, you will learn about cryptocurrency mining, exchanges, wallets, top cryptocurrencies to invest in, crypto review and analysis, and much more.
