Crypto-currencies (bitcoin et al) have caught the attention of Governments, enforcement agencies, geeks, and the general public. This course provides a simple introduction to crypto-currencies and briefly introduces terms such as cryptography, hash functions, proof-of-work, digital signatures, mining, Merkle root & tree, crypto-currency addresses, and wallets.
Note: Although this course mentions Bitcoin, most of it applies to any system that “uses public-key cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, and proof-of-work to process and verify payments”.
Note: This course is intended for the novice reader and may suffer from errors inherent when a complex topic is (over?) simplified.