Welcome to our getting started guide on cryptocurrencies for beginners.
A few things you should know:
- The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is about nine years old! It was created in 2009 as free, open source software written by an anonymous “Satoshi Nakamoto”.
- There are now hundreds of different cryptocurrencies in existence today.
- Most, but not all, cryptocurrencies allow anyone to participate in creating new coins using computers, called “mining”. This helps to secure the decentralized network.
- The fundamental technology used by cryptocurrencies is called “blockchain”. It might be surprising but blockchain is also useful in all sorts of other sectors than finance, including real estate, government, health care and more!
- Some cryptocurrencies and related projects were started by “Initial Coin Offerings”. These allow early investors to participate in crowdfunding new ideas and applications and are regulated.
Here are some great places to dive into learning more cryptocurrencies:
- Use the Cheddur phone app for a personal guide through cryptocurrency. https://www.cheddur.com/
- Explore the “Blockchain 101” pages at CoinCenter.org. https://coincenter.org/learn
- Read more about the new paradigm of Initial Coin Offerings in this report by Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ru/Documents/financial-services/us-cons-new-paradigm.pdf
- Take the online course “Bitcoin and Blockchain Technologies” at Coursera, taught by Princeton University or “Introduction to Digital Currencies” taught by the University of Nicosia (Cyprus). https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency and https://digitalcurrency.unic.ac.cy/free-introductory-mooc/
- Curious about how mining works? You can explore the concept and even mine some “Electroneum” at MineKitten.io (this is not an endorsement of ETN). http://minekitten.io/
- Want to buy some cryptocurrency? You can sign up for an account at Coinbase or Gemini to get started. https://www.coinbase.com/ or https://gemini.com/
Other important ideas to explore in more depth are Blockchain and Initial Coin Offerings. We will add guides to those soon!
Original post from Blockchain Library at https://blockchainlibrary.org/2017/12/understanding-cryptocurrencies-a-rookies-guide/