🪙 Cryptocurrency

The establishment of the ERC-20 protocol allows new tokens to launch on Ethereum's blockchain using Ethereum smart contracts. This resulted in an explosion of new cryptocurrencies in 2017. Since then, investors have switched focus to tokens that are exchanged on creditable exchanges. Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO) have become popular. ^ref

Crypto tokens form one of the two categories of cryptocurrency and represent a tradable asset or utility that is found on a blockchain. Cryptocurrency is a standard currency used for the sole purpose of making or receivng payments on the blockchain. Crypto tokens represent an underlying asset, customer loyalty points for example. ^ref

Blockchain

Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger consisting of interlinked blocks, each of which stores information that cannot be retroactively tampered with or deleted. ^ref

Blockchain is a database technology that uses hashes to ensure reliability and security of data stored across a network of computers, popularized by BitCoin. Records, containing information, are validated and then added to Blocks, or hashed containers, which are then concatenated in a chain by associating each block with the hash of both of its neighbors. ^ref

There can only be a a maximum of 21 million BTC, and the reward for mining a new bitcoin halves every 210,000 blocks. This has already occurred twice in the 10-year history of Bitcoin until late 2019, and another blockhalving is expected to occur in May 2020. ^ref