Bitcoin and Online Currency

How Cryptocurrencies Work

So what exactly are internet moneys and how do they operate? Well, they’re all about something known as a blockchain, which can be imagined as a notebook which everybody is able to view. Consider receiving or sending Bitcoin; either of these actions crediting or debiting an amount is recorded in a payment block. And chains are the links of blocks—boom! That's blockchain (Antonopoulos, 2014). This system of payment is tough to breach because once something is put down in writing, it’s held captive unless the entire network unanimously agrees to erase it (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016). There’s no need for a bank because the system takes care of everything for you.

Here's the brilliant part: regular people known as miners use super-speed computers to figure out complex mathematical problems in order to secure your transaction (Narayanan et al., 2016). But money sending is not everything. Ethereum has these genius "smart contracts" that automatically do things—like pay your friend only after he does a job (Solomon, 2019). Blockchain's so solid that even shipping and medical professionals are using it (Mougayar, 2016).