Whois & Analysis for cryptobriefing.com

Bitcoin is both a cryptocurrency and an electronic payment system invented by an unidentified programmer, or group of programmers, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list, and released as open-source software in 2009.

The identity of Nakamoto remains unknown, though many have claimed to know it.

Ethereum is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality.

It provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes.

Ethereum also provides a value token called "ether", which can be transferred between participants and is used to compensate participant nodes for computations performed.

Gas, an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to prevent spam on the network and allocate resources proportionally to the incentive offered by the request.

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.

Cryptocurrencies are a subset of alternative currencies, or specifically of digital currencies.

A blockchain – originally block chain – is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records called blocks.

Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block.

By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data — once recorded, the data in a block cannot be altered retroactively.

Through the use of a peer-to-peer network and a distributed timestamping server, a blockchain database is managed autonomously.

Blockchains are "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.

The ledger itself can also be programmed to trigger transactions automatically.".

Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), currency exchange and remittance network by Ripple.

Also called the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP) or Ripple protocol, it is built upon a distributed open source Internet protocol, consensus ledger and native currency called XRP (ripples).

Released in 2012, Ripple purports to enable "secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks." It supports tokens representing fiat currency, cryptocurrency, commodity or any other unit of value such as frequent flier miles or mobile minutes.

At its core, Ripple is based around a shared, public database or ledger, which uses a consensus process that allows for payments, exchanges and remittance in a distributed process.