Bitcoin provided the foundation for many other cryptocurrencies. Some were based on the same software, while others took a very different approach. Ok, but what's the difference between all the cryptocurrencies?
To even make a list of all the different cryptocurrencies would take us weeks. Some are faster than others, some are more private, some are more secure, and some are more programmable.
There's a common saying in the cryptocurrency space: Do Your Own Research (or DYOR). We're not saying that to be rude, we promise. It just means that you shouldn't take information from a single source as the truth.
Before investing your money into a particular project, make sure you do your due diligence.
A cryptocurrency is just like a digital form of cash. You can use it to pay friends for your share of the bar tab, buy that new pair of socks you've been eyeing up 👀, or book flights ✈️ and hotels 🏨 for your next holiday. Because cryptocurrency is digital, it can also be sent to friends and family anywhere in the world.
Just like PayPal or bank transfers, right?
Well, not really. It's way more interesting!
You see, traditional online payment gateways are owned by organizations. They hold your money for you, and you need to ask them to transfer it on your behalf when you want to spend it.
In cryptocurrencies, there isn't an organization. You, your friends, and thousands of others can act as your own banks by running free software. Your computer connects with other people's computers, meaning you communicate directly – no middlemen required!
To use cryptocurrency, you don't need to sign up for a website with an email address and password. You can download a wide variety of apps onto your smartphone to begin sending and receiving within minutes.
Primitive cryptographic techniques are known to have existed in ancient times, and most early civilizations appear to have used cryptography to some degree. Symbol replacement, the most basic form of cryptography, appears in both ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian writings. The earliest known example of this type of cryptography was found in the tomb of an Egyptian noble named Khnumhotep II, who lived approximately 3,900 years ago.
The purpose of symbol replacement in the Knhumhotep inscription was not to conceal information but to enhance its linguistic appeal. The earliest known example of cryptography being used to protect sensitive information occurred around 3,500 years ago when a Mesopotamian scribe employed cryptography to conceal a formula for pottery glaze, which was used on clay tablets.
By later periods of antiquity, cryptography was widely used to protect important military information, a purpose that it still serves to this day. In the Greek city-state of Sparta, messages were encrypted by being written on parchment laid over a cylinder of a particular size, making the message undecipherable until it was wrapped around a similar cylinder by the recipient. Likewise, spies in ancient India are known to have used coded messages as early as the 2nd century BC.
Perhaps the most advanced cryptography in the ancient world was achieved by the Romans. A prominent example of Roman cryptography, known as the Caesar cipher, involved shifting the letters of an encrypted message by a certain number of places down the Latin alphabet. Knowing this system and the number of places to shift the letters, a recipient could successfully decode the otherwise illegible message.
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