***My topic is "The Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained"***

The Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained
Summary
For most people and until the last decade, the realization of a currency that was independent of any authority seemed like an impossible task. With the invention of Bitcoins, that changed. Bitcoins were able to not only prevail but also grow and achieve an unprecedented value in comparison to world currencies. This opened a new door for investment, study, and development of a new form of currency called cryptocurrencies.
Since they gained popularity in 2014, most of us know something about Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies today. However, the complete know-how or the intricacies of this currency is not known to the populace. This paper aims at making the layman understand what cryptocurrencies are? How are they generated? How do they work? What are blockchains? What is mining and the different methods of mining?
We shall also take a brief look at the altcoins, or alternative currencies that have come into existence beside Bitcoins. In the end, the paper will throw some light on the application and possible future of this currency.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Birth of Bitcoins
    - Challenges
    - Solutions
3. Blockchain Technology
- How transaction are stored
- With whom it is stored
- Verifying a transaction
4. Factors governing Bitcoin Prices
5. Other Cryptocurrencies
6. Advantages of Cryptocurrencies
7. Disadvantages of Cryptocurrencies
8. Cryptocurrency Mining
- Other Mining Methods
- Remote Mining
- Cloud Mining
9. A look at the possible Future
10. Conclusions
11. Works-cited List
Introduction
The digital age began a long time ago, or so its said. We have been using digital devices for everything now. All our jobs, big and small, are somehow connected to digital devices. However, for the realization of a truly digital age, a digital currency is a prerequisite. Why? Because currencies are what run the world. The currency that has the greatest value is the strongest one. That is why digitalizing world currencies is not as big an achievement as inventing a digital currency itself.
A digital currency would ideally be one that is independent of the influence of any institution, bank, government or authority. A self-governing currency, that could unbiasedly be used by one and all- that would be the ideal currency for the digital world.
While this may look too idealistic to be true, someone out there actually did it. That is exactly what Bitcoin is.
The Birth of Cryptocurrencies
In late 2008, a wonderful thing was invented on the Internet. The inventor of this wonderful thing did not know then that his invention would be the precursor to a great change in the digital world. This man or group of men, as some people believe, went by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto (Farrell 3-7). Japanese as the name sounds, the identity of this man remains anonymous even today
Satoshi was tired of the recession and the regulatory systems that he believed were biased and resulted in great crisis every time a world event took place. The entire monetary system of the world was in chaos. Satoshi thought that if a monetary system independent of the world's governments or authorities could be implemented it would save people a lot of trouble.
With this vision in mind, he started to develop what is today known as Bitcoins.
Challenges
Inventing an unregulated currency wasn't easy. There were several questions that came up.
- Who would control the cash flow?
- Who would generate the cash?
- Over the internet, with no regulator, what if the currency was double-used?
- How would transactions take place?
- How would a record of all the transactions be maintained?
- Who would maintain this record?
These questions came at the forefront. Other issues like how would the currency become popular and why would people opt for it was also there. Big questions like these were enough to dampen spirits and make people give up attempts. Nakamoto did not.
Solution
What was required was to concentrate on one question at a time. He came up with an unconventional way to address these issues. For storing and controlling the transactions, he created a peer-peer transaction system. For generating bitcoins, the first cryptocurrency, he invented the Blockchain technology.
The Blockchain Technology
The Blockchain Technology is the technology used to store the transactions that take place using Bitcoins. It is also what governs Bitcoins. In order to understand the working of a Block Chain, let us take a look at how a transaction takes place over the Blockchain Technology.
How transactions are stored
When a transaction takes place, say payment using Bitcoin, it is transferred over an encrypted network to a chain of stored transactions called blocks. Here it gets verified and stored as a permanent entry signifying the completion of the transaction. (Li and Wang 50)
With whom it is stored
The blockchain is securely stored with every peer in the transaction network. Every verified transaction is added to each peer's copy of blockchain. So no one owns the blockchain and every one does at the same time.
Verifying a transaction
Verifying transactions is an...