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An Introduction to Cryptocurrency

To understand the fundamentals of crypto, it is important to first understand what a blockchain is, types of blockchain and public properties and the role of cryptocurrecies $BTC $ETH and crypto index products

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. The decentralised database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

3 Types of Blockchain: Public, Private & Permissioned

  • Public: In a public blockchain, anyone is free to join and participate in the core activities of the blockchain network e.g Bitcoin, Ethereum
  • Private: A private blockchain allows only selected entry of verified participants; the operator has the rights to override, edit, or delete the necessary entries on the blockchain e.g Hyperledger Fabric, Corda
  • Permissioned: A permissioned blockchain has properties of both private and public blockchains. Such blockchains are built so that they grant special permissions to each participant. This allows participants the ability to perform specific functions such as read, access, and write information on the blockchains e.g Ripple

Properties of a Public Blockchain

  • Immutable: Data on blockchain cannot be changed or manipulated
  • Distributed: The blockchain data is owned by large number of people called nodes as opposed to a centralized company
  • Secure : All blockchain transactions are secured by cryptography. Each block contains essentially a unique and private key that can be verified with a public key. If there is a change in transaction-related data, the block unique key becomes invalid. As a result, the block is discarded from the chain
  • Consensus: A consensus mechanism is a fault-tolerant mechanism that is used in blockchain systems to achieve the necessary agreement on a single data value or a single state of the network among distributed processes
  • Transparent: Because of the distributed nature of blockchain, all transactions can be transparently viewed by either having a personal node or using blockchain explorers that allow anyone to see transactions occurring live
  • Censorship resistant: Censorship-resistance implies that any party wishing to transact on the network can do so as long as they follow the rules of the network protocol. It also refers to the property of a network that prevents any party from altering transactions on it

Now that you have an understanding of blockchain, let’s understand crypto.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. Many companies have issued their own currencies, often called tokens, and these can be traded specifically for the goods or services that the company provides.

The online transactions of cryptocurrency are secured using a blockchain. Nearly 15,000 different cryptocurrencies are traded publicly, according to CoinMarketCap.com, a market research website. And cryptocurrencies continue to proliferate. The total value of all cryptocurrencies on Dec. 3 2021, was about 2.6 trillion

What is Bitcoin (BTC) ?

  • Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank.
  • Bitcoin currency exchange happens on the underlying Bitcoin blockchain network which is a public and decentralized blockchain.
  • Bitcoin is open-source and not backed or controlled by the government or any organization or issuing institution.

What is Ethereum?

  • Ethereum is a technology that’s home to digital money, global payments, and applications
  • The Ethereum community has built a booming digital economy, and new ways for creators to earn online.
  • Ether (ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform.
  • Amongst cryptocurrencies, ETH is second only to BTC in market capitalization.

About Index Coop

Index Coop is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that powers structured decentralized finance (DeFi) products and strategy tokens using smart contracts on the blockchain. We offer a suite of sector structured products, leverage and inverse products, and yield-generating products. We aim to create products that are simple to use, accessible to everyone and secure. Our products are built on Set Protocol, a twice-audited, self-custodial DeFi tool that allows for the creation and management of Ethereum-based (or ERC-20) tokens. Among users, partner protocols, and our composable products, Index Coop maintains one of the largest partnership networks in the DeFi ecosystem.

How to buy Index Coop products with fiat currencies:

  • First, you’ll need to create an Ethereum wallet like Argent, Metamask, Gemini, or Rainbow.
  • Next, you’ll set up your new wallet and connect your bank account.

You can also earn or buy MKR tokens directly via your favorite decentralized exchange.


Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. You should not take, or refrain from taking, any action based on any information contained herein, or any other information that we make available at any time, including blog posts, data, articles, links to third-party content, discord content, news feeds, tutorials, tweets, and videos. Before you make any financial, legal, technical, or other decisions, you should seek independent professional advice from a licensed and qualified individual in the area for which such advice would be appropriate. This information is not intended to be comprehensive or address all aspects of Index or its products. There is additional documentation on Index’s website about the functioning of Index Coop, and its ecosystem and community.

You shall not purchase or otherwise acquire our restricted token products if you are: a citizen, resident (tax or otherwise), and/or green card holder, incorporated in, owned or controlled by a person or entity in, located in, or have a registered office or principal place of business in the U.S. (defined as a U.S. person), or if you are a person in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale, and/or purchase of any of our token products is unlawful, prohibited, or unauthorized (together with U.S. persons, a “Restricted Person”).  The term “Restricted Person” includes, but is not limited to, any natural person residing in, or any firm, company, partnership, trust, corporation, entity, government, state or agency of a state, or any other incorporated or unincorporated body or association, association or partnership (whether or not having separate legal personality) that is established and/or lawfully existing under the laws of, a jurisdiction in which such offer, sale, and/or purchase of any of our token products is unlawful, prohibited, or unauthorized).

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