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The Technologies

The nuts and bolts of blockchain and decentralised tech.

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Atomic Swaps

Atomic swaps were the first way to trade Bitcoins for a coin on another blockchain network that did not require trust in any other party.

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The Technologies

Introduction

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) is one of the fundamental properties of reliable blockchain rules or protocols

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Consensus Protocols

Underlying the decentralized promise of blockchain technologies are consensus protocols. These protocols create a system of agreement, or rules, for a blockchain.

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The Technologies

Introduction

BitPay

BitPay is the world’s largest bitcoin payment processor. It allows businesses to accept bitcoin as payment, and charges them lower processing fees than most credit card companies.

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The Technologies

Introduction

Solidity

Solidity is the computer code that makes the Ethereum network run. It allows for the creation of smart contracts and Dapps on the platform, expanding on what networks like Bitcoin can offer.

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The Technologies

Introduction

Hashing

Hashing is one of the most crucial pieces of technology that keeps the Bitcoin network secure. But how does it work?

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The Technologies

Advanced

Lightning Network

The Lightning Network is a way of handling transactions without the need to verify them on the blockchain. It’s designed to speed up verification times and to allow more transactions to take place at the same time.

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The Technologies

Advanced

Airdrops and Smart Airdrops

Airdrops are a method of distributing tokens to users. They are commonly used to generate buzz around a project, reward users for certain behaviours and or create a community. They are popular with projects big and small, but US regulatory authorities are concerned they circumvent tax laws.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Token Generation Events

A token is a digital representation of a utility or asset on a blockchain that’s typically affiliated with a decentralized app (dapp). A token generation event is when a dapp developer publicly releases these individual tokens out into the market.

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Advanced

Binance

Binance is an extremely popular cryptocurrency exchange and token. Its success is fueled by speed, low fees, and sheer number of transactions. If a lot of people are using a platform, that means it’s easy to find buyers and sellers for the currency you’re after – known as liquidity.

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The Technologies

Beginner

Aeternity

Aeternity is a smart contract blockchain network that runs faster than competitors by hosting contracts off the main network. It’s also mobile focused and built for scale.

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The Technologies

Beginner

ICOs

ICO stands for Initial Coin Offering. It’s a radically new way for a company to raise money without having to give away a part of its business. It’s popular among blockchain companies, but they aren’t as regulated as more traditional fundraising methods.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Oracles

Oracles take off-chain data and make it usable on a blockchain. This enables smart contracts to automatically settle when their conditions are met.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Sharding

Ethereum has issues around how many transactions it can process at one time. Sharding is a solution to that problem. It breaks the network down into smaller parts, called Shards that can process thousands of smaller transactions at once.

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The Technologies

Advanced

Raiden Network

The Raiden Network is a proposed solution to Ethereum’s scaling problem. It’s a similar idea to the Lightning Network, another proposed solution, being built on Bitcoin. Both create ‘off-chain’ ledgers between two parties that provide a record of all exchanges without requiring mining power to verify them.

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Advanced

0x

Centralized exchanges are prone to hacks. 0x is a new type of exchange, called a decentralized exchange that is designed to make stealing funds harder. Ox is a platform for developers to build decentralized exchanges atop of Ethereum.

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The Technologies

Advanced

STO

STO stands for Security Token Offering. It’s a new, more regulator-friendly alternative to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that enables a business to sell shares of its company in the form of a tokenized asset.

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The Technologies

Beginner

Infura

Connecting to blockchains is messy and complicated. Infura offers to do that work for you but that brings with it fears over increased centralization.

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The Technologies

Advanced

Exchanges

Exchanges are places to buy, sell and exchange different types of cryptocurrency. Each exchange sets the price of an asset according to how popular a currency is, and charges additional fees for using the service.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Wallets

Wallets are pieces of software that allow a user to hold cryptocurrency. The movement of cryptocurrencies to and from and wallets are controlled by public and private keys. There are several different types of wallets, characterised by their internet connectivity.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Blockchain Basics

Blockchain is an online record of transactions backed by cryptography. It’s at the heart of currencies like Bitcoin and can be used to document financial transactions, the movement of goods or services and or exchanges in information.

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The Technologies

Beginner

Ethereum Tokens

Ethereum has a set of standards called ERC-20 that allows developers to create their own tokens inside the Ethereum network. It’s provided an easier route for companies to develop blockchain products instead of building their own cryptocurrency.

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Advanced

Ethereum’s Virtual Machine

Ethereum has created a virtual environment that allows smart contracts to interact with each other that it calls the Ethereum Virtual Machine. It allows smart contracts to have greater functionality without having to become overly complicated.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are bits of computer code that perform a set of instructions. Dapps are decentralised apps that bundle together smart contracts into packages that people can interact with.

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The Technologies

Misc

Dapps

Decentralized applications are a radical new way of building applications. But will anyone use them?

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The Technologies

Beginner

Private Blockchains

Private blockchains have a few crucial differences from public blockchains, which begs the question: why not use a database? We examine both sides.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Decentralized Organizations

Crypto companies work differently. Instead of one figurehead, anyone can contribute. Why do they do this and does it work well?

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The Technologies

Misc

Gas, Ether & ERC20

Gas is the cost the Ethereum network charges in order to process your transaction. Ether is the amount of computer power required to verify a transaction. ERC-20 is the standard for smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake

Proof of work is an energy intensive consensus protocol used by the Bitcoin network. Proof of stake is a newer consensus protocol that requires less energy and involves choosing miners by how invested they are in the community.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

ERC20

Most cryptocurrencies don’t have their own blockchain and run on the Ethereum network instead. They do this using ERC-20 tokens.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Forks

Forks occur when a network no longer agrees on the best route forward. There are different types of fork, soft forks, hard forks, and contentious hard forks. However, not all forks lead to the creation of new cryptocurrencies.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Blockchain transactions

In order for transactions on the blockchain to take place, users need two sets of keys and a crypto wallet. This system, built on cryptography allows users to exchange goods and services without having to rely on a third party.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

Cryptocurrency Basics

A cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency. It uses cryptography to regulate how people transfer them, how they’re created, and how secure they are. The first of its kind was Bitcoin, created in 2009.

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The Technologies

Beginner

Bitcoin Mining

Bitcoin uses an algorithm called Proof of Work. It’s a very difficult puzzle miners have to solve to verify transactions on the blockchain. It’s very energy intensive, and as such, other networks have chosen different methods to verify transactions to solve the energy problem.

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The Technologies

Intermediate

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