What is Cryptocurrency? | How Do You Use Crypto? | Who Needs Crypto?

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency, in general, is a form of digital currency that is not controlled by banks or governments. Bitcoin is just one of many cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are based on mathematical formulas which make them secure. They are created anonymously through the use of cryptography (a secret coding created through mathematics).

How Do You Use Crypto?

Cryptocurrencies can be used to pay for things in a variety of ways. To begin with, you can buy them on an exchange. You can also mine them by using your own computing power to solve complicated math problems. But the most common way people use digital coins is by trading them with each other over the internet.

Crypto-currencies are traded like normal currencies, but because they're decentralized, this means that no one country or institution controls the value of these virtual currencies. Instead, like any other currency, they're determined by supply and demand within the market.

You may have heard the term "mining" when it comes to crypto-currencies. Mining refers to a process where you use your computer's power to process transactions and secure the network using cryptography so that nobody else can do anything on that specific network while you're mining it. When you successfully mine a block, you receive a reward of coins that's paid out from everyone who has mined on that network up until then.

Who Needs Crypto?

Cryptocurrency is not only for the tech-savvy or financial guru. You don't need to be a computer scientist or understand complex algorithms to use cryptocurrency. Many people are trading, buying, and selling cryptocurrencies without any prior knowledge of how it all works. It's more about understanding how the digital currency works and what you're using it for rather than understanding the infrastructure that makes them work.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency. It’s not made of paper and metal like the dollar, peso, and euro. It’s made of lines of code.
When you get a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Lite coin, it doesn’t come with a physical form like a dollar bill. You don’t put it in your pocket, and it’s not part of your wallet. It’s just a set of numbers that changes hands between people online—kind of like an email or a file transfer.
Cryptocurrency is built on the idea that if you can control the information, you can control the money.
This means there are no central banks, no physical coins or bills, and no traditional financial institutions involved in any way. That also means it’s not backed by any government or even by gold or silver. It’s just backed by its own code and mathematics.