Blockchains keep a record of each transaction ever to have occurred on the network. Unlike banks, however, public blockchains keep this information open to everyone. This means that the information about all transactions can be freely accessed from anywhere across the globe.

In the context of blockchain, a fork is a technical phenomenon that occurs when a blockchain splits into two separate branches. These two branches share their transaction history up until the point of the split. From there on, they each go independently each in their own direction.

Decentralization is seen as blockchain’s ultimate attribute as it has many advantages over traditional centralized systems for storing information. Why is that so? And what does it even mean, if we say that a system is centralized or decentralized?

The idea of the blockchain has existed for over a quarter of a century, but it was popularized by the mythical founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. No one knows who Satoshi is or if he is even a real person. All we know is that someone using that name made a revolutionary breakthrough.

An exchange is a place where individuals or companies can trade currencies, securities, commodities and more. A cryptocurrency exchange allows you to easily trade one cryptocurrency for another (that’s a crypto-to-crypto exchange) or fiat money for cryptocurrencies (a fiat-to-crypto exchange).

To transfer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, a fundamentally different infrastructure is needed from traditional payment systems. Simply put, a cryptocurrency transaction is a transfer of information made between blockchain addresses.

When you buy something, you rely on someone to authorize that you’ve paid for the product or service. In traditional exchanges, this someone is a third party who enjoys the trust of everyone involved in the transaction.

Cryptocurrencies employ a form of cryptography known as public-key cryptography. Two cryptographic keys form the core of this system: a public key and a private key. These are strings of characters that are used for encrypting and decrypting data, as well as for signing and verifying transactions.

Maintaining privacy in the digital world is getting more and more difficult nowadays. But how does blockchain promote privacy and anonymity, when it also openly displays the entire history of transactions that anyone has ever made?