The next discussion is on cryptocurrency ATM, a bitcoin ATM, a kiosk

allowing an individual to either purchase bitcoin using cash or card or sell

bitcoin and receive cash; thus, offering bi-directional functionality.

The knowledge and the proficiency you have gained in this chapter about

cryptocurrencies will enable you to understand and work with it with

confidence in your academic and professional endeavors.

The upcoming chapter is on Ethereum, Smart Contract, and dApps.

Ethereum is a decentralized, self-contained economy for transactional

computation and related data. An open blockchain platform enables

individuals to build and use decentralized apps that run on blockchain

technology. There is no single owner of Ethereum like Bitcoin; it has been

built by many people around the world and is an open-source proj ect.

Ethereum is designed to be adaptable and flexible, unlike the Bitcoin

protocol.

The computer code facilitating the exchange of anything of value such as

money, content, property, or stocks is a smart contract. Specified in digital

form, including protocols within which the parties perform on the other

promises, a smart contract is a set of promises.

A distributed application is an application where the “server-side” is j ust

one or more well-known smart contracts that exist on the Ethereum

network. These distributed applications are usually accompanied by some

sort of user-friendly front-end.

Questions

1. How is a cryptocurrency used, and how is the value attached to it?

2. What is the importance of cryptocurrency?

3 . Beyond a method for payment, what are the other functions of

cryptocurrencies?

4. How are cryptocurrency transactions recorded? What is a crypto

wallet?

5 . Why do people want an alternative currency and specific

cryptocurrencies like bitcoins?

6. What is the added value for consumers to use cryptocurrencies over

the current digital mean of payment?