Thank you for your participation! After the survey we conducted, the winning option was number 3: Crypto 101 (From Beginners to Experts). As promised, we will be posting essential basic concepts every day so you can learn with pears 🍐 and apples 🍎 (that is, in the clearest and simplest way).
What is a Blockchain and why is your Wallet the key to your financial freedom?
The word Blockchain may sound technical, but in essence, it is the ultimate digital ledger. To stop being a beginner, you must master these three fundamental concepts.
🧱 What is the Blockchain?
Imagine a record where each page is a Block of information (transactions) and is cryptographically linked (through advanced and secure mathematical codes) to the previous page, forming an immutable Chain (that cannot be changed).
🔸Distributed Ledger: The magic of the blockchain is that it does not reside on a single computer. It is distributed across thousands of nodes (computers) around the world. For a new transaction to be added, most of these nodes must reach a consensus (an agreement).
🔸 Transparency and Immutability: This system has two essential characteristics:
1. Transparency (Pseudonymous): The information is completely transparent. Everyone can see the record, although the real identities of the users are pseudonymous (only the Wallet address is visible, not the person's name).
2. Immutability: Once a transaction has been verified and included in a block, no one, absolutely no one, can change, modify, or delete that transaction.
🔸 The Origin of Sovereignty (Financial Freedom): This decentralized system is what gives you total sovereignty over your money. Sovereignty means that you are the only authority and have the final control over your assets, without asking permission from anyone. This eliminates the need for an intermediary (bank, government, or payment processor) to validate your transactions or access your funds. Your money is 100% yours.
🔎 The Expert's Tool: Where to research the "Ledger"?
If the blockchain is a public ledger, how do you read it? Beginners often think it's a paid account, but transparency is the foundation of the system.
• The Block Explorer (Block Explorer): It’s Free!
• They are the public and free websites that allow you to investigate each block, each transaction, and each address of a specific blockchain.
• Why is it free? Because the information is public by design; these explorers simply take that raw data and organize it into an easy-to-read format.
- Examples:
• For Bitcoin ($BTC): Blockchain.com (or Blockchair)
• For Ethereum ($ETH) and most Tokens: Etherscan.io
• What you can search: Anyone can paste their public address or the ID of a transaction to see its status and history.
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🔑 Your Wallet is The Power of the Private Key
This is where you take total control. Your Wallet (digital wallet) is much more than just a simple app.
• What it is NOT: Your wallet does NOT store your cryptocurrencies. They are always recorded on the blockchain!
• What it IS: Your wallet actually stores your Private Keys, a cryptographic sequence (often represented by your Seed Phrase or Mnemonic Seed). This key is the only proof that the network has that you are the owner of those funds. It is your digital signature.
• Total Freedom and Responsibility: If you use your Private Key, you can "sign" a transaction to move your funds. If you lose those keys, you lose access to your money forever. Therefore, your wallet is the key to your financial freedom; it gives you absolute control, but it also demands total responsibility for your security.
Wallet 🆚 Exchange
Where is your money really?
This is the biggest confusion for beginners. Wallet and Exchange are not the same, and the difference defines whether you have total sovereignty or not.
🔑 Your Wallet (Self-Custody)
• Control: You have 100% control because only you handle the Private Key.
• Nature: It is an access tool that allows you to interact directly with the blockchain.
• Freedom: Maximum. Your money is yours and does not depend on a third party.
🏦 The Exchange (CEX, like Binance)
• Control: The Exchange controls your Private Keys for you. They are the intermediary.
• Nature: It is similar to a traditional bank account. When you leave cryptocurrencies here, you only have a "promissory note" or a promise from the platform.
• Freedom: Limited. You depend on the Exchange to operate correctly, not to be hacked, and not to block your access to your funds.
🖇️ When you leave cryptocurrencies on an Exchange, you are trusting a third party (custody), you are not using your own Wallet. The Exchange is great for buying and selling, but your Wallet is for storing and controlling.
🖇️ Understanding the decentralized architecture of the blockchain, securing your wallet (your private key), differentiating it from an Exchange, and knowing how to use a Block Explorer is the first unavoidable step to stop being a beginner. Total control is the key.
FOLLOW ME BECAUSE I am going to teach you step by step about this 🌍 crypto world. To generate MONEY you have to study 📚 first. Always stay informed 🤗❤️ support me with a like.
By #AlondraCrypto 🕵️♀️🔍
