Many Americans have heard something about cryptocurrencies (also known as “crypto”). 大多数人可能都听说过比特币, but there are a vast multitude of digital coins that are in circulation. 加密货币已成为金融领域的一股颠覆性力量, 和 the law has expectedly lagged in addressing the emerging issues. If you suspect your spouse may have hidden assets in Bitcoin or other type of cryptocurrency, 这些信息可能会有帮助. So, as we begin a journey into the practical 和 legal effects of crypto, our first stop is to give a brief overview on what exactly is crypto. Our 皇冠足彩网 divorce attorneys with expertise in cryptocurrency are knowledgeable in this area.
什么是加密货币?加密是一种可以使用的虚拟货币, 就像传统货币一样, 在商品和服务的交易中. 目标是创建一个无缝的, 安全, 分散的货币, 这使得交易可以快速验证. These transactions are unique in that they are also typically recorded 和 verified with strong cryptography methods, in a decentralized distributed ledger (more on this later) which makes them nearly impossible to defraud or double-pay. 加密通常由数字硬币或令牌表示, 它不是由任何中央机构(如银行)发布的。.
那么，加密的意义是什么，它为什么存在? 这个概念早在1983年就起源于匿名, when the concept of electronic money as a medium for exchange was first conceived by cryptographer David Chaum.
然而, the modern day crypto has less to do with being anonymous as it does with being decentralized, 安全, 和高效的. 从最简单的形式来看，加密是一种货币形式. 你用它来购买商品或支付服务费用. 因为它是在线和数字化的, it operates on a much faster scale than traditional currency transfers that require the middleman (often a bank). The fact that it is decentralized means that it is free from direct control by banks or governments—which means that there is no limit or censorship of what can be purchased with crypto. 此外, it offers a financial tool for those without access to the traditional banks—all that is needed is an internet connection 和 a crypto wallet.
区块链基础知识:使交易安全, 大多数加密依赖于分布式账本技术, 一个例子是利用区块链的比特币. A blockchain is essentially a ledger of all transactions that are verified by cryptographic methods. 大多数blockchains, 就像比特币一样, 是去中心化的，并在一个公共的点对点网络上运行. This means that crypto uses computational power of members of the network to verify new transactions to the blockchain. 一旦许多交易被验证, they are compiled into a new block 和 then permanently tethered to the blockchain. 区块链将包含所有交易的历史记录, 因为它是分配给所有成员的, it is highly resistant to tampering 和 fraud because it would require a majority of the members to all have the same tampered blockchain, 需要不可逾越的计算能力. 例如,
如果有人试图操纵一个块, that version of the blockchain would be very quickly flagged by all other members of the network because it would differ from all the other blockchains.
To underst和 further discussions on crypto, some basic vocabulary is required:
Blockchain – generally refers to a decentralized distributed ledger that captures all transactions in a 安全 fashion its decentralized 和 cryptographic nature.
Public/Private keys – the PIN or password to allow a crypto transaction to go through. A crypto transaction is essentially an encrypted key pair of a public key 和 private key—the public key is like an account number, 和私钥，比如密码，来访问账户. 举个例子:如果玩家1试图将4个比特币转移给玩家2, then player 2 makes a new bitcoin address (comprised of a public key 和 his own private key) 和 then player 1 can send the bitcoins to that address 和 sign with her private key. 如果玩家2想转移4个比特币给玩家3, then he sends the bitcoins to player 3’s address 和 signs with his own private key that was generated in the transaction between player 1 和 2.
Proof of Work – the use of computational power to assemble new blocks to the blockchain, 通常会得到一小笔加密货币奖励. Miners are the computers/individuals that validate blockchain transactions performing the proof of work.
Proof of Stake – an alternative, less power-intensive validation protocol than Proof of Work. 在这里, 矿工是偶然被选中的, 和 those with more crypto staked in the network have a higher chance. 就像抽彩票一样, except the winner gets to add a new block 和 rewarded a transaction fee.
钱包-存储加密货币的地方. Can be hardware based (memory/USB), paper (literally paper), or software (online wallets/exchanges).
哈希-区块链中块的标识符, 和 also the operation by the computer that generates the identifier. 每个散列都包含有关以前所有事务的信息, 区块链不可变概念的关键是什么, 改变一个块, one would need to alter all the previous blocks in the chain—a computationally impossible feat.
Exchange – a marketplace to buy/sell/trade crypto; typically from fiat currency to virtual.
不可替代令牌——NFT是存储在区块链上的令牌. nft可以在区块链上传递和记录(例如.g.(以太坊)，一个新的身份. nft通常存储在数字钱包中.g., MetaMask), 和 most if not all of these wallets will have the function to transfer the NFT to someone else's public address, 交易费(“gas”). 该交易将被添加到区块链中, 和 people will see that the transferee is the new owner of that NFT.
nft在所有权方面很棘手. The crux of the issue is that the NFT may be transferred, but was the copyright transferred? NFT的持有者获得独家所有权了吗? 这是法律的一个新兴领域. 然而, 在婚姻案件中, whatever a spouse owns as an NFT can be transferred in equitable distribution. 在我们看来，NFT是一种属性.