When I first heard of cryptocurrency, I thought it was similar to PayPal or Venmo … a simple, digital exchange of money. You can imagine my surprise when I learned that cryptocurrency wasn’t only a digital exchange, but an exchange of a completely new currency.
I could hardly wrap my mind around it. I was this emoji personified: 🤯.
How could a brand new (albeit invisible) currency work? What could you buy? Did people actually accept it? What stopped people from not believing in it?
Your Cryptocurrency Dictionary
Before we dive into the world of cryptocurrency, let’s review a few key terms frequently used in this guide and when discussing the concept.
Altcoins
Altcoins is slang for “alternative coins.” Altcoins refer to every other cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin.
Blockchain
All cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on the blockchain, a public record used to verify digital currency transactions and prevent scams. Transactions are recorded on blocks, and a new block is added to the chain roughly every 10 minutes. We explain blockchain further in the video below.
