Take Control of Cryptocurrency

Appendix A: Technical Explanations

In this appendix, I explain some details of cryptocurrency at greater length than what I believe a casual reader might have interest in. But because I know some folks want a tour of the sausage factory, here are the more low-level and technical details of several aspects of cryptocurrency, particularly blockchains.

Make a Hash of It

A huge part of how cryptography is used in routine ways, from securing the web to mining cryptocurrency, is in validating that a given thing hasn’t changed since it was made. That might be an app, a hunk of text, a Word file, an image, or a transaction in a digital currency.

To prove something hasn’t been changed, you use a hashing algorithm. A hashing algorithm uses a massive ...