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Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Megabitcoin: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Merkle Tree: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Merkle Tree:
Defined in CryptoCurrency
Merkle Tree Explained
In 1979 Ralph Merkle, a computer scientist, created a patent for Merkle trees. A Merkle tree uses computer technology known as “hashing” to take information and turns it into letters and numbers of a certain length.
For example, “I like bitcoin” can be hashed and will equal: ad3e58f21b94f32dcadca6b71df4c31a18179f38011551a17a80d0ff065d22c5
If I were to capitalize the “b” in bitcoin, so it says, “I like Bitcoin” the hash will be completely different:
d988ca30eaa88c0410ad6e48a5297c0d505dcee572f9884f1a6fa2cbc8dedc86
Hashes cannot be reversed to get the original text. But you can verify the above hashes are correct simply by going to this website and typing in the same text as above: https://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/sha256.html
A Merkle tree works like this:
Two units of information are individually hashed. These are known as Merkle leaves.
Those two hashes are then hashed together. These are known as Merkle branches.
Multiple branches are hashed together finally getting one single hash. This is known as a Merkle root.
Mega-Hashes: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Mega-Hashes: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Hash rate is defined as the speed that a computer can take any set of information and turn it into letters and numbers of a certain length. Hash rate is also the combined hash speed of every computer in the network. Hash rate is calculated at hashes per second (h/s).
Hash rate is important for computers that mine. Mining is the process of recording and verifying information on the digital record known as the blockchain. The blockchain is made up of a sequence of single recordings known as a block.
To keep the blockchain network running smoothly, only one block can be created at a time. To control when blocks are created, users are required to make their computers solve a math problem involving hashing. The first computer to solve this problem can create a new block and record information on the blockchain.
Miners often purchase very expensive specially designed computers that have higher hash rates to increase their chances of solving the math problem first. These mining computers use tons of electricity to power their computers. This expensive process earns miners a reward in brand crypto plus fees paid by each user for their transactions.
Similar to memory size, hash rate is counted like this:
- 1 kilo hash per second is one thousand (1,000) hashes per second
- 1 mega hash per second is one million (1,000,000) hashes per second.
- 1 giga hash per second is one billion (1,000,000,000) hashes per second.
- 1 tera hash per second is one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) hashes per second.
- 1 peta hash per second is one quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) hashes per second.
- 1 exa hash per second is one quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) hashes per second.
Masternode: Defined in CryptoCurrency
- 1. A masternode’s managing role is to vote on proposals to improve the Dash system. Every masternode gets one vote.
- 2. A masternode’s special jobs include creating instant transactions, known as “InstantSend”, and private transactions that hide the fact that you’ve sent money, known as “PrivateSend”.
Millibitcoin: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Millibitcoin: Defined in CryptoCurrency
Max Supply: Defined in CryptoCurrency
The maximum supply of a cryptocurrency refers to the maximum number of coins or tokens that will be ever created. This means that once the maximum supply is reached, there won’t be any new coins mined, minted or produced in any other way.
Normally, the maximum supply is capped by the limits defined by the underlying protocol of each digital asset. Therefore, the maximum supply and issuance of new coins are usually defined at the genesis block according to the project’s source code (which also defines many other features and functionalities).
Setting a steady issuance rate together with a predefined maximum supply can be valuable for controlling the inflation rate of a cryptocurrency, which may potentially lead to a long-term appreciation of the asset. Generally speaking, when the maximum supply is reached, there will be fewer coins available on the market. This is expected to create market scarcity, which may eventually lead to deflation conditions (or 0% inflation rates).
However, some cryptocurrencies do not have a predefined maximum supply, meaning they can be mined or minted continuously. Ethereum is a notable example of a cryptocurrency system that has no predetermined maximum supply. Ether’s supply is constantly increasing as new blocks are generated.
Max supply vs. total supply:
As mentioned, the calculation of max supply includes all coins that were already produced (or mined) plus the coins that are yet to be issued (in the future). On the other hand, the total supply includes only the coins that were already produced minus the units that were destroyed, for instance, in coin burn events.