What is Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is digital money used as one of the means of virtual settlements. This asset is in fact a file, called blockchain, that contains encrypted information. Blockchains are unique and unforgeable.
The process of cryptocurrency emittance is called mining. Theoretically, mining can be done on any computer. But in practice, this process is extremely resources consuming. Mining is a complicated calculation that requires powerful computers and enormous energy consumption. Digital currencies can be centralized or decentralized, i.e. regulated by one or several groups of developers.
It doesn’t matter where a company is located, with a toll-free number it is accessible from any point of the country and nothing will change in case of relocations.
There are also technologies that ensure reliability:
- PoS (Proof-of-Stake) – request to prove ownership of the declared cryptocurrency amount;
- PoW (Proof-of-Work) – check of information authenticity;
- Smart contracts – fulfillment of all obligations during transactions.
Cryptocurrency can be obtained either by mining or buying at exchanges. To start using it you only have to register a wallet.
History
Encryption for payments was developed in the 1990s by David Chaum. But in 1998 his company DigiCash went bankrupt.
The successful payment system “Bitcoin” appeared in 2009. Its developer Satoshi Nakamoto (a mysterious figure, as nobody knows whether he exists, is he an individual or a group of programmers) introduced the term “cryptocurrency”.
This technology allowed to “fork”, i.e. develop new currencies on the basis of Bitcoin. At the same time, new currencies appeared, apart of Bitcoin, but based on the same technology. Today more than one thousand of cryptocurrencies exist.
The number of purchases and services that accept cryptocurrency is rapidly growing. Our company also keeps up with the times, so below is the lost of currencies you can use to pay for our services.
BTC
Bitcoin is the earliest and most widespread decentralized currency. It can be purchased on many sites.
BTC was launched by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published a client program with protocol in 2009. Today Bitcoin system is supported by developers’ community.
LTC
Litecoin is the sixth of the most widely used cryptocurrencies, can be exchanged to Bitcoin or common money.
It is a faster fork of Bitcoin. Open code allows everybody to work with this software and distribute its free copies.
Litecoin was developed in 2011 by former Google employee Charlie Lee as a competitor to Bitcoin.
BCH
Bitcoin Cash is a decentralized fork of Bitcoin that spinned off in 2017 and works on the same protocol. It is also called Bcash.
In 2017 the number of Bitcoin transactions became so huge that it started to slow down the process, so BCH appeared as an additional wayout.
BLK
BlackCoin is a decentralized P2P digital payment system that uses cryptocurrency of the same name. BLC was issued in February 2014 by Russian programmer Pavel Vasin as a fork from NovaCoin.
Its main protocol is POS ensures dividends in case of rate fluctuations. This network is completely anonymous. BlackCoin allows smart contracts
DASH
Dash is another decentralized cryptocurrency on a blockchain basis. As distinct from Bitcoin, Dash is completely anonymous, mined with fewer energy resources. Instant transactions and anonymity are ensured by masternodes – special servers on which “PrivateSend” and “InstantSend” services are based.
This currency was created in 2014 as XCoin (XCo). Its official name was changed to Dash on March 25, 2015.
DCR
Decred was launched in 2019 by Company 0 in Chicago. This is a centralized cryptocurrency where all currency holders can participate in its development. Decred is protected by POW and POS that ensure protection from external interference, first of all malicious.
DGB
DigiByte was launched in January 2014 by Jared Tate. It is a centralized blockchain cryptocurrency. DigiByte is based on BitCoin, but provides faster operation and higher security. Its developers combined blockchain technology with artificial intelligence and thus opened wide prospectives for innovations..
DOGE
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on LiteCoin, with few technical differences.It was launched in 2013 and derived its name from a popular photo of a Japanese dog.
ETC
Ethereum Classic is a decentralized blockchain platform that runs smart contracts. Cryptocurrency ETC is based on it. Ethereum Classic was forked from the original Ethereum after a hackers’ attack in 2016.
ETH
Ethereum is a decentralized platform for application development on a smart contract basis. It was developed in 2011 by Vitaliy Buterin. This system takes into account all complications of pure blockchain.
The platform can be used for various purposes, not only financial. One of its applications is the organization of votings. Ethereum cryptocurrency Ether contains information about program codes of all applications developed on this platform. So, Ethereum is mainly a tool for developers, and it is used both for development and settlements between programmers.
GAME
GameCredits was launched in 2014, today it is regulated by Serbian non-profit company GameCredits Foundation. According to the statement on the official site, this cryptocurrency is aimed at becoming a universal payment means for gamers worldwide. But it is also used for online services purchase.
POT
PotCoin is a P2P decentralized cryptocurrency for settlements in the legal cannabis industry. It was launched in 2014 by three Canadian developers and at first, was almost identical to LiteCoin, but was improved later. Improvements allow instant transactions. POT requires no return payments from traders.
VTC
Cryptocurrency VertCoin was developed in 2014 for ordinary users with standard PCs, not farms. Due to decentralization, anonymous payments and some other features VTC is ideal for everyday use and in certain cases even more preferable than Bitcoin.
Today its developers are working on the purse for iOS, hidden address that will be shown instead of personal data. VertCoin has a large community in social networks.
XMR
Monero is based on CryptoNote protocol that ensures transactions anonymity. As per May 2017 Monero was one of the top ten cryptocurrencies with the number of transactions 8 times higher than that of Bitcoin’s.
Its name in Esperanto means “coin”. Monero was started on one of developers’ forums in 2014. Monero privacy mechanisms are questioned by specialists. On the other hand, this privacy makes it very popular among criminals.
XRP
Ripple is a cryptocurrency platform developed by the company of the same name. The platform is often used by “real life” banks and payments systems as an alternative to SWIFT.
XRP is a cryptocurrency that exists solely within the Ripple system. Today it consists of 1 mln. units called “drops”. Its operation is based not on blockchain but on the consent of the network participants.