你可能读过那些互联网广告告诉你，如果你一开始就买了几百美元的比特币(Bitcoin)，你今天就会成为百万富翁(millionaire today)。像比特币(Bitcoin)这样的加密货币是如何变得如此有价值的？为什么它们甚至首先有价值？这些问题的答案可能很复杂，但我们会将它们分解为您需要了解的基本事实。
什么是加密货币？
加密货币是一种数字货币，它不依赖银行或政府机构等中央(government institution)记录员(record keeper)来跟踪账户余额和交易。这使加密货币具有类似于传统现金的匿名性，尽管没有加密货币是真正匿名的，尽管你可能听说过。更糟糕的是，考虑到加密货币的运作方式，您的加密货币交易将来可能会被去匿名化。
这怎么可能发生？加密货币(Cryptocurrencies)使用称为区块链的分布式分散分类账来(blockchain)永久记录使用该货币进行的每笔交易。被称为“钱包”的加密货币账户没有人名，但每个钱包都是独一无二的，钱包的地址是区块链上的公共记录。因此，如果您想知道钱包属于谁，您只需找到将钱包与特定人联系起来的第三方信息。
加密货币之所以如此命名，是因为它们使用加密方法和技术来保护区块链账本(blockchain ledger)免受篡改。密码学(Cryptography )也是如何将更多货币释放到流通中的关键部分，这个过程称为挖矿，我们稍后会介绍。所以，总结一下：
- 加密货币是数字现金。
- 它是去中心化的，不受任何机构控制。
- 它使用称为区块链的分布式公共分类帐。
- 加密方法和技术是加密货币的核心。
加密货币是如何创建的？
加密货币是软件。它是在连接到网络的计算机上运行的计算机程序。(computer program)因此，如果你想创建一种加密货币，你必须编写使这一切成为可能的软件。
许多加密货币都是开源(Open Source)的，因此您在构建自己的硬币时不需要从头开始。复杂的数学问题已经得到解决，整个程序员社区都在致力于基于旧迭代制作更新、更好的加密货币。
假设(Suppose)您想从头开始制作自己的加密货币。然后，你必须解决几个问题。这些可以是如何确保您的分类帐不会被篡改，如何验证交易，最重要的是，您将如何获得计算能力来处理加密货币需要运行的所有功能？
对于比特币(Bitcoin)等基于区块链的加密货币，该问题的答案是挖矿。
“挖掘”加密货币意味着(Mean)什么？
加密矿工(crypto miner)是一台在将交易添加到区块链之前验证交易的计算机。在比特币(Bitcoin)的情况下，交易以 1MB 块的形式添加，但确切的大小因一种货币类型而异。
当一个交易区块被验证并添加到链中时，验证该区块的矿工会以新“铸造”或“发掘”(” cryptocurrency)的加密货币获得回报。通过这种方式，人们有动力提供为货币提供动力所需的计算机设备和能源。(computer equipment and energy)
验证交易对现代计算机来说并不具有挑战性，那么验证新区块的奖励是如何授予的呢？这是它变得有点奇怪的地方，但它是有道理的。
矿工必须出示经过验证的交易块以及(and )要奖励的具有挑战性的密码难题的答案。基本上(Basically)，这就像你得到了一个密码锁(combination lock)，你必须一遍又一遍地猜测密码，直到你得到它。对于四位数的锁，您必须（最多）猜测 10,000 次才能正确。如果你和其他人竞争第一个猜组合，谁能在最短的时间内猜出最多的组合，谁就有最高的机会找到正确的组合。
这就是采矿会发生的事情，除了可能有数十亿或数万亿种可能的组合。因此(Hence)，您需要大量(lot )的计算能力来获得足够的猜测（称为哈希率(hash rate)），以便有机会成为第一名并获得丰厚的奖励。
不同的货币在这个被称为“工作证明”的基本概念上有所不同。不幸的是，工作量证明模型(work model)存在许多问题，我们没有空间在这里讨论。尽管如此，诸如“股权证明”之类的替代方法也正在进入加密货币世界(cryptocurrency world)。
为什么加密货币有价值？
那么为什么比特币(Bitcoin)、以太坊(Ethereum)或（严重的）狗狗币(DogeCoin)有任何现实价值呢？这不是技术问题(technology question)，而是人类心理学和社会学(psychology and sociology)问题。
我们使用物理世界中的特定材料（例如黄金或白银(gold or silver)）作为价值的代表。例如，像黄金这样的材料作为金属当然具有内在价值，但作为用于贸易的东西，它没有任何客观价值。
金钱曾经是钻石、石油或黄金的替代品。换句话说，货币总量等于“支持”货币的实际商品库存。这种商品货币(commodity currency )已经失宠，美国等国家使用(USA use) 法定(fiat )货币。换句话说，美元(US Dollar)是有价值的，因为美国政府(US government)说它是有价值的。它以更抽象的经济实力衡量标准为后盾。
与法定货币相比，加密货币与商品货币的共同点更多，因为它需要努力（挖掘）来提取更多商品，并且在任何给定时间，它的供应量都是有限的。
一旦人们认为值得交易有价值的东西，加密货币就会获得价值。2010 年5 月 22(May 22)日，第一笔商业比特币交易(first commercial Bitcoin transaction)发生在有人支付 10,000比特币(BTC)购买两个价值 40 美元的比萨饼时。在确定了基础价值(base value)后，货币可以进行交易，因为两方已就其价值达成一致，而其他方也纷纷效仿。今天(Today)，这 10,000 BTC的价值仅差 60,000 美元！它们是如何变得如此有价值的？
加密货币如何获得或失去价值(Does Cryptocurrency Gain or Lose Value)？
了解我们如何获得这些天价的加密货币价值和价值的显着波动是很复杂的。一些货币（例如比特币(Bitcoin)）具有内置的供应限制，以对抗供应过剩导致的通货膨胀。因此，单个比特币价值的增加并不是(Bitcoin isn)真正的通货膨胀或通货紧缩(inflation or deflation)的结果。相反，比特币(Bitcoin)等货币已成为黄金或股票(gold or stocks)等投机商品。
人们没有像预期的那样使用加密货币作为日常货币，而是投机加密货币，随着需求增加和供应减少而推高价格。然后他们卖掉他们的加密货币以换取美元等法定货币(US Dollar)。随着越来越多的人抛售他们的供应，充斥市场，这压低了加密货币的价格。(cryptocurrency price)整个周期再次开始，但随着市场预期和大众市场行为的生效，整体呈上升趋势，因为人们等待销售的时间更长，并且当他们这样做时更卖力。
希望比特币或以太坊(Bitcoin or Ethereum)等一日货币能够稳定下来并适合作为实际货币。尽管如此，那一天似乎还很遥远，而且就目前而言，它们在很大程度上仍然是一种投机商品。
How Does Cryptocurrency Gain Value?
You mаy have read those internet ads telling you that if you’d bought a few hundred dollars of Bitcoin at its ѕtart, you’d be a millionaire today. How did cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin become sо valuable? Why do they even have value in the first place? The answers to these questions can be complicated, bυt we’ll break them down into the essential facts you need to know.
What Is a Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is digital money that doesn’t rely on a central record keeper like a bank or a government institution to keep track of account balances and transactions. This grants cryptocurrencies a level of anonymity similar to traditional cash, although no cryptocurrency is genuinely anonymous, despite what you might have heard. Even worse, given how cryptocurrencies work, your cryptocurrency transactions may be de-anonymized in the future.
How can this happen? Cryptocurrencies use a distributed decentralized ledger known as a blockchain to keep a permanent record of every transaction made using the currency. Cryptocurrency accounts, known as “wallets,” don’t have the names of people attached to them, but each wallet is unique, and that wallet’s address is a matter of public record on the blockchain. So if you wanted to know who a wallet belonged to, you’d simply have to find third-party information that ties a wallet to a specific person.
Cryptocurrencies are so named because they use cryptographic methods and technologies to secure the blockchain ledger against tampering. Cryptography is also a key part of how more currency is released into circulation, a process known as mining, which we’ll cover a little later. So, to sum up:
- Cryptocurrency is digital cash.
- It’s decentralized and is not controlled by any institution.
- It uses a distributed public ledger known as the blockchain.
- Cryptographic methods and technology are central to cryptocurrencies.
How Is a Cryptocurrency Created?
Cryptocurrency is software. It’s a computer program running on computers connected to a network. So if you want to create a cryptocurrency, you have to write the software that makes it all possible.
Many cryptocurrencies are Open Source, so you don’t need to start from scratch when building your own coin. The complex math has already been solved, and whole communities of coders are working on making newer, better cryptocurrencies based on older iterations.
Suppose you want to make your own cryptocurrency from scratch. Then, you’ll have to solve several problems. These can be how to ensure your ledger can’t be tampered with, how to verify transactions, and, most importantly, how you’re going to get the computing power to process all the functions a cryptocurrency needs to function?
For blockchain-based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the answer to that question is mining.
What Does It Mean To “Mine” Cryptocurrency?
A crypto miner is a computer that verifies transactions before they are added to the blockchain. In the case of Bitcoin, transactions are added in 1MB blocks, but the exact size varies from one type of currency to the next.
When a block of transactions is verified and added to the chain, the miner that verified the block is repaid for that work in newly “minted” or “unearthed” cryptocurrency. In this way, people are motivated to provide the computer equipment and energy needed to power the currency.
Validating transactions isn’t challenging for modern computers, so how is the reward for validating a new block awarded? This is where it gets a little weird, but it makes sense.
The miner must present the validated block of transactions and the answer to a challenging cryptographic puzzle to be awarded. Basically, it’s like you’ve been given a combination lock, and you have to guess the combination over and over until you get it. For a four-digit lock, you’d have to guess (at most) 10,000 times before getting it right. If you and someone else compete to guess the combination first, whoever can make the most guesses in the shortest amount of time has the highest chance of hitting on the right combination.
This is what happens with mining, except there may be billions or trillions of possible combinations. Hence, you need a lot of computing power to get enough guesses in (called the hash rate) to have a chance of being first and getting the juicy rewards.
Different currencies vary on this basic concept, known as “proof of work.” Unfortunately, there are many problems with the proof of work model we don’t have the space to discuss here. Still, alternative methods such as “proof of stake” are also making their way into the cryptocurrency world.
Why Does Cryptocurrency Have Value?
So why does Bitcoin, Ethereum, or (seriously) DogeCoin have any real-world value at all? This isn’t a technology question but rather one of human psychology and sociology.
We use specific materials in the physical world (e.g., gold or silver) as a proxy for value. For example, a material such as gold certainly has intrinsic value as a metal, but it doesn’t have any objective value as something used for trade.
Money used to be a stand-in for diamonds, oil, or gold. In other words, the total amount of money was equal to stockpiles of actual commodities that “backed” the currency. This commodity currency has fallen out of favor, and countries like the USA use fiat currency. In other words, the US Dollar is worth something because the US government says it is. It’s backed by a more abstract measure of economic power.
Cryptocurrency has more in common with commodity currencies than fiat currencies in the sense that it requires effort (mining) to extract more of it and that at any given time, there’s a limited supply of it.
Cryptocurrency gains value as soon as people decide it’s worth trading something valuable for. On May 22 in 2010, the first commercial Bitcoin transaction happened when someone paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas valued at $40. With a base value established, the currency could trade because two parties had agreed on their value and other parties followed suit. Today those 10,000 BTC are worth just short of $60,000! How did they become so valuable?
How Does Cryptocurrency Gain or Lose Value?
Understanding how we got to these sky-high cryptocurrency values and significant fluctuations in value is complicated. Some currencies (such as Bitcoin) have built-in supply limits to combat inflation from oversupply. As such, the increase in the value of a single Bitcoin isn’t really the result of inflation or deflation. Instead, currencies like Bitcoin have become speculative commodities such as gold or stocks.
Rather than using cryptocurrency as a day-to-day currency as intended, people speculate on cryptocurrency, driving up the price as demand increases and supply drops. Then they sell off their cryptocurrency in exchange for fiat currencies such as the US Dollar. This drives down the cryptocurrency price as more and more people dump their supply, flooding the market. The whole cycle starts up again, but as market expectations and mass-market behaviors take effect, there’s been an overall upward trend as people wait longer to sell and sell harder when they do.
Hopefully, one-day currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum will stabilize and become suitable as actual currencies. Still, that day seems far off, and for now, they largely remain a speculative commodity.
