Blockchain technology enables the creation of a decentralized environment where cryptographically validated transactions and data are not controlled by any third party. Any transaction is recorded in an immutable ledger in a verifiable, secure, and permanent way. The term "blockchain" was first coined in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto in the original source code for Bitcoin. Blockchain is characterized by censorship resistance, immutability, and global usability, and is decentralized politically and architecturally. Users have autonomy to access and help maintain the blockchain through mining.

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
• Blockchain technology enables the creation of a decentralized
environment, where the cryptographically validated transactions and
data are not under the control of any third party organization.
• Any transaction ever completed is recorded in an immutable ledger in
a verifiable, secure, transparent and permanent way, with a
timestamp and other details.

3. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
• The blockchain term, originally block chain, was first coined in 2009,
by (the still unknown) Satoshi Nakamoto, in the original source code
for the virtual currency Bitcoin: “Nodes collect new transactions into
a block, hash them into a hash tree”; “when they solve the proof-of-
work, they broadcast the block to everyone and the block is added to
the block chain” (Nakamoto, 2009).

4. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
• The interrelated terms Blockchain, Cryptocurrency (currency that only
exists digitally, using a decentralized system to record transactions)
and Initial Coin Offering – ICO (the first sale of a cryptocurrency to the
public, conducted raising funds to support a start-up) were added to
the Merriam Webster Dictionary in March 2018

5. Characteristics
• A blockchain is characterized by censorship resistance, immutability
and global usability, and has a global network of validators called
miners, who maintain it through block rewards, named cryptotokens.
• Blockchain is decentralized on two of the three possible axes in
software decentralization:
politically decentralized - meaning that no one controls it;
architecturally decentralized - no infrastructural central point of
failure exists;
logically centralized - there is one commonly agreed state and the
system behaves like a single computer.

6. Characteristics
• Anyone has the autonomy to access a blockchain, to download a copy
and play a role in maintaining the blockchain, thus that computer
becoming a node. The copy will be actively updated along with every
copy on every other node, edits can only be made to the blockchain
with general consensus among the individuals running a node.
• The process of adding a new block (containing thousands of
transactions) to a blockchain, by hash verification procedures, is
named mining. The new block is linked to the last one in blockchain.
Each blockchain starts with the genesis block, containing its settings

7. Advantages of the blockchain technology
• self-sovereignty - users identify themselves and maintain control over the storage
and management of personal data;
• trust - the technical infrastructure offers secure operations (payments or issue of
• certificates);
• transparency and provenance - to perform transactions in knowledge that each
party has the capacity to enter into that transaction;
• immutability - records are written and stored permanently, without the possibility
of modification;
• disintermediation - no need for a central controlling authority to manage
transactions or keep records;
• collaboration - ability of parties to transact directly with each other without the
need for third-parties

8. Drawbacks
• The main drawbacks are the high consume of hardware, energy and
time needed for the mining process, also the fact that the technology
is complex and difficult to understand. Moreover, the plethora of
development platforms in continuous release and the novelty of
associated languages still keep the blockchain implementations as
appanage of geeks, similar with sending e-mails using line commands
at the beginning of web.

9. BITCOIN
• Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency, which is used and distributed
electronically.
• Bitcoin is a decentralised peer-to-peer network. No single institution
or person controls it.
• Bitcoins can’t be printed and their amount is very limited – only 21
mln Bitcoins can ever be created.

10. WHO CREATED BITCOIN
• Bitcoin was first introduced as an open-source software by an
anonymous programmer, or a group of programmers, under the
alias Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
• Nakamoto himself once claimed to be a 37-year-old male living in
Japan.
• Around mid-2010, Nakamoto moved on to other things, leaving
Bitcoin in the hands of a few prominent members of the BTC
community. Also Satoshi named Gavin Andresen a lead developer.
• It has been estimated that Nakamoto owns around one mln Bitcoins,
which amounts to approximately $3.6 bln as of September 2017.

11. WHO CONTROLS BITCOIN
• Andersen wanted Bitcoin to continue its existence autonomously,
even if he would ‘get hit by a bus’.
• For a lot of people, the main advantage of Bitcoin is its independence
from world governments, banks and corporations. Not one authority
can interfere into BTC transactions, impose transaction fees or take
people’s money away. Moreover, the Bitcoin movement is extremely
transparent - every single transaction is being stored in a massive
distributed public ledger called the Blockchain.
• Essentially, while Bitcoin is not being controlled as a network, it gives
its users total control over their finances.

12. HOW BITCOIN WORKS
• A user sees only amount of Bitcoins on his or her wallet and and
transaction results.
• Behind the scenes, the Bitcoin network is sharing a public ledger called the
"block chain". This ledger contains every transaction ever processed. Digital
records of transactions are combined into "blocks".
• If someone try to change just one letter or number in a block of
transactions, it will also affect all of the following blocks. Due to it being a
public ledger, the mistake or fraud attempt can be easily spotted and
corrected by anyone.
• The authenticity of each transaction is protected by digital signatures
corresponding to the sending addresses.
• Because of the verification process and depending on the trading platform,
it may take a few minutes for a BTC transaction to be completed.

13. CHARACTERISTICS OF BITCOIN
• Decentralised
It is designed so that every person, business, as well as every machine
involved in mining and transaction verification, becomes part of a vast
network. Moreover, even if some part of the network goes down, the
money will keep moving.
• Anonymous
just simply don’t want their finances to be governed and tracked by any
kind of an authority, others might argue that drug trade, terrorism and
other illegal and dangerous activities will thrive in this relative
anonymity.

14. CHARACTERISTICS OF BITCOIN
• Transparent
If your wallet address was publicly used, anyone can tell how much money is
in it by carefully studying the blockchain ledger. However, tracing a particular
Bitcoin address to a person is still nearly impossible. Those who wish to stay
anonymous with their transactions can take measures to stay under the
radar. There are certain types of wallets that prioritise opaqueness and
security, but the simplest measure would be to use multiple addresses and
not transfer massive amounts of money to a single wallet.
• Fast
It normally takes just a few minutes for someone on the other side of the
world to receive the money.

15. CHARACTERISTICS OF BITCOIN
• Non-repudiable
Once you send your Bitcoins to someone, there is no way of getting
them back, unless the recipient would want to send them back to you.

16. WHAT CAN I BUY WITH BITCOIN
• For example, giant companies like Microsoft and Dell accept payments in BTC for a
variety of their products and digital content. You can fly with airlines such as AirBaltic and
Air Lithuania, buy theatre tickets through UK’s Theatre Tickets Direct, get a few bottles of
craft beer from Honest Brew, and so on.
• Other options include paying for hotels and buying property, picking up bills in various
bars and restaurants, joining a dating site, buying a gift card, placing a bet in an online-
casino and donating for a good cause. There is also a flurry of diverse online
marketplaces, trading in everything from illegal substances to high-end luxury items.
• Bitcoin is a relatively new and quite complex form of payment, so it is only natural that
the spending options are still limited, but every day more and more businesses - from
small local coffee shops to industry giants - are accepting payments in BTC.
• Moreover, due to its constantly fluctuating exchange rate, Bitcoin became a prime
opportunity for investment. Despite still being an unstable and to some extent
unrecognised currency, it became seven times more valuable over the last year, almost
reaching a rate of $5000 for one BTC.

17. HOW TO GET BITCOIN
• VARIOUS EXCHANGES
• PEOPLE VIA MARKET PLACES

18. ADVANTAGES
• Freedom
• High Potability
• No PCI- Payment Card Industry
• Choose your own commission
• Safety and control
• Transparent and Neutral
• It can’t be counterfeited - No Double Spending

19. DISADVANTAGES
• Legal Questions
• Level Of Recognition
• Lost Keys
• Volatility
• Continuous Development

20. HOW IS BITCOIN TAXED
• For example, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service treats Bitcoin and all other
prominent digital currencies as a property rather than a currency. Every taxpayer
selling goods and services for Bitcoins has to include the value of the received
Bitcoins in their annual tax returns. Miners are also subject to U.S. taxation, but
only if the mining proves to be successful.
• According to the European Court of Justice, Bitcoin is a currency, not a property.
Although it is exempt from VAT, Bitcoin can still be subject to other taxes. The UK
tax authorities treat Bitcoin as a foreign currency, with every BTC-related case
considered on the basis of its own individual facts and circumstances. As of July
2017, the sale of Bitcoins is exempt from consumption tax in Japan, where it’s
officially recognized as a payment method.
• So, as Bitcoin is a relatively new currency, the regulations frameworks governing
its taxation significantly differ depending on a country. Moreover, in many
jurisdictions there are no specific laws or regulations regarding the
cryptocurrency.

21. CRYPTOCURRENCY
• A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to
work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to
secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units,
and verify the transfer of assets.
• Cryptocurrencies use decentralized control as opposed to centralized
digital currency and central banking systems

22. FEATURES OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
1. Irreversible: After confirmation, a transaction can‘t be reversed.
2. Pseudonymous: Neither transactions nor accounts are connected
to real-world identities. You receive Bitcoins on so-called addresses,
which are randomly seeming chains of around 30 characters.
3. Fast and global: Transactions are propagated nearly instantly in the
network and are confirmed in a couple of minutes.

23. FEATURES OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
4. Secure: Cryptocurrency funds are locked in a public key cryptography
system. Only the owner of the private key can send cryptocurrency.
Strong cryptography and the magic of big numbers makes it
impossible to break this scheme.
5. Permissionless: You don‘t have to ask anybody to use
cryptocurrency. It‘s just a software that everybody can download for
free. After you installed it, you can receive and send Bitcoins or other
cryptocurrencies. No one can prevent you.

25. MOST IMPORTANT CRYPTOCURRENCIES OTHER THAN
BITCOIN
1. LITECOIN (LTC)
• launched in 2011
• referred to as “silver to bitcoin’s gold.”
• created by Charlie Lee
• Based on an open-source global payment network and uses "scrypt" as a
proof of work
• It has a faster block generation rate and hence offers a faster transaction
confirmation. Other than developers, there are a growing number of
merchants who accept Litecoin.
• As of February 9, 2019, Litecoin had a market cap of $2.63 billion and a
per token value of $43.41.

26. 2. ETHEREUM
• Launched in 2015
• Enables Smart Contracts and Distributed Applications (DApps) to be
built and run without any downtime, fraud, control or interference
from a third party. The applications on ethereum are run on its
platform-specific cryptographic token, ether.
• Ether is like a vehicle for moving around on the ethereum platform
and is sought by mostly developers looking to develop and run
applications inside ethereum, or now by investors looking to make
purchases of other digital currencies using ether.

27. 3. Zcash (ZEC)
• open-source cryptocurrency launched in the latter part of 2016
• “If bitcoin is like HTTP for money, zcash is HTTPS," .
• Zcash offers privacy and selective transparency of transactions.
• zcash claims to provide extra security or privacy where all transactions are
recorded and published on a blockchain, but details such as the sender,
recipient, and amount remain private.
• Zcash offers its users the choice of “shielded” transactions, which allow for
content to be encrypted using an advanced cryptographic technique or
zero-knowledge proof construction called a zk-SNARK developed by its
team. As of February 9, 2019, Zcash had a market cap of $291.25 million
and a value per token of $49.84.

28. 4. Dash (DASH)
• originally known as darkcoin
• more secretive version of bitcoin.
• Dash offers more anonymity as it works on a decentralized master
code network that makes transactions almost untraceable.
• Launched in January 2014, created and developed by Evan Duffield
and can be mined using a CPU or GPU.
• In March 2015, ‘Darkcoin’ was rebranded to Dash, which stands for
“digital cash” and operates under the ticker DASH.
• As of February 9, 2019, Dash had a market cap of $640.76 million and
a per token value of $74.32.

29. 5. Ripple (XRP)
• Ripple is a real-time global settlement network that offers instant, certain and
low-cost international payments.
• Launched in 2012
• Ripple’s consensus ledger (its method of conformation) is unique in that it
doesn’t require mining.
• it reduces the usage of computing power and minimizes network latency.
• Ripple believes that “distributing value is a powerful way to incentivize certain
behaviors” and thus currently plans to distribute XRP primarily “through business
development deals, incentives to liquidity providers who offer tighter spreads for
payments, and selling XRP to institutional buyers interested in investing in
XRP.” So far, ripple has seen success with this model; it remains one of the most
enticing digital currencies among traditional financial institutions looking for ways
to revolutionize cross-border payments. As of February 9, 2019, ripple had a
market cap of $12.69 billion and a per token value of $0.308.

30. 6. Monero (XMR)
• Secure, private and untraceable currency
• launched in April 2014
• The development of this cryptocurrency is completely donation-based and
community-driven.
• It enables complete privacy by using a special technique called “ring signatures.”
• With this technique, there appears a group of cryptographic signatures including
at least one real participant, but since they all appear valid, the real one cannot
be isolated. Because of exceptional security mechanisms like this, monero has
developed something of an unsavory reputation; it has been linked to criminal
operations around the world. Nonetheless, whether it is used for good or ill,
there’s no denying that monero has introduced important technological advances
to the cryptocurrency space.
• As of February 9, 2019, Monero had a market cap of $808.50 million and a per
token value of $48.18.

31. 7. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• it is one of the earliest and most successful hard forks of the original bitcoin.
• In the cryptocurrency world, a fork takes place as the result of debates and arguments
between developers and miners. Due to the decentralized nature of digital currencies,
wholesale changes to the code underlying the token or coin at hand must be made due
to general consensus; the mechanism for this process varies according to the particular
cryptocurrency.
• When different factions can’t come to an agreement, sometimes the digital currency is
split, with the original remaining true to its original code and the other copy beginning
life as a new version of the prior coin, complete with changes to its code. Bitcoin cash
began its life in August of 2017 as a result of one of these splits. The debate which led to
the creation of BCH had to do with the issue of scalability; bitcoin has a strict limit on the
size of blocks, 1 megabyte. BCH increases the block size from 1 MB to 8 MB, with the
idea being that larger blocks will allow for faster transaction times. It also makes other
changes, too, including the removal of the Segregated Witness protocol which impacts
block space. As of February 9, 2019, BCH had a market cap of $2.23 billion and a value
per token of $126.49.

32. 8. NEO (NEO)
• NEO began life in 2014. Originally called AntShares, the coin was later
rebranded by creator Da Hongfei. To date, it is the largest cryptocurrency
which has emerged from China and is sometimes referred to as a “Chinese
Ethereum” because of its similar use of smart contracts. In 2017, NEO
experienced its most successful year to date. From a value of $0.16 per
token in January of 2017, NEO climbed to about $162 per token by one
year later. This constitutes a return of more than 111,000%. One key to
NEO’s success has been its support of programming in many existing
languages, including Go, Java, C++, and others.
• Further, NEO has experienced benefits as a result of its positive relationship
with the Chinese government, which is generally known for its harsh
positions on cryptocurrencies. As of February 9, 2019, NEO had a market
cap of $492.48 million and a value per token of $7.58.

33. 9. Cardano (ADA)
• Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of ethereum, launched cardano
in September of 2017. For supporters of this digital currency, ADA offers all
of the benefits of ethereum, as well as many others. Cardano offers a
platform for Dapps and smart contracts, like ethereum before it. Beyond
that, ADA aims to solve some of the most pressing problems plaguing
cryptocurrencies everywhere, including interoperability and scalability.
• Cardano also hopes to tackle issues related to international payments,
which are typically both timely and expensive. Thanks to its focus on this
area, ADA was able to take international payment processing times from
days down to just seconds. As of February 9, 2019, cardano had a market
cap of $1.16 billion and a per token value of $0.041.

34. 10. EOS (EOS)
• One of the newest digital currencies to make our list is EOS. Launched in June of 2018,
EOS was created by cryptocurrency pioneer Dan Larimer. Before his work on EOS,
Larimer founded the digital currency exchange Bitshares as well as the blockchain-based
social media platform Steemit. Like other cryptocurrencies on this list, EOS is designed
after ethereum, so it offers a platform on which developers can build decentralized
applications. EOS is notable for many other reasons, though.
• First, its initial coin offering was one of the longest and most profitable in history, raking
in a record $4 billion or so in investor funds through crowdsourcing efforts lasting a year.
EOS offers a delegated proof-of-stake mechanism which it hopes to be able to offer
scalability beyond its competitors. EOS consists of EOS.IO, similar to the operating system
of a computer and acting as the blockchain network for the digital currency, as well as
EOS coins. EOS is also revolutionary because of its lack of a mining mechanism to
produce coins. Instead, block producers generate blocks and are rewarded in EOS tokens
based on their production rates. EOS includes a complex system of rules to govern this
process, with the idea being that the network will ultimately be more democratic and
decentralized than those of other cryptocurrencies. As of October 5, 2018, EOS had a
market cap of $2.49 billion and a per token value of $2.74.