Let’s start with a very simple description of Bitcoin…. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, based on an open-source software design, that is used to transmit value between pseudonymous users. All transactions, after being confirmed by miners using PoW as the consensus mechanism, are stored on a distributed ledger, called a blockchain. Changes to the blockchain are append-only and are synchronized about every10 minutes across thousands of nodes located all over the world over a P2P network. All information stored on the blockchain can be viewed publicly, in real-time. Cryptographic techniques such as public-key cryptography, hash functions, and digital signatures are used to keep the blockchain secure and immutable so it can be accessible to everybody but hackable to nobody. Got all that? But as you can clearly see, the crypto world is full of technical jargon!
Jumping into crypto introduces a large number of terms that most people will be unfamiliar with. The crypto world seems to have its own language and those wishing to learn about the topic can quickly become overwhelmed with all the jargon, acronyms, and other technical terms. But if you really want to understand cryptocurrencies and how they are different, it’s really important that you do familiarize yourself with certain core foundational concepts. My goal is to cover terms and phrases that you may initially not know, but do need to know. Together, we will blast jargon into smithereens so you’re able to easily speak the language of the crypto world with ease.