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1-0 – What Is Cryptocurrency?

What is cryptocurrency? I’m sure many of you are curious of this so called “21st-century money of the future and due to its increasing recognition and security, the cryptocurrency market looks bright ahead.

By the end of this e-book, you’ll certainly know more about cryptocurrency

than most people out there.For this first chapter, we will be covering 5 topics:

1. What Is Cryptocurrency?

2. How DoCryptocurrencies Work?

3. How Are The Cryptocurrencies Value Determined?

4. What Is Cryptocurrency Used For?

5. Why Cryptocurrency?

What Is Cryptocurrency?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions out there. What is cryptocurrency? To make it simple, cryptocurrency is a digital version of money where the transactions are done online. A cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange just like your normal everyday currency such as the USD, but designed for the purpose of exchanging digital information through a process known as cryptography.

The first ever-successful cryptocurrency emerged from the invention of Bitcoin, by Satoshi Nakamoto. This was then followed by the birth of other types of crytocurrencies competing against Bitcoin.

How Do Cryptocurrencies Work?

The reason why cryptocurrenciesare such in demand right now is because Satoshi Nakamoto successfully found a way to build a decentralized digital cash system. What is a decentralized cash system?

A decentralized system means the network is powered by its users without having any third party, central authority or middleman controlling it. Not the central bank or the government has power over this system.

The problem with a centralized network in a payment system is the so called “double spending”. Double spending happens when one entity spends the same amount twice. For instance, when you purchase things online, you have to incur for unnecessary and expensive transaction fees. Usually, this is done by a central server that keeps track of your balances.

This is most commonly known as the Blockchain Technology. Cryptocurrency is derived from the word “Cryptography”, which refers to the consensus-keeping process secured by strong cryptography.

Blockchain technology functions in managing and maintaining a growing set of data blocks, and this is by using the decentralized or known as the P2P (Peer to Peer) network. In blockchain, once a piece of data is recorded it cannot be edited or changed.

To put it in simpler terms, it enables you to send a gold coin via email. The P2P network is a consensus network, which allows a new payment system and the transactions of new digital money.

Let’s illustrate an example. Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin consists of its own network of peers. Every peer has a record of the complete history of all transactions as well as the balance of every account.

By the end of every transaction and upon confirmation, the transaction is known almost immediately by the whole network. A transaction includes a process where A gives X amount of Bitcoins to B, and is signed by A’s private key. After signed, a transaction is broadcasted in the network. The information is sent from one peer to every other peer on the network.

Confirmation is a critical stage in the cryptocurrency system. Confirmation is everything. When the transaction is not confirmed, it has the possibility of being hacked and forged.

When a transaction is confirmed, it is set in stone. It can’t be reversed, it is impossible to be hacked, it is not forgeable as it is part of a permanent record of the historical transaction: The Blockchain.

The blockchain can be likened to an online ledger, where all transactions are recorded and made visible to the whole network.

This comes to show that cryptocurrencies are not secured by people or trust, but by complex mathematical equations. It is very secure and it’s highly unlikely that the address of a currency is compromised.

Only miners are able to confirm a transaction. This is their role in the cryptocurrency network. They record transactions, verify them and disperse the transactional information in the network.

For every completed transaction monitored and facilitated by the miners, they are rewarded with a token of cryptocurrency, for instance with Bitcoins. Since miners play a major role in the cryptocurrency system, let’s look at their role in more detail.

What Are Miners Doing?

First and foremost, principally anyone can be miner. Miners are needed because of the nature of the decentralized network where they have no authority to delegate tasks and the cryptocurrency needs some kind of system to prevent any form of network abuse. For instance, a person may create thousands of peers and spread forged transactions. It will disrupt the system immediately.

In order for you to be a miner, you would need to solve a cryptologic puzzle which is a set of very complex mathematical questions set by Satoshi Nakamato himself. If you successfully solved the puzzle, as a miner you can build a block and add it to the blockchain.

The miner is also given permission to add a crypocurrency transaction to the system which automatically grants him a specific number of bitcoins. This is the only way to create valid bitcoins. Bitcoins can only be generated if a miner can solve a cryptographic puzzle. The level of difficulty increases with the amount of computer power the miners invest.

How Are The Cryptocurrencies Value Determined?

The value of cryptocurrencies are dependent on the market, where the prices of various cryptocurrencies vary a lot and is one of the most fluctuating and volatile markets to date.

The price of cryptocurrencies like any other products is dependent on demand and supply. If more people demands a particular currency and it is short in supply, then the value increases. More units are mined by miners to balance the flow. However, most currencies limit the supply of their tokens.

For instance the total amount of Bitcoin issued is only 21 million. Therefore Bitcoin’s supply will decrease in time and will reach its final number by 2140. It also explains why Bitcoin’s value is higher as compared to other cryptocurrencies.

Now you must be wondering, what is cryptocurrency used for?

Cryptocurrencies can be spent for different purposes and the best part is, all transactions are completed online! There are 3 different transactions that can be performed when using cryptocurrency:

1. Bitcoin Trading

2. Personal Spending

3. Crowd Funding

Firstly is Bitcoin trading.

Bitcoin trading can be very profitable for both professionals and beginners. The market is new, where arbitrage and margin trading is widely available.The currency’s high volatility has also played a major role in bringing new investors to the trading market.

Compared to other financial currencies, Bitcoin has very little barrier to entry. If you already own Bitcoin, no verification is required and you can start trading almost instantly. Moreover, Bitcoin is not fiat currency. This simply means the price is not related to the economy or policies of any single country.

And unlike stock markets, there are no official Bitcoin exchanges. Instead, hundreds of Bitcoin exchanges operate 24/7 around the world. Because of no official exchanges, this results in no official Bitcoin price where the currency is known for its rapid and frequent price movements.

Secondly is personal spending. You can use Bitcoin to purchase almost anything! From buying cars to travelling the world.

In December 2013, a Tesla model S was purchased for a reported 91.4bitcoins. The dealer, located in California continues to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. They have since managed to sell a Lamborghini Gallardo for 216.8 Bitcoin.

You can also travel the world using Bitcoins! Just head to www.cheapair.com. On 22nd November 2013, they announced that they would be the first online travelling agency accepting Bitcoin. You are able to purchase flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises. You can even book the whole package.

Cryptocurrency also provides the chance for you to give back to society. How? By crowd funding. You are able to be part of someone’s success story by donating to a crypto crowd funding project. Companies such as Lighthouse have built their crowd funding platform using Bitcoin.

The perks of donating through this system are you will not be charged for your donation and funds will not be released unless the project meets its criteria. You are also able to withdraw from the campaign before its completion.

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Introduction

“Vegan Warrior: Green Athletic Fitness Blueprint” contains proven steps and strategies on how to begin your own vegan diet, how to maintain and acquire the type of body you wish on a vegan diet and presents to you athletes and prominent individuals who debunk some of the greatest myths when it comes to the world of vegan eating.

Many individuals believe that a vegan lifestyle is not a lifestyle conducive to muscle building or psychological health. Many believe vegans cannot possibly obtain the protein sources they need in order to keep their bodies working efficiently, and others believe that a vegan lifestyle is not one that should be held for the long haul. Many people are under the assumption that, in order to live a healthy and productive life inside (and outside) of the gym that one has to consistently chug protein shakes and energy supplements in order to improve performance.

Well, we are here to let you know that none of these are true. This book will have real-life athletes who not only live a vegan lifestyle, but prove that performance and muscle-building are not simply based around the idea of laboratory-manufactured and animal-based protein sources. This book will talk about the true dietary needs of vegans and where they get their sources from, and it will compare the types of nutrients and proteins other dietary lifestyles obtain in order to show that vegans do not simply go without, they just choose to broaden their food-based horizons.

Not only that, but many people believe that a vegan lifestyle cannot possibly give someone the energy they need in order to go workout in a gym for two hours. Well, not only will this be yet another myth debunked within the pages of this book, but it will also be something we address in full. That is, we will outline various workout plans and routines that will benefit the vegan lifestyle you have chosen (or are, at least, curious about) in order to achieve the physical benefits you want for your own body.

Yes, it is possible to build muscle on a vegan diet, and yes, it is possible to keep up those cardio-based marathons on a vegan diet. In fact, you will be genuinely surprised as to how similar the workout routines are of those who “eat vegan” and those who do not.

Vegans are not individuals who shove their beliefs down someone’s throat. They are individuals who are merely passionate about abstaining from the use of animal products. They do not consume them and, in some individuals, they even attempt to not use them. Are there extremists? Yes, but there are extremists in every healthy lifestyle.

Within the pages of this book will be dietary outlines for those who are (or want to be) vegan, exercise guidelines for those eating this type of food lifestyle, and athletes that will be highlighted in order to show real-life examples as to how this works. Not only that, but these athletes will have their own personal testimonies as to why they began this lifestyle and how it has benefitted them in the long run.

And, as if that was not enough, all of those dreaded myths perpetuated about the vegan lifestyle will finally be debunked.

Welcome to the new and amazing world of the vegan warriors.

Chapter 1: The Vegan Journey For Health & Performance

Living a vegan lifestyle has many different benefits. Backed up by multiple prominent research studies, it has been proven that a vegan lifestyle can lower the risk of cardiac events, reduce the risk of developing certain cancers and lower an individual’s chance of type 2 diabetes. Not only that, but it helps with regulating one’s metabolism, weight and can stave off certain weight-induced phenomena, such as hypertension. A vegan lifestyle has also proven to reduce someone’s risk of stroke.

Why Go Vegan?

But, there are many different benefits to a vegan lifestyle that are not merely based on health. The UN recently released a report that stated a dire need for the world to migrate away from consistently consuming animal products. The impact from a majority of the world’s growing population consuming meat and animal products is the growing need for crops to feed those animals in order to breed them for food. Food is not like finding an alternative for fossil fuels. People are required to eat for their survival. However, as the current population stands, animals raised for the sole purpose of providing food to the general population consume over half of all the world’s crops.

Yes, half.

And no, that is not some random statistic. That statistic was embedded within the UN’s official report.

It is simply an inefficient use of our planet’s natural resources. As the population continues to grow because of the advancement in medicine, more agricultural space is going to be necessary in order to grow and feed the heightened number of animals bred necessary for food purposes. Many people talk about deforestation and scream for it to go away, but many people do not understand that around 56% of that deforestation is going to the purpose of agriculture: growing food not simply for humans, but for those animals that are raised specifically for general food sources.

And, as if that is not enough, around 850,000,000 people (around 15% of the entire world’s population) struggle and deal with undernourishment, even with all of this going on. It is all simply a waste of the planet’s natural resources that will become exhausted in the near future if we continue on this path.

What does being vegan have to do with any of this? Well, not consuming animal products and meat takes a bit of the burden off this need for more agricultural space for those animals we need to feed. Adopting a vegan lifestyle takes the stress off the planet’s natural resources and will ultimately require less water, fossil fuels, and land in order to cultivate. Multiple reports have surfaced that declare the world’s population will be around 9 billion individuals by 2050, and many more studies have been done that proclaim the world’s meat needs will not be sustainable by that point.

Adopting a vegan lifestyle can help that statistic.

The Immense Benefits

Many vegans scream about the animal cruelty and how that should be the reason everyone converts to a vegan lifestyle, but the truth is more people are concerned about their own wellbeing rather than the wellbeing of an animal they cannot see, touch or hear. So, it should bring a smile to many people’s faces when we say there are more scientifically-backed studies that give even more personal health benefits that are only provided when adopting a vegan diet.

It has been shown in various studies that a vegan diet provides a higher availability of fiber, potassium, antioxidants and folate, which makes it the most mineral-and-vitamin-rich diet offered on the health and wellness circuit today. Not only that, but it is the number one recommended diet by general physicians and specialists when it comes to someone who needs to lose weight. One particularly renowned study compared a vegan diet to a dozen other popular and well-received diets and found that the participants who adopted the vegan diet lost the most weight, with an average of 9.3 pounds more than all the other groups of participants utilizing other diets!