An Introduction to Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency is a form of digital money that uses cryptography to protect transactions and data. Many cryptocurrencies operate through distributed nodes and blockchains, but their designs and degrees of decentralization differ.
What cryptocurrency is
A cryptocurrency is digital money secured with cryptography and can serve as a medium of exchange on a peer-to-peer digital network. Bitcoin launched in 2009 with the goal of enabling users to transfer digital value without an intermediary such as a bank or government.
Nodes and decentralization
Many cryptocurrencies are jointly maintained by networks of computers distributed across different locations. A device that connects to the network and can send, receive, or relay information is called a node, and different nodes perform different responsibilities. In Bitcoin, for example, a full node independently validates blocks and transactions according to consensus rules; it does not also have to participate in mining.
How a blockchain records transactions
Many cryptocurrencies use a blockchain as a public distributed ledger. It records confirmed transactions and related data in sequentially connected blocks and continues to expand. The underlying protocol defines how the blockchain is updated and how the entire cryptocurrency system operates.
Different systems are not identical
Cryptocurrency issuance and management generally rely on predefined algorithms, mathematical proofs, and protocol rules, but the specific mechanisms vary. Network structure, node distribution, and rule design all affect the degree of decentralization, so cryptocurrencies should not all be treated as having the same architecture.
Original tutorial
https://www.binance.com/zh-CN/academy/glossary/cryptocurrency
Bitcoin full nodes and consensus rules
https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/block_chain.html
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