Cryptocurrency
Learn what a cryptocurrency is, how it is created, and what role it plays in the blockchain ecosystem.
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset—very similar to a currency—and is an integral part of a blockchain ecosystem. Cryptocurrency does not exist without a Distributed Blockchain Ledger (DLT) and some fundamental blockchain mechanisms can't be realized without this asset.
Let's learn what cryptocurrency is with a question/answer approach—first we'll ask the right questions, and then answer them one by one:
How is cryptocurrency modeled and realized in a blockchain?
How is cryptocurrency issued?
Why does cryptocurrency exist?
How is cryptocurrency secured?
Who has control over the cryptocurrency?
How is cryptocurrency modeled and realized in a blockchain?
All the data stored in a blockchain is immutable and recorded as transactions in the blocks. This information is then used to derive the current state of a blockchain (world state).
The current state is a set of key-value pairs, where the key identifies an account and the value is data associated with that account. These data contain the balance, indicating the number of cryptocurrency units owned by the account.
So, cryptocurrency is a type of information stored on the blockchain ledger.
How is cryptocurrency issued?
An account only owns a ...