Solution
Azra S answered on
May 15 2020
Table of figures
Figure 1- (Crosby et al, 2016)
Figure 2- (Bhosale & Mavale, 2018)
Introduction
Since the invention of money and cu
encies, the world saw little change when it came to making transactions. All transactions have been ca
ied out through the exchange of coins for goods. These coins have been regulated by a government or governing entity.
As this continued for ages, humans thought little about the possibility of a cu
ency that wouldn't be governed at all. Essentially, how would that even be possible?
In 2008, that became possible through the invention of Bitcoins and the blockchain technology. That significant year, marked the birth of more than just a cu
ency, it marked the birth of a super-secure technology whose implications would go far and beyond the scope of mere transactions.
With the birth of blockchain came the birth of cryptocu
encies. Bitcoin was the first, followed by Litecoin and other coins that followed in succession. These coins laid the foundation for real digital cu
encies.
Blockchains and cryptocu
encies
ought about a whole world of changes into the digital world. Today, the applications of Blockchains are expanding. The scope has crossed over from the internet to private organizations and banks. The advantages of cryptocu
encies have outweighed their disadvantages and blockchains are gaining acceptance worldwide.
Even though governments of certain countries are trying to impose restrictions on these cu
encies, their growing value shows that there is little anyone can do to control the flourishing of this new monetary system.
Cryptocu
encies and Blockchain- An Intro
Cryptocu
ency has
ought about a revolution in the digital age. This revolution has been in the form of an independent cu
ency free from any external control. The technology that most cryptocu
encies use in order to maintain the independent and secure system is the Blockchain technology.
The blockchain technology was introduced in 2008. As a comparatively new technology, its workings remained a bit ambiguous to the populace until the surge in cryptocu
encies in 2014. The increase in the monetary value of cryptocu
encies to exponential levels drew everyone's attention and more studies started being conducted concerning its potential and use.
Special focus came about on the technology used thereof, namely Blockchain technology. Ultimately, blockchain was an ultra-secure system that couldn't be hacked and provided complete independence from any managing authority. In this light, blockchain technology started being studied for implications other than crypto-cash.
Today, studies reckon that the implications of the blockchain technology are many. In this report, we shall analyze related literature on block chains. We shall also discuss Blockchains, its
ief history and types of blockchains. In the end, we shall look at the possible uses of blockchains.
Even though blockchain technology was developed to provide a secure mode of transaction, it has incited the interest of researchers in other applications of this secure technology. In-depth study in most of these applications yet needs to be conducted (Yli-Huumo et al, 2016). However, what has been observed so far is that blockchain technology has plenty of applications such as "Governance, autonomous banks, keyless access, crowdfunding, financial derivatives trading, and settlement, all by using Smart Contracts and the potential is rather limitless". (Crosby et al, 2016).
The blockchain Ethereum has already provided the groundwork for the working of smart contracts in the afore-mentioned fields. What remains to be seen is the extent to which the blockchain can be used in its various forms to develop new systems, both for financial and nonfinancial use. (Buterin, 2014)
History of Cryptocu
encies
The birth of cryptocu
encies can be singularly credited to one man who goes by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. However, it is believed that Satoshi Nakamoto is the name of a group of programmers and not just one man and their identities remain in the dark till today. (Fa
el, 2015)
Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper in 2008, by the name of 'Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System' in which he discussed a cash system that would allow the flow of funds without the need for a regulating entity. This laid the groundwork or the basis for the introduction of blockchain technology to the world.
Cryptocu
encies are nothing but virtual cu
encies that are secured by blockchains. So the history of cryptocu
encies is intricately linked with that of blockchains.
After the introduction of the theory, the following year, an open source program implementing the techniques discussed in the paper was introduced with the initial Genesis block of 50 coins. The Bitcoin program was open (still is) and anyone could download the program, install it and become a peer in this peer-to-peer network. The next cryptocoin to come into the market after Bitcoin was Litecoin. Litecoin never really posed as a competition for Bitcoin, it was introduced to be a 'silver' to the 'gold' of Bitcoin. Litecoins are easier and quicker to mine. Since then, a variety of cryptocoins came into the market, however, none could challenge Bitcoin. The blockchains used by these coins were different and some came up with a lot of innovative uses for the blockchain, like Ethereum. This opened new doors of investigations into the applications of Bitcoin technology.
Types of Cryptocu
encies
Cryptocu
encies can be classified in various forms. They can be classed based on their blockchains. This would provide us with a huge list of cryptocu
encies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Peercoin, Dogecoin and so on. Figure 2 shows the market capitalizations of the various types of cryptocu
encies.
Another basis for classification could be Non-bitcoin criteria that classify cryptocu
encies as Bitcoins and Alt-coins. All cryptocu
encies that are not bitcoins are considered Alt-coins.
There has been little study on the functional classification of cryptocu
encies. A practical classification would be to classify cryptocu
encies as coins and tokens
Coins would refer to independent cryptocu
encies with their own blockchains, cu
ency, rules and governance structure. For example, Bitcoin, Litecoin etc
Tokens would refer to coins that are developed on some other coin's blockchain. The parent blockchain would have its own cu
ency and rules. An example would be TenX and Bat built on Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum's own cu
ency is Ether.
The blockchain is open source, which implies anybody can take the first source code and make something new with it. What's more, designers have done that recently, creating many other options to bitcoin and diverse utilization of blockchain innovation to oblige them. These bitcoin options are called altcoins.
There are three all-encompassing kinds of digital cu
ency:
1. Transactional cryptographic forms of money fill in as an approach to store and trade esteem. Illustrations incorporate bitcoin and litecoin.
2. Cryptographic money stages make a foundation to fa
icate new blockchain application. Ethereum is a case of a digital money stage worked to run keen contracts. Factom enables engineers to construct secure record-keeping applications.
3. Cryptographic money applications are based on digital cu
ency stages. Anything from introductory coin contributions (ICOs) used to raise start-up assets to things like the 0x Project, which makes a decentralized trade for different digital cu
encies (or whatever else).
The Blockchain technology
The Blockchain technology is basically a ledger that collects and holds the list of all the transactions taking place through. In order to understand the basis of this transaction, let us take an example using the basic token of Blockchain technology i.e....