Do-it-yourself cryptocurrency: now let’s get serious

We have already looked at creating a dummy token with little effort. Now let's try to figure out what is needed to create a full-fledged cryptocurrency.

Let's start with the components that will need to be implemented. 

First, we need a data storage model. Blockchain is not a ready-made technology, but rather an ideology.

Secondly, we will need to implement a cryptographic system that will perform a digital signature.

 As a rule, cryptocurrency creators use ready-made algorithms (for example, SHA-256 for bitcoin), sometimes making minor changes to them. 

And finally, it is necessary to implement network interaction between network nodes. An important element of the network is its distribution and the ability to communicate between nodes, bypassing the central server.

Of course, if we do not set ourselves the goal of creating a commercially successful token, but just want to get a general understanding of the process, using ready-made libraries and knowledge of any programming language will be enough. There are cases when a cryptocurrency prototype was written in PHP, a language that is most unsuitable for creating a blockchain project. 

Based on these basic components, we will need to choose from:

Either knowledge of cryptography, network protocols, data storage systems and knowledge of a serious cross-platform programming language (C/C++, Golang, Rust). This is the case if we completely plan to assemble the project ourselves. But I think that if you have such a volume of knowledge, this article is clearly not for you.

Second option: you want to implement a blockchain system in the foreseeable future, but the knowledge described above is not your strong point. Then you will need to assemble a team of professional programmers who have such knowledge. In the IT community, this level of qualification is usually called “Senjor”, and, depending on the qualifications, specialists of this level will cost you from $2000 per month and more, and more likely even higher. Developing a system of this level from scratch will most likely take from six months (until the release of the first viable public version) with a team of 3-4 people. Thus, the development cost alone will be from $40,000 and above.

Of course, there is always the opportunity to assemble a classic development team, but the team will be even larger, and the final development cost will only increase. 

And finally the most important thing.. 

You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on development, organize an excellent workflow, produce excellent promotional materials, but at the end you will get the same “shitcoin”, the practical value of which will be no higher than that described in the previous article. 

Any cryptocurrency is nothing without users. Without a community that is ready to develop it, engage in mining, and, finally, use it for its intended purpose. And the creation of such a community has nothing to do with software development and advertising. 

In order for a token to become interesting to the community, it must, first of all, offer something unique, a new opportunity that is not yet available on the market and contributes to the development of cryptocurrencies in general. 

-Bitcoin demonstrated the very principle of a viable digital distributed currency and became the founder of the market. 

-Litecoin, being based on the Bitcoin source code, has become a testing ground for the community on which new ideas are tested. 

-Ethereum proposed the idea of ​​a distributed virtual machine and smart contracts. 

-Dash, Zcash, Monero - they all contributed by adding new features that are interesting to the community.

And if you have such an idea and you manage to gather like-minded people and enthusiasts who will help you with technical implementation, then another useful token will appear on the market.