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⋆ Crypto Ramble ⋆

Your guide to crypto, privacy, and Particl.

crypto ramble

Trump’s Comments on… Bitcoin

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Crypto Ramble
Crypto Ramble
Trump's Comments on... Bitcoin
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There’s a lot of interest from government in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies lately. Some thoughts on money and Libra.

Thoughts on the congressional hearings, the state of privacy coins and updates, and on the street interviews coming soonTM.

 

Video Version: https://youtu.be/70xqgJnkyGA

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Music:
Aviators – Infinity Awaits Us (Space Fantasy BGM | Royalty Free Album) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sisGSwT2eN0

Video:
From the Amazing Space YouTube channel

This video was recorded by the SELENE Lunar Orbiter – images are copyright JAXA / NHK
SELENE , better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya, was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following the Hiten probe]

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Tips are welcome!

Particl: SPH1WAYtbWSLsXvnoNWoUTwRKDqkXEay9iHVcwfsj7pTvKwobBY4SgAcKJGoFXXRArV2Fvcnug6aBEbDjsXEvM19P86uV7oi5qbjzz

Bitcoin: 1GXgFVuXFBcdYiw23EsRyLHRqBxnU2FKUj

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Find me elsewhere:
https://desi-rae.com

Videos

The Truth About Altcoins

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The Truth About Altcoins

Have you noticed that as the price of Bitcoin goes up, altcoin prices go up? And have you also noticed that as the price of Bitcoin goes down, altcoin prices go down? This might seem like basic information if you are already a crypto-enthusiast. But perhaps, like myself, you would like to have a deeper understanding of what exactly is happening with the price volatility of alt-coins and why they so closely follow the troughs and peaks of Bitcoin. I also wanted to play around with concepts from traditional economic theory, such as supply and demand, and cross-price elasticity, to help frame what is going on.

What is an Altcoin?

Briefly put, an altcoin is an alternative to Bitcoin. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency set up to be ‘magical internet money’. It’s use case was as a currency. An altcoin is a cryptocurrency also using a blockchain for decentralized exchange, but with a different use case or end goal in mind. Sometimes its goal is to be something other than a currency. An altcoin may also improve on Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, in some way, such as in speed or the kind of data that is stored in the blockchain other than transactions. (If this content is unfamiliar to you, and you are new to the crypto space, start here.)

The Pattern

Let’s start with the observable phenomenon. Taking a broad view of the crypto market from 2013, we can see that most cryptocurrencies follow a similar price movement. [1] And Bitcoin’s oscillations are slightly more stable in their volatility than those of the altcoins that accompany it. The pattern is obvious and is the market indication of an industry that is speculative due to being in its early stages. There have been multiple waves of entry into the market by new coins and new adoption as users discover crypto, each wave larger than the one before. But this growth due to ideation and discovery is not the same as projects actually differentiating themselves to the point of establishing their own economies, independent of Bitcoin. Bitcoin was the forerunner of a new kind of money, allowing a re-energising of existing industries, particularly those in the finance sector. What followed, the generation of alternatives to Bitcoin, altogether created a whole new industry itself. But the fact that altcoin prices follow Bitcoin’s price is the clearest signal that the industry is still speculative. But how exactly does that work and what does that mean?

Complementary Goods

Looking through a traditional economic lens, bitcoin and altcoins are viewed in the minds of consumers (users) as complementary goods (coins). This is what the price movements show and how the markets behave, even if that’s not what projects or users claim. Complementary goods are those that have joint demand. [2] This means that as the demand for Good A, let’s say Bitcoin, goes in a certain direction, the demand for Good B, let’s say an altcoin, goes in the same direction. The same also goes for price, which is directly related to demand. These relationships between goods are also described as cross-price elasticity, because the change in demand of one good is often compared to the change in price of another good. The opposites of complementary goods are substitute goods, where as demand for one falls, usually due to higher prices, demand for the other rises since the buyer can use it as a cheaper substitute. In our example here, the complementary relationship means that users are viewing alternative cryptocurrencies not as substitute goods but complementary goods that come along with Bitcoin. Examples of complementary goods are cars and gasoline, where the demand for gasoline is dependent on the number of cars being used that require it.

For crypto, this complementary relationship is a sign of dependence and inadequate differentiation in the market. Many of these altcoins were established to be a better version of bitcoin, faster, more private, with more functions. The price movement should show that these Bitcoin alternatives are substitutes if consumers were really using them as such; but it doesn’t. Furthermore, many of these altcoins are not trying to be used like Bitcoin, but are tokens for innovative ways of implementing existing types of businesses. However, the market shows that they are currently considered similar and serving the same need in the users’ minds. If coins are not related to a cash use like Bitcoin at all, their price activity should be different, neither perpetually similar or opposite, since they are providing an unrelated service. And if they are to be substitutes to Bitcoin, then we should see an inverse relationship in ongoing countertrends.

This is one way of understanding what is going. It is likely due to the immaturity of the crypto industry, and Bitcoin being the first-comer, with many people associating cryptocurrency with Bitcoin itself. Newcomers may enter the market and put their funds in Bitcoin only, giving Bitcoin dominant market-share, another way of looking for independence vs. dependence. The users who use Bitcoin may use other altcoins but leave most of the money that they bring into the space in Bitcoin. Looking at market behavior, Bitcoin is akin to the personal computer, the real innovation, and all the other altcoins are like CDs and DVDs, ideas to play around with. I didn’t say it. The market did.

Arbitrage

There is another important factor to consider when it comes to price activity, however, that could be obscuring signals of actual consumer behavior. Something else is occurring on exchanges as Bitcoin falls and rises. You would think that when someone in Paris sells Bitcoin to someone else in Europe, assuming they are on a regional exchange, that the price of another unrelated altcoin couldn’t fall because no one has the speed to actually sell something at exactly that time. How could the sale of an altcoin match up perfectly with the sale of Bitcoin? The answer is trading bots. There are trading bots that are constantly arbitraging against Bitcoin. What this means is that there are a significant number of exchange transactions that aren’t real buys and sells from real people using these tokens for real things, depending on your perspective. That’s why altcoins can follow the price so closely. Take a look at your favorite altcoin in a chart that’s matched up with a Bitcoin chart in its observable time period and units of time. For example, as the price of BTC goes up sharply, a bot will often sell an altcoin in order to get BTC as it is going up. Then, once BTC flatlines it immediately buys back the altcoin it sold. This is in an effort to get more of either coin, trying to suck the equity out of the gap. It also happens when BTC goes down, where an altcoin will be dumped to buy BTC. In general, the volume of the movement may differ but the timing is always the same, even in small units of time. (I am not a trader and this is not trading advice.) Many altcoins are at the whim of what trading bots do, if not at the whim of human traders as well who trade against BTC. Regardless, if authentic consumer behavior can be obscured by this kind of trading, that in itself is an indicator of a lack of true adoption and creation of an independent economy.

“The Network Effect”

One final thing to consider is the higher volatility that altcoins can have compared to BTC, which is volatile itself. On top of arbitrage bots linking pairs together, most altcoins tend to be valued against BTC and are only able to be bought with BTC. There are much more BTC pairings than altcoin pairings. So altcoins tend to be more volatile, due to what I call a network effect, that depends on the number of exchanges available for an altcoin and the number of pairings it has available. The more pairings you have to go through to exchange an altcoin for fiat, the more transaction fees have to be paid. Going from BTC to USD is longer and costlier than going from ETH to BTC to USD. This is one hindrance of buying and selling an altcoin, compared to BTC. Altcoins also have fewer exchanges available for buying or selling. This makes their swings more extreme. When you decide to sell an altcoin, lowering the price, there are less buyers available to bring the price back. Buyers compete in numbers and speed to affect how low the price is able to get. But someone who decides to sell BTC has more choices available, due to the number of exchanges. The amount of ‘points’ on the network available to respond to your transaction request, due to exchanges, affects how long transactions take and quickly prices can be bid back up, or vice versa. Minor fluctuations for BTC become depressing consequences for altcoins. To put it into perspective, Bitcoin’s availability of buyers and exchanges is still limited compared to those of fiat currencies, which less volatile, with much more volume and choices available to immediately counter bid, up or down, when someone posts a transaction.

Altcoins with Independent Economies

So what’s the takeaway after understanding why altcoins have such a devotion to Bitcoin? Whenever we see a sustained counter trend of an altcoin, that is when we will know that a coin has differentiated itself enough to establish its own independent economy. This is different from a temporary pump and dump. It can only happen when adoption begins to occur, allowing the volume of buying and selling between humans to outrun the arbitrage, potentially showing an inverse relationship as a substitute to Bitcoin, or unrelated price movements if it has nothing to do with what Bitcoin offers. This is when you will know, apart from what I or the media or your favorite crypto news source says, that true differentiation and adoption is occurring, and crypto is finally exiting the era of speculative trades.

There are many projects that have the potential to form their own independent economies. But projects are at different stages of speculation versus substantive development that will bring adoption. How many crypto projects are being used or traded for the application itself? There are almost none. Bitcoin itself is the closest. Ethereum was one of the first coins to break away from Bitcoin’s movement. It was, at one point, bringing in outside money from its ERC20 tokens, enabling it to have some of its own economy for some time. It could truly breakaway from crypto speculation in time as projects develop. But its price independence did not sustain itself and continuously reduces as projects cash out their Ethereum to pay for development in the bear market. EOS, due to its similarity to Ethereum, is also likely to establish an independent economy. One coin I am bullish on is Particl, as with the right volume of sales per day on its marketplace, public or private, trading bots can no longer drag the price wherever Bitcoin goes. It’s my hope that Particl is among the first real wave of adoption outside of speculation projects. Nothing says independent economy quite like a marketplace, and it is already in its testing phase. There are substitutes to Bitcoin such as Bitcoin Cash that for a moment also displayed counter trends. There are coins that you will have more insight on than I do. Eventually, there will be other anchor or reserve currencies because they will have their own use cases, regardless of whatever is happening with other projects. For now, altcoins are tethered to Bitcoin because cryptocurrency technology is in a phase of early development, and they lack independent economies of their own. It’s no wonder that if Bitcoin fell off a cliff, all of crypto would too.

Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work | Which is Better?

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Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work

Each cryptocurrency  has its own blockchain which uses a specific kind of consensus algorithm to organize transactions in the blockchain ‘database’. The original consensus algorithm used in Bitcoin is Proof of Work, as described in my previous post What is Blockchain and How Does it Work? Proof of stake is one alternative algorithm to proof of work (used in Bitcoin alternatives/altcoins). The battle between proof of work aka POW and proof of stake aka POS is raging.  I’m placing my bets.

Is proof of stake better than proof of work? In my opinion, yes. Here’s why:

A Refresher on Blockchains and Proof of Work

Blockchains are essentially distributed ledgers created for the storage of data (Read more about how blockchains work here). In cryptocurrencies, they are used to store transaction information, verifying their accuracy and ordering them chronologically. Because the blockchain is distributed with many participants on the network, there has to be a way of deciding who gets to write the next set of transactions, so that there is only one unique blockchain. There has to be what is called distributed consensus. When the first cryptocurrencies were created, proof of work was this method of creating distributed consensus, by having special nodes called miners compete to solve a cryptographic problem. This solved the problem of needing honest nodes to validate transactions, because there was a method of competition to select who writes the next block, and then the rest of the network could also verify that the recorded transactions were true after the work had been completed. Incentive was also provided to the miners in the form of a block reward, or creation of a new token/coin on the blockchain, when a new block was written.

Disadvantages of Proof of Work

This proof of work method of distributed consensus has some disadvantages that are increasingly becoming a problem in the cryptocurrency world. These include a concentration of mining power which defeats the goal of decentralization of cryptocurrencies as well as the environmental impact which is still in its early stages if true cryptocurrency adoption emerges in the future. Centralization comes in the form of mining equipment manufacturers being limited to a few companies, the fact that only certain people can afford mining equipment, that mining is concentrated geographically, and that mining pools can now overtake the network and write transactions in their favor if they choose to or deny service to others.

The high electricity costs resulting from proof of work mining is only expected to increase as cryptocurrency adoption grows, and will still add a hefty weight to the transaction fees if there are no block rewards in the future. In the case of Bitcoin, where mining fees will eventually be reduced to zero, there is also the issue of less incentive for miners to remain loyal to the network when mining another cryptocurrency may produce greater profits. Loyal and dedicated nodes are necessary to secure the blockchain and provide distributed consensus.

These disadvantages of proof of work mining have been known for a long time, but many of the problems were not immediate before the scaling of cryptocurrency networks to what they are today. It is important to note that proof of work has its advantages in that it solved the problem it was created for, namely that of getting honest nodes to validate and record transactions. Due to some of its disadvantages however, another alternative called proof of stake has arrived that can provide distributed consensus just as well, if not better.

What is the Proof of Stake Alternative?

For proof of stake cryptocurrencies, instead of having miners compete through solving a cryptographic problem, the next node to write the block is chosen depending on their proof of ownership or proof of stake in the network. There is some variety in how exactly this is determined, but the amount of stake is generally dependent on the amount of coins a holder has as well as the length of time they have been participating in the network. So instead of the probability of being chosen to write the next block being depending on mining power, the probability is dependent on the holder’s ‘stake’ or investment, meaning amount and time in the network. These nodes are called stakers or foragers and new coins are ‘minted’ rather than mined’.

The effect of this on solving the centralization and environmental issues of proof of work coins like Bitcoin, is significant. Many proof of stake coins began as proof of work coins and then decided to switch to proof of stake. Examples of proof of stake coins include Peercoin, Lisk, NXT, particl. Ethereum is also on its way to becoming a proof of stake coin. There are also delegated proof of stake coins which are not to be confused with regular proof of stake coins and those have a slightly different system, which I will not get into here.

Possible Advantages and Disadvantages of Proof of Stake

The first obvious issue that a proof of stake system of distributed consensus solves is that of reducing electricity costs. Proof of stake blockchains do not need its validators to initially purchase and update expensive mining equipment. Proof of stake also requires more loyalty on the part of the stakers than proof of work does from its miners. Proof of stake can also give rise to the monopoly issue, created through wealth disparities or mining pools, as large holders have greater chances of earning more. However, it is more difficult for someone to own 51% of the coins on a network due to prohibitive costs than for someone to have 51% of the mining power, and thus become a dishonest node. This scenario of sufficient mining power being concentrated for an attack to occur, has already been reached and its negative effect has only been mitigated due to the choice of mining pools, requiring trust. The cost to invest 50% of bitcoin’s market cap, not assuming the price will go up as someone buys that much, is far greater than the cost to buy the mining equipment to achieve 51% of the mining power. It is also more likely for an individual with concentrated power on the network to use it benevolently, in the case of proof of stake, because their major investment is the coin itself, and reducing trust by double spending or denying service, would negatively impact their own capital.

There are also variations on how proof of stake can be implemented to ensure some distribution for how often a staker gets to write to the blockchain based on how recently they did it. And the likelihood of a node being chosen also depends on its time invested not only amount. Other advantages of proof of stake include lower transaction fees due to lower hardware and software costs to keep the network running, faster validation times, and a smaller chance of honest nodes leaving as miner rewards are reduced overtime. There is a lower likelihood of over-reaching governments being able to create prohibitive barriers to entry, such as needing a license to mine, since only running software is less conspicuous than running specialized mining equipment.

So, of proof of stake vs proof of work, which is better?

Which is Better, Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work?

There are avid proponents of proof-of-work, and this is an ongoing debate. There are likely to be trade-offs rather than absolutes with the implementation of any system. I am partial to proof of stake, as this is the consensus algorithm used in Particl. Understanding that the power and promise of blockchain technology lies in its decentralized nature, as opposed to the centralized institutions of today, methods of decreasing centralization through proof of stake vs proof of work, or other consensus algorithms are more likely to succeed in the long run than only relying on proof of work as it exists today.

Watch the video version of this article here.

Read more:

Vitalik Buterin on the original proof of stake question and implementation by Sunny King https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/what-proof-of-stake-is-and-why-it-matters-1377531463

Arguments against proof of stake:

https://medium.com/@hugonguyen/proof-of-stake-the-wrong-engineering-mindset-15e641ab65a2

https://forum.blockstack.org/t/pos-blockchains-require-subjectivity-to-reach-consensus/762?u=larry

Other kinds of consensus mechanisms: https://btcmanager.com/welcome-to-the-world-of-blockchain-consensus-protocols/?q=/welcome-to-the-world-of-blockchain-consensus-protocols/&

http://cryptoramble.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/play-stone-network-networked-interactive-163064.jpeg

Particl Commercial ft. Sad Crypto Enthusiast – Transcript

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Particl Commercial ft. Sad Crypto Enthusiast (Passive Income Ideas)- Transcript Below

 

Learn more about Particl and hardware cold staking here: https://particl.news/particl-introduces-hardware-cold-staking-daa093d124ae

 

NARRATOR:

This is the story of a sad crypto-enthusiast. During the dark ages of crypto, earning passive income (staking), came with rampant paranoia and costs that were too high to bear. Every night was fueled with the fear and gripping terror, that your tokens could be stolen at any second. Crypto enthusiasts would go to ANY length to have security.

BACKGROUND ANNOUNCEMENT:

Breaking News: Crypto-Enthusiasts fear that AI is hacking crypto and nothing is quantum resistant anymore

NARRATOR:

After Desi-Rae followed these simple instructions, life was much improved. That Desi-Rae that had grown a beard, was stressing out, chugging coffee, and staying up all night managing 40 virtual private servers, has found a new lease on life.

Desi-Rae quit stressing out with Particl and support.

Side effects include increased time for: bird watching, stargazing, having an existential crisis over Infinity War, FUDing on rival crypto telegrams, watching litebit keep everyone together, giving mad props to tecnovert for saving us all, practicing camping in Fortnite, buying into Tesla Roadster hype, reading thousands of headlines but tens of articles, maintaining a machete collection and sharpening your gurkha, and making money while sleeping.

Get involved with Particl today and talk to a community member about a plan that’s right for you. Some people can have serious reactions to Particl that are life-changing. If you notice happiness, comfort, or changes in behaviour that are not typical for you, please go to the Particl Telegram and report your symptoms right away.

SAD CRYPTO ENTHUSIAST (Reformed):

“The urges to stress out over money and worry about its security aren’t like they used to be.”

NARRATOR:

Disclaimer: This video is for entertainment purposes only, and is an embellished announcement of the release of Particl’s new quantum-resistant, cold storage and cold staking solution, a first in crypto.

End Particl Commercial

 

What is Hardware Cold Staking ? – Passive Income, Privacy, and Security

Learn more Particl here.

Learn more about Particl and hardware cold staking here: https://particl.news/particl-introduces-hardware-cold-staking-daa093d124ae

What is Cryptography?

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What is Cryptography?

And How Do Cryptocurrencies Work?

The Need for Encryption

Cryptography arose out of the need for people communicating to ensure that the message is received by the correct person and also received accurately, meaning not having been tampered with. It’s a way to secure communication.

Cryptography is the term most commonly used but it’s actually just one half of the equation, the other being cryptanalysis, and both coming under the term cryptology which is the study of both cryptography and cryptanalysis. Cryptography does not only involve the encryption of data but means a way of scrambling information, or protecting information from unwanted third parties, or sometimes all parties but while maintaining data integrity. I speak more about this at the end of this article.

Cryptography definition

So cryptography specifically is the process of applying a formula or algorithm to a message so that it is indecipherable to everyone except the intended recipients. Cryptography, in the form of encryption, uses an encryption algorithm, an algorithm being a set of rules that define a process applied to a given input to get a given output. Cipher is the term used to describe the encryption algorithm and the cipher-text is the resulting information that is produced after applying the formula or algorithm to the original message or plain text.  Cryptanalysis is the method of deciphering the encrypted data by figuring out the pattern in the cipher-text that gives a clue as to what the original message was so you could work backwards to figure out the original method. This decryption or pattern analysis happens both at the recipient’s end when intended, but can also occur if an unwanted third party or eavesdropper is able to figure out the plain text by analyzing the cipher, or somehow getting the key. I’ll explain what a key is in a second.

 

The History of Cryptography

Encryption algorithms used to involve letter substitution, and these evolved over time. But more modern methods involve multiple alphabets and converting between letters and numbers as well. In the past, people would come up with encryption algorithms that they kept secret as they assumed keeping the method of encryption secret led the to channel being very secure. But, counterintuitively, making the encryption algorithm public is the best way to ensure it is secure. Through elimination, cryptographers could find the most secure algorithms if they had not been broken as others kept trying over time. Thinking that a code was secure just because the people working on it thought it was secure resulted in even wars being lost (the enigma machine). Nowadays, there are standardized algorithms that have not yet been broken.

But because the encryption formulas are standardized so they are less likely to be broken, there has to be a way to make sure that not anyone who knows the formula can get the message. The way this is solved is through the use of keys. Even though there is an encryption formula, there are different keys that define what the cipher-text is when applied to the plain text or what the plain text is when applied to the cipher-text, that is encryption and decryption keys, respectively. So the encryption algorithm works with keys. Keys are the “key” to deciphering the text and the crux of the security. So the key has to be sent over a secure channel, say in person. There is symmetric cryptography where the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the message and there is asymmetric or public-key encryption, where there is both a public and private key.

 

Public and Private Key (or Asymmetric Cryptography)

In asymmetric cryptography, public and private keys work as a pair where someone could publish their public key so anyone can send a message to them specifically, but only that person with the private key is able to decrypt and read the message. Using a public and private key pair, the private key need not be shared with anyone. Multiple public keys can be generated from a private key, which adds another layer of security. A private key can also be used for authentication purposes as a digital signature, because a message can be encrypted with a private key as it is sent, and then the receiver can verify that it is sent from the right person using that person’s public key.

It’s important to note the use of hash functions in cryptography, where a string of data can be output to a specified character length ‘hash’. When signing with the private key by generating an encrypted message using that key, it’s not the whole message that is verified but a hash of the message. The hash or short version of the message will change with a slight change in the original message and is different if signed by the sender who does not have the right private key. So, the receiver can use the public key also to verify that the right private key signed the message by looking at the hash of that message.

I hope this is not too confusing when I talk about signing a message with a private key and the person with the public key being able to verify that the message is from the right person. Remember that the key is what is used to encrypt or decrypt. So a message, though it may use the same encryption algorithm as another’s, will not produce the same cipher-text and so plaintext if it uses another person’s key. As a side note, each encryption algorithm has a set number of keys and the security of the encryption algorithm is dependent on this, as a hacker could attempt to decipher a message by going through all possible keys. But the encryption algorithms used by blockchain technologies such as bitcoin have such a large amount of possible keys that it would take a really really really long time, basically infinite in human terms, to go through them all with current day computer processing power.

 

What is Cryptography as Used in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as you will figure out once you begin to use them, use public-key encryption, where a wallet which is simply a storage of data is created having both a public key and a private key. The individual with the correct private key has the right to send and receive ‘messages’ or ‘funds’ from their wallet. But anyone with their public key can send funds to them. Each party can verify who is sending and receiving and whether or not the transaction information can be recorded to the blockchain. If this is all too confusing, you basically have to keep your private key very safe, only using it to access your wallet, but you can share your public key in order to send and receive funds.

 

Summary: Cryptography Simply Explained

I really like to think of cryptography as the solution to a problem. If I wanted to send a message to a specific person using the video format on YouTube, I would be aware that everyone watching, and also the people on YouTube who are not the intended recipients of the message, are able to listen. So, I am communicating across an open channel. Just thinking of the top of my head, maybe I could somehow scramble my message, maybe by speaking in reverse. What I do can’t be random, because it has to have a formula so that the original message can be heard accurately. But it also has to be a bit more secure then being played in reverse, so it would change slightly depending on who the recipient is, and they would be the only one able to actually play the original message, even if the basic algorithm is that it is played in reverse. Other real world applications of securing an open channel include uploading or download packets of data over the internet or when using cell phone networks.  We can encrypt data on our hard drives or phones using software. There are also messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal that focus on encrypted communication. But data security goes beyond this to preventing social engineering attacks such as phishing emails to collect the necessary information like passwords to unlock or un-encrypt data. So the whole system has to be looked at and not solely rely on cryptography. Cryptography solves the problem of communication over an insecure channel.

Please note that encryption is only one of the branches of cryptography. This can be compared to examples such as signing, commitment schemes, private information retrieval, offline digital cash, etc., which also fall under cryptography.

 

Learn more:  https://media.ccc.de/v/SHA2017-494-cryptography_beyond_encryption_and_signatures

 

Video version available

 

Next read What is Blockchain? to see how cryptocurrencies work with cryptography used in the blockchain.