2018-11-12 08:47 |
Every industry has its key role players. Every participant or player belongs to a certain category, all of which complement each other and work in harmony to ensure a thriving and successful industry.
The same applies to cryptocurrency. All players are crucial to making the sector develop and thrive. If even one of these categories goes missing, it’ll cause an imbalance in the ecosystem. Let’s examine each of these groups.
The Developers Aka The BuildersThese are individuals and teams that helped start the crypto revolution and are still working arduously on legitimate projects to help make the system even better and more prosperous. They are the entities to whom we owe this industry.
Their job descriptions are pretty broad. They do everything from writing the base code that powers their individual networks and blockchain to fixing bugs that could increase security risks.
These hard workers are known to do everything including peer reviewing network client, identifying and proposing bug fixes, and code network upgrades that will further improve the network’s functions.
Not only are they committed to helping improve their own networks, they have been known to help rival projects by identifying their bugs and security vulnerabilities. Developers are the heartbeat of the crypto sector, and will continue to be for a long time.
Some prominent developers include the Bitcoin’s late Hal Finney, Gregory Maxwell, and Pieter Wuille. Then, there’s ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, and Vlad Zamfir, followed by Bitcoin Cash’s Amaury Sechet, Monero’s Richard Spagni, and Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson.
While the developers of bitcoin, ethereum, and bitcoin cash are well known, Monero’s and Cardano’s developers are fairly unknown. Not that it really matters as they can become household names if their projects attain massive adoption.
Cryptocurrency MinersWhile developers are akin to those identified where the gold is, the miners are similar to those who get the right equipment and start setting up the necessary infrastructure that will help the crypto project reach its full potential.
Miners are essentially those who mine the token’s blocks by solving complex puzzles or something similar and are rewarded for it. They help support , secure, and keep the network alive. Every successful crypto project often has a sizable number of miners because most networks rely on these miners to improve the network’s efficiency, output and hashrate.
Networks will a small number of miners are often easier to breach and hack than those with more miners. Some popular miners include Bitmain’s Jihan Wu, and Bitfury’s Valerii Vavilov.
The Crypto UsersThese make up the bulk of the crypto ecosystem. They are the masternodes, the nodes, project supporters, investors, wallet holders, and buyers. These are the folks who ensure that a project becomes and stays successful.
They’re basically the lifeblood of the cryptocurrency economy. The ecosystem needs users to succeed and grow. The best crypto projects are those with a lot of users who have joined or are still joining, as well as those who stay around, and continue to invest in the project.
The cryptocurrency economy only thrives if there are users who adopt and use not just the token, but also the technology, network, service or product backing the cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency TradersThese are the entities who participate in the exchange of cryptocurrencies, with the full intention of profit. There are two categories –the daily/short term and long term traders.
These people actively watch and observe trends, price charts and markets for profitable opportunities. Many cryptocurrency users and investors are traders in one form or another. Some are just more adept at it –the professional traders- than others.
Exchange OperatorsThese are the companies that provide a platform for traders and investors to buy and sell their cryptos. Of course, they’ll earn a fee and commissions on every successful transaction executed on their platform.
These are grouped into centralized and decentralized exchanges, with the former being the more popular option for users. The latter though is currently growing in usage and will most likely, become a favorite among many users and traders soon.
Exchanges were initially bedeviled with scandals and security problems, but many of those issues have been resolved, thanks to the utilization of world class security technology and systems.
Some of the more prominent exchanges include Coinbase, Binance, Changelly, Huobi and Bitfinex. Many of these exchanges understand the need for security, UX and regulatory updates and compliance. So, they routinely carry these out, creating a safe and low risk environment for traders and investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Most crypto transactions are carried out on these platforms with millions of dollars exchanging hands on a daily basis.
Cryptocurrency Security Experts And HackersWhile there are many good eggs in the crypto community, it is not without its problems. The bulk of the problems are entities called hackers. Hackers are derided and disliked in the cryptocurrency community, and for good reasons too –they are responsible for the theft of billions of dollars in tokens.
These entities often steal cryptos by talking advantage of security bugs and vulnerabilities, deploy malicious software with the sole intent of stealing private details, launch DDoS attacks and hack exchanges among other nefarious activities.
However, they play a role in revamping the security of networks and projects. For instance, smart exchange owners and founders are now actively hiring hackers to push the limits of their exchanges, carry out security audits, and check for vulnerabilities.
Then, there’s the other advantage of them being the reason crypto security has tremendously improved in recent years. They have helped security experts create potent measures and solutions to the security problems plaguing the industry.
Cryptocurrency Journalists And PromotersThese are the folks who cover events and happenings in the crypto sector. They often provide objective coverage, essentially stating what’s happening in the industry or create reviews of tokens and crypto projects.
They’re also responsible for getting the news about major events and happenings in the industry into the mainstream media. Their reportage impacts the cryptosphere positively when the market trend is positive, and negatively when the market isn’t performing. They can also be an effective tool of fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Cryptocurrency Teachers And EvangelistsThese are individuals who have dedicated themselves to solely instructing people and helping them understand how things work, the meanings of terminologies and so much more.
They are the educators of the space and play a significant role in the technology’s adoption. One of the more prominent teachers in this industry is Andreas Antonopoulos, lead author of the texts, Mastering Bitcoin and mastering Ethereum.
Then, there’s evangelists like John McAfee, who spotlight various cryptocurrencies, highlighting their pros and cons, as well as possible highly valuable crypto projects and moneymakers for investors.
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