Since its introduction in 2009, cryptocurrency has exploded since its introduction in 2009.
For years, a vision of a truly decentralized digital financial system was envisioned by pioneers of internet technology. Figures such as Wei Dai (developer of the the pioneering Crypto++ library of cryptographic algorithms, and b-money – an early publication on the concept of cryptocurrency), and Hal Finney (a well-known software developer for video games, early Bitcoin contributor, and activist) were instrumental in this vision.
This was all put into action by a person going by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. Since then, Bitcoin has rapidly risen to be a become a well-known payment method and household name amongst tech-savvy people. At the time of writing, 1 Bitcoin (BTC) is equal to $118,945.60 (R2,133,562.01). This figure is constantly changing, but this represents astronomical growth considering that when Bitcoin was released, it was worth no real-world money or assets.
While Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) are great — although with their own issues — they remain inaccessible to beginners who aren’t tech-savvy.
What we will explore here is an introduction to how blockchains and cryptocurrencies work, and how Coin Afriq is making cryptocurrency and blockchains easier to access for everyday people.
What is a blockchain?
When people first hear the term blockchain, they immediately assume it must be an extremely technical thing. It also doesn’t help that a lot of people in technology and crypto-advocates use a lot of jargon.
A blockchain is a distributed public ledger that is encrypted.
What does this mean?
A public ledger is just like a ledger in accounting — just a book or collection of financial accounts where transactions are recorded. Just like with accounting, there are opening balances, a list of transactions, and closing balances. In terms of being public, all this means is that everyone can read the opening balances, transactions, and closing balances.
Obviously, this initially sounds scary!
If all the transactions are public, could you possibly have personally identifying information all over the internet? Fortunately, no. The public ledger is encrypted using advanced cryptography. Only the transaction details, amounts, and timestamps are publicly available. Actual identities are heavily encrypted — usually, you’ll just see a long line of random numbers, letters, and symbols that is nearly impossible to trace to the person’s identity (this is why crypto wallets and crypto exchanges are required by law to use Know Your Client (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) verification to combat crime).
Decentralization merely means that everyone gets a copy of the public details on the ledger (the transaction details, amounts, and timestamps mentioned above). Instead of a central database, everyone gets a copy on their network and/or device (computer or phone). This is good, because no single entity controls the network or data, ensuring there is no single point of failure or censorship.
The benefits of this technology are that it’s transparent — the blockchain can be easily audited, analyzed for network activity, and used to identify patterns or unusual activity.
What is a token or digital coin?
A token is simply a digital representation of a value.
You get two kinds: fungible tokens (these are, for example, coins), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
A fungible token just means that there can be multiple units, each holding the same value.
A non-fungible token is a unique asset that only exists in the hands of the owner (unfortunately, they’ve gotten a bad reputation due to being misused as images online — not their intended purpose).
What type of coins do you get?
The most common types of coins are:
- Mainstream Coins
- Altcoins
- Stablecoins
- Memecoins
Mainstream coins are the coins with high value you hear about every day — Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). They aren’t very volatile, have great liquidity, and are commonly used. These coins are worth a lot, which is great if you have them, but can be very costly to acquire.
Altcoins are newer coins that don’t have the market share that Mainstream Coins have. They are legitimate coins, often with innovative technologies, and can be used for a wide range of applications.
Stablecoins are coins backed by real-world assets such as fiat currency (Tether USDT — pegged against the US Dollar) or rare minerals (Tether Gold XAU or PAX Gold PAXG). They are in huge demand, especially in Africa as their value is not very volatile, have great liquidity, and are actually backed by tangible reserves.
Memecoins are coins like DOGE, PNUT, and PEPE. They’re based around internet memes — humourous images, videos, GIFs, nd viral content that come and go in popularity. They are highly volatile and an extremely risky investment.
How do cryptocurrencies make money?
There are two main ways to “make money” with cryptocurrencies:
- Trading and Investment: Similar to normal money or stocks, cryptocurrencies can be sold, bought, and traded on the market. Based on the exchange rate, you can make a profit by buying low and selling high, just like in a traditional market.
- Earning through Transaction Verification: Additionally, transactions can also be verified by individuals in the community. This is done using two main variants (with various sub-variants): Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS).
Proof of Work uses a computational puzzle that the individual’s computer must solve. This in turns verifies the transaction, and the user gets a specific amount of the coin as a reward. This is what Bitcoin uses — unfortunately, it gets increasingly more complex, and it requires highly expensive computer equipment, not to mention uses a lot of electricity leading to environmental harm.
Proof of Stake is much better — it has low environmental footprint, doesn’t need a fortune in computer hardware, and can be used on any internet-capable device. This is what Ethereum uses for its blockchain. The problem with traditional Proof of Stake is that it only rewards those who already have a lot of coins to stake (put into the pool) to verify transactions — thus only those who already have a great sum of money will get a great sum of money. This also leads to centralization. Fortunately, there are variations on this verification method.
Where Coin Afriq Shines
Where Coin Afriq shines is that we use a system called Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS). This system is fairer and more democratic — now your reputation is taken into regard from successful verifications and good ethics too, and you get nominated as an elector based on democratic voting. This ensures that everyone participates and grows their wealth by using Coin Afriq. This keeps up not only the original vision of cryptocurrency (fair opportunity and decentralization), but with our shared African values of democracy and being united together.
The Accessibility Problem
All this sounds great, but how do you actually use this? People don’t download their crypto wallet and can’t make heads or tails of it! Not everyone is a tech fundi — and you don’t have to be with our blockchain.
Our app (the Imali Digital Wallet — which will be available for both phones such as Apple iPhone or Google Android, or desktop such as Apple Mac, Windows, or Linux) is very simple — download it, register with your email address (including Apple ID or Google Account), and fill in the form, do your KYC/AML verification (all you need is your National ID and a selfie), and link your bank account.
After that, all you need to do is go to the menu option for transactions, and you can freely buy and sell Coin Afriq. For the those who wish to try their hand at staking — all you need to do is put in your tokens, and start voting. Once verification of the transactions is completed, you’ll receive your Coin Afriq at near-instant speeds.
Feeling lost? Fortunately, we’re adding a helpful AI chatbot called Ngala (Tsonga for lion), that will answer your questions, and help you navigate the Imali Wallet at all times.
Not a fan of apps? You can use all the same features on our website making sure everyone can use Coin Afriq! And we have long-term plans to translate our app and website to our national languages in South Africa, and later as part of our Pan-African expansion, more major African languages!
Ready to join the pride?
Check out https://coinafriq.org for more information!
We have a sign-up form for those interesting on when we launch at:
https://forms.gle/gf1g4EEV6kuyUTEa7
The moment we are listed, and ready to do our pre-sale, Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) and Main Launch, you’ll be the first to know!