What is Cryptocurrency?

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I probably shouldn't be posting about this but here goes.

WTF even is a crypto currency?

If you aren't familiar - crypto currencies are a new(er) type of currency that exist exclusively in the digital realm.   They are "mined" by computers solving hashing algorithms to encrypt the currencies.

They are based on Block Chain technology which basically means that every transaction is recorded in a block, encrypted, and then built upon providing a chain of evidence so that nothing can be falsified.  (It is WAY more complicated but I'm explaining from a very high level.)

So should I just buy bitcoin and get on the bandwagon? 

Probably not. This is a HIGH risk, high reward scenario.  You would need to do a LOT of research or have a lot of money to spare to be able to spend time investing/trading/mining crypto currencies.   If you are reading this blog, you probably want to invest your money in something a bit safer.

Now, the technology behind crypto-currencies is very solid and even led to some arrests of criminals in recent months because investigators were able to use the block-chain to track down criminal transactions they were trying to hide.   (They didn't understand what block-chain means).

There are now over a thousand different crypto-currencies out there.  I personally wouldn't trust any of them.  It's also not that easy to get physical (so to speak) currency in or out of the crypto currencies.

And in case you were wondering about why Graphics cards have gone up in price the last couple years, it is because they are terrific at solving the cryptographic (math) problems used by block chain currencies and so crypto-mining farms are very popular now.

A lot of malware recently has done nothing more than use your computer to mine bitcoins or other crypto currencies. 

I have stayed out of the crypto currency market myself because I don't have a lot of money I'm willing to gamble. 

I thought about mining crypto currency but it just seems like a lot of electricity and upfront expense for the potential reward.   (A couple days to late, and a few dollars short.) 

If you have experience with crypto I would love to hear your thoughts and I'm sure other readers would as well.

Thank you for reading.

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