Blockchain and Crptocurrency: General Knowledge USA Quiz.
By knowledgeterminal - March 24, 2019
Section 1: USA Skyscraper and high-rises map
Section 2: World nuclear weapons by proportion map
Section 3: Historically important USA event
1893
George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. created the original
Ferris Wheel by as a breakthrough for the World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago.
Section 4: Historically important world event
27 BC - AD 14
Rome ruled by Augustus (born in 63 BC Roman statesman and
military leader) who was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire and founder of
the Roman Principate.
Section 5: Blockchain and cryptocurrency
Blockchain Facts
1.
It is an increasing list of records, known as
blocks, connected cryptographically with every block containing a a) cryptographic
hash of the preceding block b) a timestamp c) transaction data
2.
It prevents alteration of the data acting as an open,
distributed ledger to record transactions between two entities usually managed
by a peer-to-peer network governed by inter-node communication protocol
3.
The data
in block cannot be changed without modifying of all succeeding blocks and
without the green signal of the network majority.
4.
Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 invented blockchain for
the public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency bitcoin
5.
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is unknown. The
invention of the blockchain for bitcoin made it the first digital currency to
solve the double-spending problem without the need of a trusted authority or
central server.
6.
Blockchain is a kind of payment rail which inspired
other application
7.
Blockchain database is managed autonomously and
efficiently using a peer-to-peer network and a distributed timestamping server authenticated
by mass collaboration driven by collective self-interests
8.
Blockchain technology can be integrated into
multiple areas.
9.
Cryptokitties also demonstrated how blockchains
can be used to catalog game assets (digital assets)
10.
The Blockchain Game Alliance was formed to discover
alternative uses of blockchains in video gaming.
11.
The Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) researches
to create open standards for supply chains.
12.
Everledger is a client of IBM's blockchain-based
tracking service
13.
Blockchain is used by Walmart to deliver its
customers with better service when it was having high return rate and large
amounts of refunds because of bad quality product. To determine the point of
failure in the supply chain (from farm to storage to transportation to
processing to the customer) Walmart adopted blockchain technology inscribing the
quality of the goods at each step thus helping Walmart to identify where the
product got damaged and work on the problem areas.
Cryptocurrency Facts
1.
It is a digital currency designed to work as a
medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure
financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify
the transfer of assets
2.
Cryptocurrencies is controlled decentralizedly
unlike banks and centralized digital currency and central banking systems
through blockchain
3.
There was a need of middleman. There was no way
to prove one has paid for something or has money to make payments (double
spending problem)
4.
The first decentralized cryptocurrency was
Bitcoin (released in 2009 as open-source software) by Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym)
which used cryptographic hash function SHA-256
5.
There are more than 4,000 decentralized
cryptocurrencies
6.
There is an upper limit to the total amount of
particular cryptocurrency that will be in circulation.
7.
It is generated at a speed dictated at the time
of system creation by cryptocurrency system as a whole
8.
Governments cannot generate new units
9.
Each block typically contains a hash pointer as
a link to a previous block, a timestamp and transaction data
10.
Mining is a validation of transactions
11.
Miners upheld and sustain the security and
reliability of recodes by using computers to timestamp transactions and
validating and adding to the ledger
12.
Hash recognizes a block and is unique. When a
block is generated, calculation of hash begins. Modification of the block
causes the hash to change and modification of a single block will make the
succeeding blocks invalid. However, computers can calculate hundreds of
thousands of hashes per second and the blockchain can be made valid again. To
prevent this, blockchains use proof-of-work which is a mechanism to slow down
the formation of new blocks making it difficult to tamper with the blocks and
tampering with one block needs the recalculation of the proof-of-work for the
succeeding blocks.
13.
Bank transaction sometimes fail due to technical
issues at the bank, hacking of the accounts, surpassing daily transfer limits
14.
Transactions are validated and then added block
by block by miners solving a complex mathematical problem. The miner who solves
this first gets to add the block to the blockchain and in return gets 12.5
bitcoins. This process of solving the complex mathematical problem is called
proof of work and the process of adding a block to the blockchain is called
mining.
15.
Multiversion concurrency control (MVCC) in
databases prevents two transactions from concurrently modifying a single object
in a database
16.
Bitcoins will become more expensive and unlike
normal currency that can only make smaller denominations like pennies and
dollars bitcoins can actually be divided up to eight decimal places
17.
Both the bitcoin network and wallet checks
previous transactions to make sure that there is enough bitcoins to send in the
first place
18.
Each person maintaining a ledger has to solve a
special kind of math problem created by a cryptographic hash function which is
an algorithm that takes an input of any size, and turns it into an output with
a fixed size. From the output own has to find out the original input.
19.
To prolong the blockchain, bitcoin uses Hashcash
puzzles.
20.
There are no centralized official copies and no
user is trusted more than any other
21.
One needs to do is guess a random number that
solves an equation generated by the system.
22.
The hash function that bitcoin uses is called
SHA256, which stands for Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit. Computers churns
billions of guesses before the right guess. The first one to get it right adds
the next block of transactions to the blockchain after which a new math problem
is generated that needs to be solved. If multiple people make blocks at roughly
the same time, then the network picks one to keep building upon, which becomes
the longest, and most trusted chain. And any transactions in those alternate
branches of the chain get put back into a pool to be added onto later blocks.
23.
These miners spend thousands of dollars on
special computers built to solve SHA256 problems, and run their electricity
bills
24.
Every single bitcoin that exists was created to
reward a bitcoin miner. Miners are also essentially tipped a very small amount
for each transaction they add to the ledger. For every 210,000 blocks, the
number of coins generated when a new block is added goes down by half. So what
started as a reward of 50 bitcoins decreased to 25, then 12 and a half. It’ll
only be around 6 bitcoins in a couple more years, and keep decreasing.
Eventually, there will be so many transactions in a block, that it’ll still be
worthwhile for miners to mostly be paid in tips.
25.
The last bitcoin (21 millionth coin) will be
possibly mined in the year 2140. The decreasing number of bitcoins is actually
modelled off the rate at which resources are dug out of the earth to raise
their value by keeping the supply of bitcoins limited
26.
Once your mining computer comes up with the
right guess, the mining program determines which of the currently pending
transactions will be grouped together into the next block of transactions. The
block created and the solution is sent to the whole network for other computers
to validate it. Each computer that validates the solution updates its copy of
the Bitcoin transaction ledger
27.
But it is highly unlikely that the same miner
will guess the correct solution everytime even though the miners with more
computing power will succeed more often
28.
Miners group together to form a “pool” when they
combine their mining power to compete more effectively. When the pool manages
to win the competition, the reward is spread out between the pool members
depending on how much mining power each of them contributed.
29.
Iceland has become a haven for cryptocurrency
miners in part because of its cheap electricity. Prices are contained because
nearly all of the country's energy comes from renewable sources, prompting more
mining companies to consider opening operations in Iceland. The region's energy
company says bitcoin mining is becoming so popular that the country will likely
use more electricity to mine coins than power homes in 2018. In October 2018
Russia was to become home to one of the largest legal mining operations in the
world, located in Siberia
30.
In March 2018, a town in Upstate New York put an
18-month moratorium on all cryptocurrency mining in an effort to preserve
natural resources and the "character and direction" of the city.
31.
Mining of cryptocurrency increased the demand of
graphics cards (GPU).
32.
Wallet consists of one bitcoin address for delivery
and private key for spending. It stores the public (send currency to the wallet
) and private addresses / keys (for writing in the public ledger)
33.
Pseudonymous rather than anonymous in that the
cryptocurrency within a wallet is not tied to people, but rather to one or more
specific keys
34.
Bitcoin owners are not identifiable, but all
transactions are publicly available in the blockchain. Cryptocurrency exchanges
are often required by law to collect the personal information of their users.
35.
Most of the cryptocurrency tokens are
interchangeable and are traded over the Internet with transaction fees depending
on network capacity and the demand of the currency with options of priority
alternatives
36.
Cryptocurrency are interchanged in exchanges or
can be bought using money
37.
In 2014 Jordan Kelley launched the first bitcoin
ATM in Austin, United States
38.
An initial coin offering is a debatable means of
raising funds for a new cryptocurrency venture
39.
The legal status of cryptocurrencies varies
substantially from country to country. While some countries have explicitly
allowed their use and trade others have banned (Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq,
Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates) or restricted it
40.
Cryptocurrency networks display a lack of regulation
that has been criticized as enabling criminals who seek to evade taxes and
launder money
41.
Cons:
a.
Systems of anonymity of cryptocurrencies can
help to launder money through anonymous transactions
b.
World's biggest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox,
declared bankruptcy in February 2014.
c.
Tether cryptocurrency announced they were hacked
in 2017
d.
Many consider cryptocurrencies to Ponzi schemes and
economic bubbles
Section 6: quiz
QUESTIONS
What is sex chromosome combinations in males?
Registration number of all non-military aircraft in the U.S.
must start with which letter?
ANSWERS
XY
N
N
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