As of March 2021, the total supply is roughly 557 billion coins at the time of this publication. Given its status as a currency for every-day use, the supply is uncapped, and will continue to expand at an inflation rate of less than 1.5% yearly
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions that are recorded on a distributed ledger, ie the blockchain. It is a form of money that exists as encrypted, digital information. It operates independently of any bank and uses sophisticated mathematics to regulate the creation and transfer of funds between entities.
Cryptocurrencies do not require a central authority to govern monetary policy. This authority for cryptocurrencies is typically decentralized, where each transaction is confirmed by receiving consensus from a network of computers interacting with each other.
The blockchain is a digital ledger of all the transactions ever made in a particular cryptocurrency. It’s comprised of individual blocks (see definition here) that are chained to each other through a cryptographic signature. Each time a block’s capacity is reached, a new block is added to the chain. The blockchain is repeatedly copied and saved onto thousands of computers all around the world, and it must always match each copy. As there is no master copy stored in one location, it’s considered decentralized.
When a transaction is confirmed it is included in a block. Each block that occurs after serves as an additional confirmation. The default number of confirmations for a Dimecoin transaction to be fully confirmed is set at 6. The more confirmations a transaction has, the more reliable it becomes. Transactions become immutable once they reach full confirmation.
When a transaction is made, all nodes on the network verify that it is valid on the blockchain, and if so, they have a consensus. Block rewards are used as incentive for active network participants (miners or stakers) who solve complex mathematical problems for creating the next block.
A masternode is a full node on a server that hosts a copy of the blockchain ledger in its entirety. Additionally, masternodes also provide additional functionality to support the blockchain network.
Dimecoin Core v2.3.0.0 is now available! Please update your wallets/nodes prior to block 5500000. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us! Here is a direct link to the release notes and download for the software: https://github.com/dime-coin/dimecoin/releases/tag/2.3.0.0