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Ethereum took “smart contracts” up a notch by making the programming languages needed to code them more accessible to developers. While bitcoin is the most famous cryptocurrency, there are other popular alternatives. Blockchain technology made it all work, providing a system where data structures (blocks) are broadcasted, validated, and registered in a public, distributed database through a network of communication endpoints (nodes). Bitcoin, for instance, was created by Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym) and released in 2009 as open-source code. There are actually over 700 cryptocurrencies, but only some are readily traded and even less have market capitalization above $100 million. The process incentivizes the miners who run the network with the cryptocurrency. Unlike physical money, cryptocurrencies are decentralized, which means they are not issued by governments or other financial institutions.Ĭryptocurrencies are created (and secured) through cryptographic algorithms that are maintained and confirmed in a process called mining, where a network of computers or specialized hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) process and validate the transactions. It is monitored and organized by a peer-to-peer network also known as a blockchain, which also serves as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring. But how, exactly? What does this mean to businesses and everyday users? What is cryptocurrency?Ĭryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of currency. As cryptocurrencies like bitcoin gain real-world traction, so will cybercriminal threats that abuse it. In a recent study, unique, active users of cryptocurrency wallets are pegged between 2.9 and 5.8 million, most of which are in North America and Europe.īut what does the acceptance and adoption of digital currencies have to do with online threats? A lot, actually. Other countries are joining the bandwagon, albeit partially: businesses and some of the public organizations in Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands. Japan, which legitimized bitcoin as a form of payment last April, already expects more than 20,000 merchants to accept bitcoin payments. As such, traders and investors will not be levied taxes for buying and selling them through legal exchange platforms. Since July 1, purchases done using digital currencies such as bitcoin are exempt from the country's Goods and Services Tax to avoid double taxation. The Australian government has just recognized digital currency as a legal payment method.
