Today hundreds of ALT (alternative) currencies circulate and trade, each with a unique focus and innovative features.
Very few altcoins actually have a unique focus and/or innovative features. Most are simple clones or only add/change something trivial. Also, I don't know if it's useful to already mention altcoins in the very first paragraph of a "What is Bitcoin" article, since altcoins are currently still very much a fringe phenomenon.
Currencies are released into the market at predetermined rates to upgraded computers known as “miners”. Miners search for “hash set intersections”, earning coins as they are discovered. The algorithm has been predetermined, publicly understood and not controlled by any person or business.
Miners don't search for hashset intersections, they search for block headers that, when hashed twice, satisfy certain criteria. Also, I think this paragraph should emphasize that the purpose of mining is to secure the blockchain, rather than earn newly minted coins.
Wallets store your Bitcoin, and provide the unique addresses that are used to send and receive Bitcoins. Each wallet comes equip with two unique addresses, a public and private address.
- A public address is used to receive coins, and share with others who wish to send you payments.
– A private address is used to receive coins, and give others to send you payments.
This section is largely incorrect. A "wallet" contains any number of private keys (not just one), along with the associated public key and public address. The private key is used to sign transactions and is needed to spend bitcoins. From the private key, the public key can be computed and from the public key, one can obtain the public address, which is what you commonly see being thrown around.
While this page doesn't really have factual errors, I feel it has the wrong focus on what the advantages of Bitcoin are. I would put most emphasis on:
- Frictionless international transfers: Sending a beer's worth of coin to your neighbour or sending the equivalent of $100000 to the other side of the world are just as easy and fast.
- Low fees: Tx fees are much lower than any other method of sending money.
- Pseudonymity: No need to provide identifying information when you make or request a payment.
- No middle men moderating your transactions: Anyone can participate and there are no intermediate companies that decide who you can and can not send money to.
Hot storage refers to a wallet that is network ready. This can include a desktop, mobile, and cloud (accessible by browser) wallet for convenience and quick expenditures.
Technically, a cold wallet can be network ready too. If you use an offline desktop/laptop as cold wallet, you only need to plug in a network cable and you're good to go. I would rephrase this to state that a hot wallet is (always/often) connected to the internet and meant for everyday use. Or maybe change the name from hot/cold to online/offline, since the names hot/cold are typically only used in the context of exchanges or other services storing large amounts of Bitcoin.
On this page, you might also want to draw attention to the differences between the various *types* of wallets and their risks. Desktop wallets leave the coins 100% under your control, but make you responsible for security. With a webwallet, you hand control of your coins over to a third party, but for most people the security of a webwallet service is better than their own. Of course, hybrid solutions that attempt to get the best of both worlds exist.
Will pay 0.03 BTC to the person who gives a few minutes of their time for valid suggestions and edits.
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