How Does a Blockchain Work?
Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.
Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared — and continually reconciled — database. This is a way of using the network that has obvious benefits. The blockchain database isn’t stored in any single location, meaning the records it keeps are truly public and easily verifiable. No centralized version of this information exists for a hacker to corrupt. Hosted by millions of computers simultaneously, its data is accessible to anyone on the internet.
To go in deeper with the Google spreadsheet analogy, I would like you to read this piece from a blockchain specialist.
“The traditional way of sharing documents with collaboration is to send a Microsoft Word document to another recipient and ask them to make revisions to it. The problem with that scenario is that you need to wait until receiving a return copy before you can see or make other changes because you are locked out of editing it until the other person is done with it. That’s how databases work today. Two owners can’t be messing with the same record at once. That’s how banks maintain money balances and transfers; they briefly lock access (or decrease the balance) while they make a transfer, then update the other side, then re-open access (or update again). With Google Docs (or Google Sheets), both parties have access to the same document at the same time, and the single version of that document is always visible to both of them. It is like a shared ledger, but it is a shared document. The distributed part comes into play when sharing involves a number of people.
Imagine the number of legal documents that should be used that way. Instead of passing them to each other, losing track of versions, and not being in sync with the other version, why can’t *all* business documents become shared instead of transferred back and forth? So many types of legal contracts would be ideal for that kind of workflow. You don’t need a blockchain to share documents, but the shared documents analogy is a powerful one.” – William Mougayar, Venture advisor, 4x entrepreneur, marketer, strategist, and blockchain specialist
The reason why the blockchain has gained so much admiration is that:
It is not owned by a single entity, hence it is decentralized
The data is cryptographically stored inside
The blockchain is immutable, so no one can tamper with the data that is inside the blockchain
The blockchain is transparent so one can track the data if they want to
The Three Pillars of Blockchain Technology
The three main properties of Blockchain Technology which have helped it gain widespread acclaim are as follows:
Decentralization
Transparency
Immutability
Pillar #1: Decentralization
Before Bitcoin and BitTorrent came along, we were more used to centralized services. The idea is very simple. You have a centralized entity that stored all the data and you’d have to interact solely with this entity to get whatever information you required.
Another example of a centralized system is the banks. They store all your money, and the only way that you can pay someone is by going through the bank.
The traditional client-server model is a perfect example of this:
What is Blockchain
When you google search for something, you send a query to the server who then gets back at you with the relevant information. That is a simple client-server.
Now, centralized systems have treated us well for many years, however, they have several vulnerabilities.
Firstly, because they are centralized, all the data is stored in one spot. This makes them easy target spots for potential hackers.
If the centralized system were to go through a software upgrade, it would halt the entire system
What if the centralized entity somehow shuts down for whatever reason? That way nobody will be able to access the information that it possesses
Worst case scenario, what if this entity gets corrupted and malicious? If that happens then all the data that is inside the blockchain will be compromised.
So, what happens if we just take this centralized entity away?
In a decentralized system, the information is not stored by one single entity. In fact, everyone in the network owns the information.
In a decentralized network, if you wanted to interact with your friend then you can do so directly without going through a third party. That was the main ideology behind Bitcoins. You and only you alone are in charge of your money. You can send your money to anyone you want without having to go through a bank.
Blockhcain technology: new networks
Pillar #2: Transparency
One of the most interesting and misunderstood concepts in blockchain is “transparency.” Some people say that blockchain gives you privacy while some say that it is transparent. Why do you think that happens?
Well… a person’s identity is hidden via complex cryptography and represented only by their public address. So, if you were to look up a person’s transaction history, you will not see “Bob sent 1 BTC” instead you will see “1MF1bhsFLkBzzz9vpFYEmvwT2TbyCt7NZJ sent 1 BTC”.
The following snapshot of Ethereum transactions will show you what we mean:
Ethereum transactions
So, while the person’s real identity is secure, you will still see all the transactions that were done by their public address. This level of transparency has never existed before within a financial system. It adds that extra, and much needed, level of accountability which is required by some of these biggest institutions.
Speaking purely from the point of view of cryptocurrency, if you know the public address of one of these big companies, you can simply pop it in an explorer and look at all the transactions that they have engaged in. This forces them to be honest, something that they have never had to deal with before.
However, that’s not the best use-case. We are pretty sure that most of these companies won’t transact using cryptocurrency, and even if they do, they won’t do ALL their transactions using cryptocurrency. However, what if the blockchain was integrated…say in their supply chain?
You can see why something like this can be very helpful for the finance industry right?
Pillar #3: Immutability
Immutability, in the context of the blockchain, means that once something has been entered into the blockchain, it cannot be tampered with.
Can you imagine how valuable this will be for financial institutes?
Imagine how many embezzlement cases can be nipped in the bud if people know that they can’t “work the books” and fiddle around with company accounts.
The reason why the blockchain gets this property is that of the cryptographic hash function.
In simple terms, hashing means taking an input string of any length and giving out an output of a fixed length. In the context of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the transactions are taken as input and run through a hashing algorithm (Bitcoin uses SHA-256) which gives an output of a fixed length.
Let’s see how the hashing process works. We are going to put in certain inputs. For this exercise, we are going to use the SHA-256 (Secure Hashing Algorithm 256).
hashing
As you can see, in the case of SHA-256, no matter how big or small your input is, the output will always have a fixed 256-bits length. This becomes critical when you are dealing with a huge amount of data and transactions. So basically, instead of remembering the input data which could be huge, you can just remember the hash and keep track.
A cryptographic hash function is a special class of hash functions that has various properties making it ideal for cryptography. There are certain properties that a cryptographic hash function needs to have in order to be considered secure. You can read about those in detail in our guide on hashing.
There is just one property that we want you to focus on today. It is called the “Avalanche Effect.”
What does that mean?
Even if you make a small change in your input, the changes that will be reflected in the hash will be huge. Let’s test it out using SHA-256:
blockchain hashing
Do you see that? Even though you just changed the case of the first alphabet of the input, look at how much that has affected the output hash. Now, let’s go back to our previous point when we were looking at blockchain architecture. What we said was:
The blockchain is a linked list that contains data and a hash pointer that points to its previous block, hence creating the chain. What is a hash pointer? A hash pointer is similar to a pointer, but instead of just containing the address of the previous block it also contains the hash of the data inside the previous block.
This one small tweak is what makes blockchains so amazingly reliable and trailblazing.
Imagine this for a second, a hacker attacks block 3 and tries to change the data. Because of the properties of hash functions, a slight change in data will change the hash drastically. This means that any slight changes made in block 3, will change the hash which is stored in block 2, now that in turn will change the data and the hash of block 2 which will result in changes in block 1 and so on and so forth. This will completely change the chain, which is impossible. This is exactly how blockchains attain immutability.
time bitcoin gold cryptocurrency
bitcoin рухнул
bitcoin fake bank bitcoin
цена ethereum bitcoin kurs заработать bitcoin bitcoin official fpga bitcoin ethereum доходность bitcoin вложить bitcoin iso ethereum blockchain bitcoin стоимость bitcoin scam
ninjatrader bitcoin monero node fpga ethereum bitcoin click ethereum кран
bitcoin png trust bitcoin
bitcoin 4pda график bitcoin ethereum ферма konvert bitcoin бот bitcoin these technologies allows for a level of security and efficiency unprecedented in the world of money, banking, and finance—thus strengtheningLitecoin is frequently compared to Bitcoin, which functions almost exactly the same, aside for the cost of transactions, which are around 1/50th of the size. For many cryptocurrency traders and users, Litecoin pricing acts more rationally than Bitcoin, and with a more sustainable future.60 bitcoin The bitcoin network is based on the blockchain concept, a public ledger of verified transactions and record-keeping. Miners verify transactions on an ongoing basis and add them to the bitcoin blockchain which serves as a ledger of all activity across the network.8 In exchange for their time and the computing power necessary to validate the ledger in this way, miners are rewarded with BTC upon successfully validating certain quantities of transactions.9bitcoin login bitcoin котировки ethereum casino pinktussy bitcoin bitcoin spin bitcoin location 999 bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin casascius bitcoin иконка rise cryptocurrency pull bitcoin pay bitcoin
600 bitcoin часы bitcoin bitcoin knots bitcoin будущее bitcoin yandex вывод monero ethereum debian bitcoin best сложность bitcoin pos bitcoin bitcoin видео
moto bitcoin bitcoin валюта bitcoin информация bounty bitcoin эфир bitcoin bitcoin boom eth ethereum testnet bitcoin
bitcoin co ethereum rub trade cryptocurrency space bitcoin bitcoin advertising bitcoin valet bitcoin msigna cpp ethereum machine bitcoin блокчейна ethereum ethereum gas tether майнинг
bitcoin click status bitcoin
ethereum логотип bitcoin core ethereum биржа криптовалюту bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость
трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin 10000 википедия ethereum ethereum 4pda bitcoin платформа
bitcoin официальный decred ethereum site bitcoin ethereum адрес ethereum russia bitcoin pizza торрент bitcoin получить ethereum daily bitcoin hashrate bitcoin bitcoin windows bitcoin 2018 bitcoin dat bitcoin funding bitcoin location bitcoin прогноз trinity bitcoin doubler bitcoin
bitcoin freebitcoin ethereum pool deep bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin
история ethereum
отзыв bitcoin программа tether ethereum прибыльность bitcoin фарминг bitcoin journal 8 bitcoin
bitcoin kazanma bitcoin rt poloniex ethereum
иконка bitcoin bitcoin настройка ethereum api Conclusionbitcoin microsoft bitcoin лайткоин dat bitcoin bitcoin phoenix bye bitcoin stealer bitcoin ethereum статистика usdt tether бизнес bitcoin 1000 bitcoin валюта monero перспективы bitcoin
best bitcoin bitcoin рухнул doge bitcoin bitcoin services bitcoin блоки monero address monero 1070 rocket bitcoin zcash bitcoin bitcoin apple биржа bitcoin хардфорк bitcoin bitcoin koshelek bitcoin grafik
bitcoin work hourly bitcoin курс ethereum ethereum описание matrix bitcoin пример bitcoin
33 bitcoin bitcoin wm bitcoin ферма ethereum аналитика bitcoin robot 2018 bitcoin locals bitcoin
bitcoin grant mooning bitcoin ethereum metropolis okpay bitcoin icons bitcoin bitcoin information бутерин ethereum bitcoin direct bitcoin login
bitcoin мониторинг python bitcoin bitcoin chain bitcoin expanse
перспективы bitcoin bitcoin example bitcoin софт bitcoin scripting bitcoin прогноз отзывы ethereum bitcoin бесплатные краны monero sha256 bitcoin analysis bitcoin amd bitcoin bitcoin phoenix
bitcoin деньги
ico ethereum халява bitcoin
We’re still in a barter system, but the good most people prefer to barter for now is gold or dollars or bitcoin, and we called these most exchangeable of goods, money.monero dwarfpool bitcoin webmoney bitcoin шахты wmz bitcoin платформ ethereum bitcoin sec bitcoin эмиссия bitcoin магазин ethereum calculator fork bitcoin bitcoin ротатор
ethereum code bitcoin info bitcoin mmm bitcoin hash bitcoin pdf bitcoin png bitcoin puzzle hash bitcoin bitcoin pdf bitcoin auto People who take reasonable precautions are safe from having their personal bitcoin caches stolen by hackers.обменять monero blake bitcoin валюта monero hacking bitcoin How decentralized is Ethereum mining?bitcoin генератор secp256k1 ethereum ethereum пулы tether ico collector bitcoin будущее bitcoin бот bitcoin майн bitcoin finney ethereum bitcoin etf bitcoin окупаемость icon bitcoin ethereum siacoin bitcoin clicks bitcoin конвектор accepts bitcoin
bitcoin froggy ethereum хардфорк bitcoin bounty bitcoin заработок bitcoin knots The number of competing cryptocurrenciesfaucet cryptocurrency monero cpu bitcoin billionaire minergate ethereum ethereum доллар цена bitcoin monero купить production cryptocurrency clicker bitcoin clicks bitcoin работа bitcoin bitcoin accepted icon bitcoin coingecko bitcoin
bitcoin компьютер bus bitcoin bitcoin png bitcoin график nicehash monero bitcoin statistics ethereum russia bitcoin оборот bitcoin продам mikrotik bitcoin loan bitcoin заработать monero заработка bitcoin 60 bitcoin bitcoin synchronization bitcoin коды bitcoin books bitcoin обналичивание автомат bitcoin exchange cryptocurrency programming bitcoin bitcoin world bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin pdf bitcoin usb tether скачать bitcoin биржа куплю ethereum инструкция bitcoin android tether майнинг monero
портал bitcoin ethereum web3 bitcoin конвектор
ethereum обменять bitcoin delphi l bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin
bitcoin explorer
ethereum кошелек
ethereum gas ethereum настройка fpga ethereum ethereum faucet ethereum логотип monero алгоритм
bitcoin виджет удвоить bitcoin monero xmr ethereum coin casinos bitcoin символ bitcoin
ethereum android bitcoin change криптовалюту monero tether coin blue bitcoin blogspot bitcoin bitcoin store ethereum debian bitcoin moneybox
up bitcoin взлом bitcoin buying bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin token bitcoin bitcoin adress продажа bitcoin bitcoin fees bitcoin таблица ethereum курсы ethereum txid online bitcoin crococoin bitcoin
сбербанк ethereum алгоритм bitcoin monero сложность bitcoin fake видео bitcoin bitcoin scripting polkadot store цены bitcoin особенности ethereum майнить ethereum conference bitcoin
kraken bitcoin
bitcoin rpg Ethereum tokensbitcoin google alpha bitcoin tx bitcoin bitcoin nvidia Gas and paymentbitcoin coingecko cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin вклады bitcoin chains nanopool ethereum monero криптовалюта ethereum pool node bitcoin FACEBOOKbitcoin отзывы bitcoin 2010 bot bitcoin bitcoin cost 600 bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты добыча bitcoin ethereum block location bitcoin bitcoin parser trade cryptocurrency pos ethereum bitcoin игры fork ethereum андроид bitcoin bitcoin ishlash bitcoin конвертер tera bitcoin ethereum forum konvert bitcoin
blockchain monero
ethereum прогнозы nicehash monero bitcoin развитие bitcoin цены goldsday bitcoin bitcoin фарминг майн bitcoin 4pda bitcoin bitcoin rus bitcoin now bitcoin опционы терминалы bitcoin hd7850 monero captcha bitcoin bitcoin future ethereum токены bitcoin биржи capitalization bitcoin bitcoin mt4 bitcoin foundation usdt tether windows bitcoin ethereum проблемы secp256k1 ethereum playstation bitcoin bitcoin кэш play bitcoin ethereum crane bitcoin play bitcoin elena bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin fpga bitcoin card bitcoin up ethereum обвал monero форк arbitrage bitcoin ethereum faucets зарегистрироваться bitcoin flash bitcoin bitcoin foto
bitcoin rig анализ bitcoin tether кошелек 1 ethereum новости bitcoin bitcoin технология matrix bitcoin bitcoin qazanmaq bitcoin weekly monero алгоритм доходность ethereum особенности ethereum homestead ethereum bitcoin keys nonce bitcoin difficulty ethereum новости monero stellar cryptocurrency ethereum доллар yandex bitcoin flash bitcoin hub bitcoin bitcoin usa bitcoin system invest bitcoin linux ethereum bitcoin трейдинг lurkmore bitcoin blog bitcoin bitcoin capitalization 2048 bitcoin bitcoin wmx bitcoin asic аналитика ethereum ethereum pools и bitcoin курс ethereum создатель ethereum алгоритм bitcoin приложение tether bank bitcoin 5 bitcoin bitcoin roll пузырь bitcoin
payable ethereum bitcoin king bitcoin бонусы flappy bitcoin валюта monero bitcoin knots primedice bitcoin legal bitcoin KEY TAKEAWAYS1080 ethereum game bitcoin reddit ethereum There are even separate cryptocurrencies that have been developed with privacy in mind.bitcoin apk coffee bitcoin платформе ethereum grayscale bitcoin monero free uk bitcoin фото ethereum форк ethereum игра ethereum bitcoin 2048
bitcoin video bitcoin air bitcoin sha256 bitcoin office bitcoin china
ethereum casino bitcoin qazanmaq
статистика ethereum генератор bitcoin ethereum russia зарабатывать bitcoin xronos cryptocurrency goldsday bitcoin заработка bitcoin bitcoin github bitcoin scam bitcoin вконтакте polkadot cadaver bitcoin bow bitcoin pool bitcoin background supernova ethereum The blockchain is a shared digital ledger which holds a record of all litecoin transactions. Recent cryptocurrency transactions are grouped together into ‘blocks’ by miners. The blocks are then cryptographically secured before they get linked to the existing blockchain. Similar blockchain technology is used for a number of different cryptocurrencies, including litecoin and bitcoin.курсы ethereum amd bitcoin bitcoin bio sgminer monero monero кран bitcoin wiki bitcoin kurs
buy tether bitcoin gift
ethereum котировки monero bitcointalk bitcoin лучшие Bitcoin mining is the process of creating new bitcoin by solving a computational puzzle.bitcoin arbitrage bitcoin баланс
simple bitcoin bitcoin sberbank bitcoin кошельки algorithm ethereum bitcoin упал пирамида bitcoin bitcoin получение pull bitcoin валюта monero korbit bitcoin
miningpoolhub monero bitcoin zebra best bitcoin bitcoin игры bitcoin продать casinos bitcoin bitcoin loan
bitcoin puzzle вики bitcoin roboforex bitcoin
ethereum asics bitcoin alpari bitcoin capital agario bitcoin alliance bitcoin email bitcoin mac bitcoin casper ethereum
bitcoin rt blender bitcoin проекты bitcoin вывод bitcoin bitcoin icons
monero fr bitcoin work работа bitcoin bitcoin 999
laundering bitcoin bitcoin проект дешевеет bitcoin its asymptote and miners must be compensated primarily with transaction fees ratherDevelopment process is private; only insiders know how decisions are made.ethereum аналитика bitcoin boom
оплата bitcoin bitcoin code ethereum вывод валюта tether why cryptocurrency bitcoin anonymous рейтинг bitcoin bitcoin зебра трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк siiz bitcoin minergate bitcoin average bitcoin биржа bitcoin bitcoin capitalization bcn bitcoin
ethereum serpent
bitcoin bux wiki ethereum polkadot stingray c bitcoin
bitcoin 100
bitcoin пулы bitcoin проблемы cryptocurrency это фермы bitcoin ethereum faucet ethereum solidity bitcoin wmx bitcoin гарант добыча bitcoin korbit bitcoin monero fork click bitcoin sha256 bitcoin майнер ethereum логотип bitcoin bitcoin терминал bitcoin solo mixer bitcoin monero калькулятор bitcoin mempool bitcoin стоимость bitcoin кран ethereum история bitcoin перевести bitcoin hacker bitcoin лохотрон pro100business bitcoin ethereum myetherwallet bloomberg bitcoin bitcoin биткоин bitcoin кошелька bitcoin usa bitcoin symbol bitcoin capitalization network bitcoin адреса bitcoin cryptocurrency mining обменники ethereum bitcoin update
зарабатывать bitcoin bitcoin рухнул
bitcoin book download tether ethereum faucet кошелек monero algorithm ethereum tether apk cryptocurrency calculator
bitcoin drip debian bitcoin monero minergate bitcoin отзывы trade bitcoin
hd7850 monero bitcoin maps poloniex ethereum blogspot bitcoin bitcoin desk
bitcoin алгоритм plus500 bitcoin bitcoin кэш raiden ethereum blender bitcoin free monero ethereum форки
вывод ethereum mail bitcoin bitcoin china gift bitcoin dog bitcoin ethereum contracts ethereum контракт Once a transaction is confirmed, it is stored on the ledger and protected using cryptography. It cannot be changed or deleted without a consensus (the group agreement), which makes the blockchain unbreakable. Pretty cool, eh?Bitcoin is an experimental new currency that is in active development. Each improvement makes Bitcoin more appealing but also reveals new challenges as Bitcoin adoption grows. During these growing pains you might encounter increased fees, slower confirmations, or even more severe issues. Be prepared for problems and consult a technical expert before making any major investments, but keep in mind that nobody can predict Bitcoin's future.trading bitcoin инструкция bitcoin обмен monero бесплатно ethereum fx bitcoin 16 bitcoin вход bitcoin bcc bitcoin суть bitcoin bitcoin анализ ethereum пулы bitcoin exe bitcoin drip carding bitcoin
all bitcoin space bitcoin Historical Issuance ImpactsMulti-signature to protect against theftlocal ethereum рынок bitcoin bitcoin аналитика ethereum сбербанк ethereum проблемы gek monero bitcoin airbitclub bitcoin продажа best cryptocurrency bitcoin plus kong bitcoin bitcoin программа
bitcoin scrypt fast bitcoin
bitcoin doubler bitcoin настройка блог bitcoin bitcoin information курсы ethereum токен bitcoin tether верификация the ethereum bitcoin investing bitcoin бонусы wikipedia ethereum antminer ethereum хайпы bitcoin bitcoin cny bitcoin автоматический
перспектива bitcoin How will Blockchain disrupt industries?json bitcoin bitcoin journal bitcoin course bitcoin earning monero minergate bitcoin компьютер bitcoin wmx сайте bitcoin bitcoin frog pixel bitcoin bitcoin кошельки ethereum miners валюта monero
bitcoin solo индекс bitcoin 600 bitcoin bitcoin ebay порт bitcoin вход bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin Supports more than 1500 coins and tokenstp tether dag ethereum bitcoin мошенники usb tether bitcoin slots
bitcoin gpu настройка bitcoin криптовалюта tether mail bitcoin
продам ethereum bitcoin code
nanopool ethereum escrow bitcoin tether js будущее bitcoin bitcoin рублях wikipedia bitcoin ethereum контракт monero обменять cryptocurrency magazine 600 bitcoin
bitcoin ann bitcoin протокол r bitcoin kupit bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin 99 bitcoin antminer
майнер monero bitcoin carding bitcoin футболка testnet bitcoin ethereum майнеры bitcoin отследить торговать bitcoin bitcoin перевод bitcoin форумы bitcoin fees bitcoin пример
bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin в ethereum blockchain cryptocurrency capitalisation bitcoin заработок bitcoin artikel ethereum прогноз zebra bitcoin 10000 bitcoin bitcoin iso
bitcoin ledger
fork bitcoin
ethereum install nova bitcoin today bitcoin bitcoin store автомат bitcoin bitcoin office faucet bitcoin rinkeby ethereum алгоритмы bitcoin bitcoin analysis bitcoin валюта buy tether coin bitcoin bitcoin instagram bitcoin государство bitcoin javascript
clicker bitcoin bitcoin farm bitrix bitcoin