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I'm sure you all heard of cryptocurrency and know that is a form of digital cash. But what makes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin exist?
According to BlockGeeks, bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as a digital cash system. This system has no central server to keep track of the currency rather it is tracked on community computers owned by everyday people known as a peer to peer network. This means that every computer must agree on every transaction ever, making it impossible to “double spend”. This was made possible by having a set limited amount of currency that every computer knows that cannot be changed unless you become a miner (we’ll get to that later). Every computer on the network gets broadcasted a log of every single transaction taking place and must all 100 percent agree before that transaction can go through. This makes it easier to track every transaction and prevent the currency to be split by a double transaction because you always know the amount of currency in circulation. There is no bank to control the supply of currency nor does the currency have any natural value or physical form. Think of it as an online log of I owe you notes. Despite this currency being monitored and ruled by random people, It is actually very secure because the currency is heavily guarded not by people, but the endless probability of numbers. If one computer or even a few dozen computers in the peer to peer network is compromised by hackers, those computers will be kicked out by the rest of the community.
The rules are simple. Every transaction is irreversible, period. Transactions are completely anonymous. It cannot be traced to your Identity or your bank account rather they are placed on your private address derived from random letters and numbers. Lastly, it is permissionless meaning anyone can send and receive cryptocurrency.
Further Research Questions: (1) What is Coin mining? (2) What determines the value of cryptocurrency? (3) Are cryptocurrencies here to stay?

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