Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Quiz

1. Bitcoin was created by a person (or group) using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. When was the Bitcoin whitepaper published?

1. 2005
2. 2008
3. 2010
4. 2012

2. What is a 'blockchain' and what problem does it solve?

1. A distributed ledger of transactions maintained by multiple computers simultaneously — solving the 'double-spending problem' in digital currency
2. A method of encrypting internet communications
3. A type of encrypted database for storing passwords
4. A type of smart contract platform

3. What is 'mining' in the context of Bitcoin?

1. A form of digital contract negotiation
2. Extracting rare digital assets from hidden game locations
3. Searching the dark web for undervalued cryptocurrencies to buy
4. The process by which new Bitcoin transactions are verified and added to the blockchain, rewarding miners with new Bitcoin

4. Ethereum is different from Bitcoin in what key way?

1. Ethereum has a fixed supply like Bitcoin
2. Ethereum is a programmable blockchain that supports 'smart contracts' and decentralised applications (dApps)
3. Ethereum is faster and cheaper to use than Bitcoin
4. Ethereum was created by Satoshi Nakamoto

5. What is a 'smart contract'?

1. A legally binding digital agreement signed with an electronic signature
2. A multi-signature security system for large financial transactions
3. An AI-generated contract that adapts its terms over time
4. Self-executing code stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces and executes contract terms when conditions are met

6. NFT stands for what and what makes it different from a regular digital file?

1. Network-Free Transfer — a blockchain transaction method
2. New Financial Token — a type of cryptocurrency
3. Non-Fiat Transaction — a cryptocurrency not backed by government currency
4. Non-Fungible Token — a unique cryptographic token on a blockchain representing ownership of a specific digital (or physical) item

7. What is 'DeFi' (Decentralised Finance)?

1. A type of cryptocurrency exchange that is registered with financial regulators
2. Decentralised physical currency (eliminating digital payments)
3. Financial services (lending, borrowing, trading) built on blockchain without traditional banks or intermediaries
4. Government-issued digital currencies (CBDCs)

8. What is the 'Bitcoin halving' and why does it matter?

1. A protocol update that doubles Bitcoin's transaction speed
2. Approximately every 4 years, the reward for mining a Bitcoin block is cut in half — a deflationary mechanism written into Bitcoin's code
3. When Bitcoin's price drops 50% from its all-time high
4. When the Bitcoin network splits into two competing chains

9. What is a 'crypto wallet' and does it actually store cryptocurrency?

1. A bank account denominated in cryptocurrency
2. A physical device that stores cryptocurrency tokens
3. An account on a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance or Coinbase
4. Software or hardware that stores private keys that prove ownership of cryptocurrency — the coins themselves exist on the blockchain, not in the wallet

10. What was the 'DAO hack' of 2016 and how was it resolved controversially?

1. A crypto exchange was hacked and the stolen funds were tracked and returned
2. A hacker exploited a vulnerability in The DAO smart contract and drained $60M worth of ETH — resolved by a controversial hard fork that reversed the theft
3. A hacker stole private keys from Coinbase's servers
4. Mt. Gox exchange was hacked, losing 850,000 Bitcoin

11. What is 'Proof of Stake' (PoS) and how does it differ from Proof of Work (PoW)?

1. PoS is faster but less secure; PoW is slower but more secure
2. PoS is used only by Ethereum; PoW is used only by Bitcoin
3. PoS requires staking physical collateral; PoW requires solving puzzles with computers
4. PoS validates transactions based on the amount of cryptocurrency a validator has 'staked' (locked up) as collateral; PoW requires energy-intensive computational work

12. What is 'HODL' in cryptocurrency culture?

1. A deliberate misspelling of 'hold' from a 2013 Bitcoin forum post — meaning to hold cryptocurrency long-term despite volatility
2. A technical trading strategy
3. An acronym for 'Hold On for Dear Life'
4. Both 'a misspelling of hold' and is now also interpreted as 'Hold On for Dear Life'

13. The collapse of FTX in November 2022 was a landmark event in crypto. What happened?

1. A regulatory crackdown forced FTX to shut down operations
2. FTX was hacked by North Korean state actors who stole $600M
3. FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found to have been using customer funds for trading and investments — the exchange collapsed and SBF was arrested and convicted
4. FTX's parent company Binance deliberately drove FTX into bankruptcy

14. What is a 'decentralised exchange' (DEX) and how does it differ from Coinbase or Binance?

1. A DEX allows trading directly between users via smart contracts without a centralised company holding funds or controlling the platform
2. A DEX charges no trading fees unlike centralised exchanges
3. A DEX is based in a country without cryptocurrency regulations
4. A DEX is exclusively for large institutional traders

15. What is 'Bitcoin Pizza Day' and why is it famous?

1. A Bitcoin conference tradition of giving away free pizza
2. A Domino's marketing campaign accepting Bitcoin for pizza
3. On May 22, 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas — the first real-world Bitcoin transaction. Those coins would be worth hundreds of millions today
4. The day Satoshi Nakamoto revealed their identity at a pizza shop

16. What is a 'stablecoin' and what problem does it solve?

1. A cryptocurrency backed by physical gold
2. A cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value (usually pegged 1:1 to USD) — solving crypto's extreme price volatility for everyday transactions
3. A cryptocurrency issued by a stable government
4. A cryptocurrency that cannot be sold or traded, only held

17. What is 'gas' in Ethereum?

1. A fee paid to compensate for the computing energy required to process and validate transactions on the Ethereum network
2. A measurement of transaction speed on the Ethereum network
3. The electricity cost of running mining hardware
4. The price of ETH on exchanges

18. What is 'Web3' and how does it differ from Web2?

1. Web3 describes a vision of a decentralised internet built on blockchains where users own their data, identity, and assets — contrasting with Web2's centralised platforms (Facebook, Google)
2. Web3 is exclusively the metaverse
3. Web3 is the next generation of internet infrastructure (fibre, 5G)
4. Web3 is the third version of Internet Explorer

19. Mt. Gox was a major early Bitcoin exchange that collapsed in 2014. What happened?

1. Mt. Gox lost approximately 850,000 Bitcoin (then ~$450M, later worth billions) to hackers over several years and filed for bankruptcy
2. Mt. Gox was a Ponzi scheme that collapsed when it ran out of new investors
3. Mt. Gox was shut down by US government regulators
4. Mt. Gox's founder fled with customer funds to Japan

20. What is the 'cryptographic hash function' that is central to how blockchain works?

1. A method for compressing transaction data to save storage space
2. A one-way mathematical function that converts any input into a fixed-length output — the same input always produces the same hash, and it is computationally infeasible to reverse
3. An algorithm that encrypts data for privacy
4. The algorithm that generates new cryptocurrency addresses