When I decided it might be fun to write this post, the first thing I did was google the definition. Not because I didn't know what it was (basically), but there definitely was a time in the not so distant past when that was the case, and I would be surprised if there are no new people on this platform in the same boat:
cryp·to·cur·ren·cy
ˈkriptōˌkərənsē/
noun
a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.
"decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin now provide an outlet for personal wealth that is beyond restriction and confiscation"
Origin
early 21st century: from crypto- and currency.
But truthfully I was delightfully surprised by the fact that I actually understood everything that was said there. My chest puffed out with pride as I thought "Yup, digital currency, mhmm, encryption...independent of central banks, got that, decentralized-totally got that.
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Upon investigating further, I realized I actually knew way more than I initially thought, how it isn't issued by any central authority and theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation (though the theoretically gave me a bit of pause that I made note of) but still, I felt pretty damn good about myself!
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Buttt.. then I came to the part about cryptography and how it controls the creation of additional units and found my eyes beginning to glaze..
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...but only for a moment! I'd gotten this far, I knew this much, surely I could do a little reading and get even further!
I quickly learned that cryptography is essentially taking plain text and scrambling it into ciphertext (encrypting, yes, I totally know this!) Then apparently back again which is called decryption-made complete sense so far.
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The purpose of cryptography concerns Confidentiality, Integrity and Non-repudiation, or in layman's terms: The information can't be understood by anyone it's not intended for, can't be altered in storage or transit between sender and receiver without being detected, and the sender of the information can't deny their intentions in creating the transmission at a later time.
What I read next was of utmost importance in my mind, the words Finite Supply. To my understanding; after several pages of what amazingly didn't give me a splitting headache since tech-savvy I am NOT; each one of these cryptocurrencies are designed to have a limited amount, and while mining them periodically produces new units, even that becomes fewer and fewer until miners only receive fees for their work.
This type of built in scarcity supports value, and a lot like precious stones and metals there might be protection against inflation. (Again I had to pause at the words "might be" for further thought)
Most importantly, to me, cryptocurrency offers a means of exchange outside the control of central banks, and the fact that they need to be mined means there is a self-policing mechanism built in.
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Okay, I realize this is a very small fraction of what there is to know about this subject. In fact I now have several pages bookmarked for further study. But all in all I am quite impressed with myself, though mostly it is steemit that impresses me, I would know nothing if it were not for this platform. And if there are others like me out there, who struggle with these concepts, I like to think this could serve as in introduction for them.
After I delve a bit deeper into cryptocurrency I will begin working on the concept of the blockchain. Yeah, I know, steemit is part of the blockchain. I also know that anything written on the blockchain is there for good. But recently a short discussion with @neoxian caused me to realize that the 'adding of new blocks' was not only something I hadn't ever thought about, I had no idea what that meant. (He was kind enough to offer assistance should I need any...so if you're reading this neo, be prepared for some upcoming questions)
Okay, so I will be looking into this, as well as nodes, crowdfunding, and ermmm, Merkle Root? Merkel Tree? Merkling?
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But I am feeling pretty confident now, that by the time I'm finished reading and asking pertinent questions, I will no longer be the 'clueless crypto girl' I once was. Instead I'll be someone that people come to with questions...hell yeah, that's the optimism I need!
Let's do this!
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I imagine this post made it very obvious I am a fan of the show Supernatural, though it would be more accurate to say that I am a fan of my daughter who is a Super Fan of the show Supernatural. I actually met these guys in person at one day of a convention I took her to last year, and this year I'll be doing the entire three day weekend...and yes there will be a post ;)
For all of the newbies to this subject, if this helped you gain even a small grasp on the matter I'm glad, but please don't hesitate to ask questions, I'll do my best (or seek out someone who can help).
For all of the experts on the the subject, please feel free to add whatever you'd like to the comments. Every new thing I learn is one step away from clueless and toward amateur at least :) Besides it might be helpful to others like me who happen to open this post.
Generously created for me by @son-of-satire
I love this post haha, pretty soon you're gonna be trading like a pro!
Thank you, and I hope so! I have a bitpay card on the way, so definitely soon I will make my first actual purchase financed by my creativity on steemit :) I intend to continue building my sp, so it won't be a large purchase, but something I can do a marketing style post for those out there who are suspect of the monetary aspect of the platform, I'm actually hoping this can coincide with the meetup in some way :)
(Just waiting for you to name the time :)
As a Supernatural fan, I'm jealous. That was some good research.
The convention I went to was really fun, if you ever have a chance I recommend it. The cast is very laid back, the whole thing has an informal feeling to it for the most part.
Thank you!
Watch thing like their blopper. Thats the impression I get.
This is a nice layman's write up. Just a small clarification, Steemit runs on a blockchain, but you could be careful saying "the blockchain". Some people may get the impression there is one big blockchain that everything runs on.
Blockchain is like an accounting ledger book recording transactions. There are many of these blockchains and in general different cryptocurrencies are running their own blockchains. Just like each company would have its own accounting ledger, each cryptocurrency usually is on its own blockchain.
Today Bitcoin is the oldest and biggest by market value, so when you say the blockchain, people may think you're referring to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Ah, thank you very much for this. As I mentioned, blockchain is something I'm not well-versed on and comments of this nature are a big help as I start delving into it :)
This type of breakdown is really helpful! I'm new to Steemit and have read different articles about cryptocurrency on here but not fully understood. This made me feel like I'll really be able to catch on!
Thank you, that's awesome to hear :) I know, it is very daunting, and I really did not have a clue for a long time about it either. Welcome @ceciliakeirstead, I hope you love it here like I do!
Thanks for doing a lot of the leg work for the rest of us who have been putting off actually finding out how some things work around here. :)
Excellent post @dreemit. Very informative and amusing at the same time!
Thanks @tonyr! It was after reading through some more in depth articles about crypto that I thought, all kidding aside, it might actually be something that I should do for those like myself. Particularly myself when I first joined the platform :)
As with most things in life Dreemit once we jump in we wonder what all the worrying was about. :)
I'm sure I've said it before but you are a credit to the community here @dreemit and a great example to the rest of us! :)
That is definitely true--the first part :) As to the second, thank you for saying so @tonyr, and you are a terrific edition. I saw @everlove's post thanks to your resteem, I have a feeling that going to your page will be a great place to find posts like that one!
Thank you!
I'm enjoying Reborn very much! Only finished the first two chapters but your writing is fantastic @dreemit!! You really are very talented and there are lots of really talented writers on the platform. I am honestly quite surprised at the standard of writing throughout steemit! I hope that doesn't sound rude or offend anyone! :)
Got your lovely message and I will respond as soon as possible. I'm not as practiced a writer as you though and takes me a while to get some thoughts together....and even longer to type.:)
I've just discovered @clayborn who has some very thoughtful things to say!
I'm glad you're enjoying the book...it reminds me that your brother hasn't put up a new chapter of his in quite some time (he did warn me that it was a decade long endeavor, but I thought he meant the series not the first book LOL!!) His writing is also excellent, and yes there are a number of great writers here :)
No worries on taking your time.
I actually meant to recommend @clayboyn to you, I'm glad you found him.
You are definitely right there, @son-of-satire is a fantastic writer!!! and I'm sure the next chapter is well worth the wait!! :)
<3
The best advice I have for people who are starting in this world is to use youtube to get different perspectives (miners, traders, programmers etc.) on a particular blockchain protocol you are interested in. Everyone will be able to give you their "truth" mixed with their "opinion", and its up to you to collect all the truths and form your own opinion. Good luck to everyone!
Haha, thank you for your input, (and your pics ) :)
Great post my friend, we are constantly learning more and more everyday, but when it comes to anything supernatural, it is a must look into! :)
Thank you, and LOL to the second part. Did you read any of the other comments? Apparently they are recording the trailers for supernatural across the street from @icanrant's. Oh the envy! hahaha.
No I didn't read that, I have just enough time to read the blog-posts-chapters when I can, to even look at the other comments is beyond my capability at the moment. I am spread far and wide across this community it is keeping me focused to say the least. And yeah that is crazy cool to hear, guess you need to make that network connection and fly over!
I bet you're glad you took the leap
I think I only got in on it since march myself haha
woah this post really took off congrats
Actually, correction, I just skipped down my page and found the one I did on the Ithaca Children's garden/kid's anarchy zone is over 120 :) That's an awesome place.
I am eternally glad I took the leap. Though more for the sake of this platform and the incredible people I've met, and continue to meet. Seriously, it's amazing how many deep thinkers and like-minded individuals I've found here, making this world feel so much...more hopeful? I think that's the right way of putting it. Especially since it truly involves the world, is finally the global media site others boast about.
Damn, it has! I hadn't looked at it in awhile...I've had a few posts recently in the ninety dollar range, but this is the record breaker, nice :) Thank you!
Wish I could give you an extra upvote for peppering with Supernatural gif illustrations XD
Another fan? Sweeettt. Haha, I love that show. I started watching it right from the pilot with my husband. But at one point, I think season six, life got busy and I lost track for a little bit. Then my daughter got really into it and pulled me back in :) Last year I got to briefly meet 'Sam and Dean', this year I get to meet a few of the others like Crowley...and actually John Winchester/Negen is going to be there too, exciting!
I can't remember if I caught it from the pilot but we caught up pretty quickly.
I eventually kind of drifted off partly because I thought it was getting a bit silly and mostly because I had to start really choosing where I was throwing time :<
The character dynamics was my favourite thing about the show :)
Before I dived deep into AI, cryptography was far and away favorite CS topic. Even when I was a kid, I was so interested in encryption and decryption, that it was only augmented by the additional knowledge I gained. It's so nice that services like Steemit make it more accessible for everyone. I find it funny that it allows people to easily understand the topics, when crypto essentially does the opposite haha!
I don't know if it would've helped, but I think reading about blockchain technology first would've made reading about cryptocurrencies easier.
It would be just like me to do it backwards, lol! Though I started unintentionally learning a little bit about crypto, simply for being here and curious about how steem works.
I say that for the benefit of the others you're influencing here, that maybe the backward is the best way to go about it. I learned it the same way you did, so it's all good :D
Excellent approach my friend! I love your way of thinking. Life is learning, especially in the crypto world.
What a funny idea to describe your facial expressions through these animated hot boys 😄 I was totally following you and probably would have looked the very same way, haha!
See you soon (hopefully)
Oh, thank you! Actually, I just sent a chat to @andrarchy to see how his schedule looks for those days, I'm already trying to get that ball rolling. And in fact the real inspiration for this post is that I have a bitpay card on the way to me in the mail that might get here by then--and this is part of what I wrote to andrarchy--I have a plan to make a marketing style post of my first purchase using money earned on steemit, it would be fantastic if it could coincide with us meeting up--"steemit pays for my meal at a restaurant with amazing members surfermarly, andrarchy, etc" That really would be awesome! Though even if it doesn't arrive in time, meeting up would be amazing!
That is too cool!!! Would be great to see you guys there and even do some cool promotion on steemit :) Love your energy!!!
Great post! Here's the best explanation of the blockchain I've ever seen. Might be useful when explaining this stuff to people.
Thank you! Doubly thank you for the link, I have been making more of a concentrated effort to learn and understand these things recently.
The truth is my husband is well-versed in all of it, so I've been able to be a cheerleader for steemit, talking to people about the wide variety of areas of interest and how you can make 'money' from your creative effort as well as make awesome connections and friends, then have him jump in to explain the more technical aspects.
But recently I've stumbled into a couple situations when he wasn't there to do that for me. So initially I was going to have him teach me, but then I decided that I would learn as much as I could on my own first. Basically because he's a really busy guy right now and I'd rather avoid using up our quality time on things I can do for myself :)
I love that. Many people look for shortcuts but often the best path is the long, tedious one. We learn along the way through our own personal experience in ways no teacher or mentor could translate to us. I'm glad to hear another person diving into the details and understanding just how awesome all this stuff is.
Thank you for saying that, it's very encouraging and having it in mind will help me to not push it to the backburner. I couldn't agree more about the long road often being the best one.
You have always been a tremendous asset to this site, I'm really glad you decided to take the next step and become a witness!
Thanks for your support. :)
You sucked me in with the Supernatural photo. (My daughter is a superfan, too.)
Great write-up, BTW.
Well then, we have one pretty big thing in common, haha! Does she have an entire room filled with posters and merchandise? I feel like I'm walking into a Supernatural store when I enter her domain.
Thank you!
She did a photo opp last year with Castiel. This year, it's Jared P.
I do not want to sound like I'm one upping, but Zoe did the J&J combo and the singles last year. This year it's singles of j&j, one with misha (cas) one with misha and jared, and one with me, the trickster and crowley...and I believe the john winchester (aka negen) is still up in the air. Unless it sold out now, I haven't asked lately....and I will tell you that those lines are a pain in the feet to wait in over and over LOL. Did you do the whole three day thing? We didn't last year, but this year, yup. Although I have to say that I'm glad about that, I feel like there will be more time to enjoy everything rather than the majority of it spent in lines.
At the risk of sounding ridiculous, our daughters would be instant friends. supernatural fandom bonds you for life :)
My daughter went solo, and just did Misha last year. They did a Charlie's Angels pose. It's to die for.
She hit the convention in Chicagoland.
My wife might go along this year, not sure...
I've started suggesting to my daughter that she might enjoy this platform, because of the endorphin rush of people clicking on stuff and that giving you money.
I've been dragged to watching the show a little; but my daughter's other obsession is Benedict. She'll watch anything with him in it.
Solo! Good for her :) We went to PIttsburgh , about a five hour drive. I like the show, no dragging necessary. I really liked it when it first started, when she was just a child, then at some point I lost interest. But when she became passionate about it I thought it would be a nice thing to share with her, and actually I found myself really enjoying it again. My husband liked it in the beginning, but he could not regain interest, ha.
Actually it would be more my son's nature to enjoy the endorphin rush of this platform.
I don't think I"m familiar with Benedict.
Benedict Cumberbatch; my kid's on a first-name basis with him.
awesome article about cryptocurrency. Keep it up :)
Thanks! If I can continue to learn and find ways to help others learn in a simple and fun way, I just might :)
Sure. :) You did a great job writing this article about cryptocurrency.
Didn't understand a word but BOY Jensen Ackles is so bldy hot phewwww
Isn't he @karen54? I can't breathe! @dreemit, you will have to write about him now as a present for all of us. We are waiting, and impatiently... tic... tic... tic...
To true, would be a dream to meet him :)
Humm, I share your dream! Wish you a lovely Sunday evening @karenb54! =)
If I met him I wouldn't let go :) Hope you enjoy lovely Sunday too @manandezo :)
Didn't understand a word because you were distracted by Mr. Hot Stuff you mean? LOL
Too right, that man is amazing, I love Supernatural :)
You know I do ;)
I will try to read your post later, Jensen Ackles mesmerized me and I got mislead...
Hahaha!! He will definitely do that my friend :)
Jokes apart, I am a total dumb about cryptocurrency. I know the basic, but the intermediate and the advanced... I tried hard to know about, but... better continue posting my poems, literature and all I do like about history. (But I know I have to know it well!)
I feel you, I am only a fraction away from being clueless about it even still. But I am learning slowly :) However, a part from this, it's very unlikely you'll see me posting about it...maybe one more later on when I've gotten a handled on the blockchain :)
Informative! Also interesting is how do you report it on your tax return?
If you never turn it back into Fiat money (government issued money). Then there's no taxes. If you do then you report it as Capital gain taxes. In the US that is. I think thats a bad move. Every day there seem to more ways to buy things with cryptocurrency.
Really? I didn't know you could buy things with Steem!
That sounds sarcastic. I'll upvoted anyway.
Actually I'm serious! Haha. What can you buy?
I have seen people sell their artwork and even sugar cane for steem and steemdollars. And there are projects popping up like @steemshop.
So Steem is the new bartering system?
To my knowledge until recently it wasn't taxable (in the US) but the IRS has put in something where you have to claim it as capital gains. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks
as a supernatural fan, i can tell you their trailers have been filming across the street from me this last week hehe
Really??? Oh, my daughter will be so jealous to hear that! That's awesome :)
haha yeah it is. there are train tracks on a ridge so i think they like to use that
I only clicked this post for Dean... Wait... Dejavu... Did I do that to one of your posts before? Anyway, while I'm here, best to read aswell!
Give me a second... maybe a few more...
Aaaaand upvoted.
Wow, I understood part of what you were talking about aswell! I call that progress :D
Great to read that you're progressing in your understanding of it all. I think I'm almost as far into it as you are, but the whole blockchain thing is still a mystery to me.
Nice post with great visual aids :D
Haha! Yes, this is a bit like de ja vu! I know, it's amazing how we're learning just by being here. I am starting to know a bit about blockchain, hopefully I'll be able to write a beginner's post about that one...though I think I probably used my Jensen card up, lol! I'll have to see if I can find Jared with the right expressions next time!
Aah, I'm sure that will work too! I would not object to Misha either :D
Haha! It's true, I can definitely get the glazed over, befuddled look from him, LOL. Well, from Cas, I might be able to get the other expressions from Misha himself :)
Yeah, I think so :D
Well written and thanks for putting this together! :)
Aw, I appreciate that. I really just thought about how I might have found learning a bit about the topic easier if I came across posts that were broken down to simpler terms with fun gifs.
Once I have more of a handle on the blockchain, I may do a similar thing about that. But what I will definitely be doing, and what actually truly initiated this, is a post about my first purchase of something with money made from steemit, as I have a bitpay card coming my way in the next week or so. Apparently Jaxx is going to be adding steem to its current list of cryptos very soon making the whole process super simple. Once this occurs I will do a step by step post for people on the whole process, ending with my purchase :) I don't intend to spend too much, I want to continue building my sp, but I think it would make an excellent selling point for people who are skeptical of steemit, to see how it is in fact 'legitimate'. I've had many people express their reasons for not joining that they think it could be a scam, or not truly believing that you can turn steem into a form that can be spent. So I will alleviate this concern for them and at the same time make it possible for current steemians to do the same so they can show their friends and family the benefits firsthand.
Speaking of Jaxx id love to use it if they allow CC purchases with low fees! :) Ive been focused on building my SP. The growing Steem price will make distribution harder than before.
Hm, well I suppose these are things I will be finding out soon. And I will let you know how it all works out. So far the only cost has been ten dollars in bitcoin for the physical card to be sent to me. Admittedly my husband walked me through the process of that and will be doing so for the rest of it. I know that I will be using the bitpay card for purchases, I'm assuming Jaxx is what I will be using to transfer the steem to the card? You probably know more than me, but soon I will know the entire process backward and forward :)
Also, as I said, I'll only be using a little of my sbd, and for the purpose of showing how it can be done :)
Thats great! :) Most Btc cards dont work in India so I haven't been able to use any. But its easier to just sell BTC for fiat at this point in time here...
Oh, gotcha, I didn't actually know where you were from :) And I think you are officially the first member I've spoken at any length to from India, I LOVE the global aspect of this platform so much! But yes, bitpay cards work here just like any debit card, I have two friends and my husband's uncle who all have and use them with no problems. In fact, so far they're not even charged extra fees at the ATM to extract cash like so many other debit/credit cards require.
I see! :D Here you can use 1 or 2 of the btc cards available out there only for POS transactions. You cant withdraw cash here. But since Btc trades at a higher rate here its simpler to just sell btc for INR and use our regular fiat cards. :D Hopefully in the future a Steem based card would be nice!
I absolutely love supernatural and I am incredibly jealous you got to meet the cast! I NEED you to do a post when you go this year! On another note: joining steemit is like learning another language. This place and the cryptocurrency world are so complex. I didn't know there were currencies other than bitcoin. It's work to understand this place as you delve deeper.
If you get an opportunity to ever go, I do recommend it. Though I wouldn't be going if not for my daughter, the last one was a great time, the cast is really awesome, laid back, regular people.
steemit definitely is like learning a foreign language, I'm still only grasping the basics for the most part when it comes to crypto. My husband is really into it though, so I did know there were many other coins such as Monero, lite coin etc. etc. He 'mines' them which is also a whole other ball game.
I really wish I would have had a good camera instead of just my phone at the time ;)
I think that's one of the most beautiful pictures you've taken. I can see those beautiful Winchesters with their manly facial hair perfectly. :)
Haha! Yeah, they had beards, but when we go in September they'll be filming so no manly facial hair. Which is actually a plus because my daughter is getting more pictures with them, so now she'll have bearded and unbearded lol.