Cryptocurrencies can only be used online, they are issued by individuals who set the rules. Cryptocurrency is virtual money, there is no paper cryptocurrency model. It is not issued by a central bank like the coins of the various states and can be used as a means of payment only with those who claim to accept them and only online. To be clear, if I purchase a cryptocurrency Cardano Exchange through traditional money then I will be able to use the same only for an internet purchase from a retailer who accepts it or I will be able to resell the cryptocurrency to those interested. One will be able to sell the cryptocurrency in exchange for money or make a purchase, but there will be no one who will be obliged to give me the cash value of my cryptocurrency. Each cryptocurrency has its issuer who determines the rules and they have not credited institutions, in general, these are entrepreneurs who have decided to issue a cryptocurrency online looking for investors. The most famous of cryptocurrencies is bitcoin but there are many others.
The settlement, the transaction book, the blocks
Cryptocurrencies, as mentioned, are regulated by the issuing bodies, whoever buys them accepts this regulation. For each cryptocurrency, there is a sort of transaction book where all the transactions of the cryptocurrency are noted and there is also a network of participants who are responsible for updating the transaction book. The transaction book is called Blockchain or Distributed ledger, it contains a list of transactions related to the cryptocurrency that can be verified continuously, securely and permanently.
Security is achieved through encryption. The data blocks present in the Distributed Ledger grow continuously and are immutable; they cannot be changed without having to modify all the underlying contacts.
All the participants or the holders of the single cryptocurrency are connected and can theoretically contribute to the update. The protection of the transaction book through encryption and the cooperative system makes the system particularly secure. The blocks are subjected to a validation process that is carried out through complicated algorithm calculations through an activity that is called mining, which determines a huge consumption of electricity.
To be clear, a computer submits the blocs to a validation procedure through its processor. In the Blockchain, there are all the cryptocurrency transactions in chronological order and this avoids the danger that the cryptocurrency can be spent twice. The protection of the transaction book through encryption and the cooperative system makes the system particularly secure.