How to make a cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is slowly but surely becoming a part of our everyday life: some companies are starting to accept payments in certain tokens, and some online services can be paid with Bitcoins or other coins. The value of certain currencies is also growing. All this leads to a logical question: “Can you make your own cryptocurrency, which will then become a trend?”.

In general, the short answer is yes. However, let’s first understand the basics, and then move on to the steps to create your own digital currency.

Intro: basics about cryptocurrency

Let’s start with the main question: what is a cryptocurrency in itself? This is not a physical banknote or coin, as we are used to, talking about currencies. Rather, it is a specific unit of storage and accounting that is digital and has no physical form. Unlike conventional currencies that are common in certain countries or regions, cryptocurrency is an international payment unit.

Here are a few reasons why people are wondering how to make cryptocurrency and use it later:

• reducing the risk of fraud;
• creating the required level of anonymity;
• fairly low operating costs;
• transaction speed and transaction security.

And, of course, the pluses include the chance to make your invention popular, earning money on it. Let’s look at the basic seven steps required to make cryptocurrency.

Choose a consensus mechanism

For each transaction to be legal and valid, it is necessary to use certain protocols, or consensus mechanisms. Choosing them is always the first step in creating a digital currency.

Select a blockchain platform

Professionals create their own blockchains when a new cryptocurrency is issued, but this is a difficult process. You can choose a ready-made platform — this way is cheaper, more practical, and it`s suitable for developers with limited resources who want to create an internal currency for the project or just experiment.

Fact: Nowadays, the best blockchain platforms in the world for issuing new tokens are Ethereum, Waves, Hyperledger Fabric, NEM, and BlockStarter.

Design the nodes

The third step in how to make a crypto coin is designing the nodes according to what the functionality of your blockchain will be. At this stage, you need to decide the degree of availability of permissions, the type of hosting and the required hardware data.

Choose blockchain’s internal architecture

Most often, after the release of the project, developers do not have the opportunity to change some parameters of the blockchain, so the verification of the internal architecture must be done in the most thorough way.

Integrate APIs

When choosing a blockchain platform, be sure to research it for APIs (application programming interface — a special tool that allows you to use the functionality of one service in another), because some options do not provide such a feature. 

Design the interface

If you are going to figure out how to make a crypto not just for the sake of experiment, but to make it potentially globally useful, then you cannot do without quality design. Take a critical look at the project and then ensure that all servers and databases used in development are up to date. It’s also a good idea to check that the interface and internal programming is done in such a way that future updates won’t be a problem.

Make your crypto legal

The last step in creating your own digital currency is to verify that the project complies with local legislation. There will simply be no demand for a token if the system operates illegally. Yes, in many countries the regulation of the crypto sphere is only developing — in such a case, it is better to adhere to international legislation. This will keep your work safe, official, and save it from unexpected surprises.

Examples of successful cryptocurrencies

The second question, after “Is it possible…?”, is “How hard is it to make a cryptocurrency?”. Well, it’s hard enough if you want to achieve the same stunning results as the industry leaders, which include:

• Bitcoin as the world’s first cryptocurrency;
• Litecoin, which ranks second in popularity and importance, having the highest block generation rate;
• Ethereum, based on a decentralized platform and using the smart contracts feature, which has become a trend in recent years.

There are also lesser known, but still quite successful examples, such as Ripple, Tether, TRON, Dogecoin, Cardano, and so on. All of them were once created for local use or generally for fun (like memecoin DOGE), but by the will of fate, they got into the international arena. Maybe you can make some cool tokens, too?

Can I make a cryptocurrency for free?

And finally, let’s answer another popular question: “How to make a cryptocurrency for free?”. Theoretically, this is possible, because there are special services such as Meta Mask, where you can mint your digital coin at no cost. However, there is a caveat: such a currency will not cost anything.

If you want to create a high-quality and useful cryptocurrency that could later enter the international market, you will have to invest in equipment and the work of specialists if you do not plan to work on the token yourself. Hope these facts were helpful, good luck!