Trustless
By CoinGecko | Updated on Mar 03, 2020
A defining aspect of cryptocurrencies is that is it now possible to complete a monetary transaction without need to assume trust in a third party. In traditional finance, a monetary transaction on the internet requires trust in a facilitator such as central banks, commecial banks, agents, or financial service provider without the universal access to audit their ability to faciliate the transaction. Sending money online is more akin to writing a cheque than paying in cash as the issue of decentralization without double spending remains unsolved until the emergence of bitcoin.
When a party makes a transaction with cryptocurrencies, they can verify publically and mathematically that a transaction has been completed. This is in contrast to taking the "transaction completed" notification from a facilitator at face value.
Related Terms
Byzantine Fault
A byzantine fault is where an error has occured, yet a computer system does not know due which component/what failed to the lack of information and continues to iterate on a given instruction.
Cold Storage
Offline storage of cryptocurrencies which is arguably safer as they also require physical access (eg. hardware wallet, paper wallets)
51% Attack
An attack on blockchain by a group of miners controlling more than 50% of network hash rate
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