The Role of Cryptography in Cryptocurrency

Abstract

In today's world of digital media, people are mainly sharing all of their resources via digital platforms. Today, in almost all regions across the globe, the physical exchange of money is becoming less in practice. People are more flexible with buying and paying for their necessities via digital platforms rather than exchanging physical money. Cryptocurrency, the new global money for the internet age, is also a medium of exchange similar to other currencies. Still, here, the sole purpose of the exchange is via digital means. How secure is your cryptocurrency? How anonymous are users of cryptocurrencies? Since the currency is digital, it is more prone to attacks, data theft, and money. Here comes the role of cryptography. Cryptography is an essential mechanism for securing information in computer systems. Without cryptography, cryptocurrency is just a central hub for attackers and scammers. Cryptocurrency requires cryptography for mainly two purposes; to secure the transactions and to verify these transfers. This paper discusses the types of cryptographic techniques used in cryptocurrencies, studies their characteristics, and explores the working of these techniques. © 2021 IEEE.