What is a Blockchain?
Before we move into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it's vital to understand about its underlying technology: the blockchain.
Introduction
Blockchain is an open, real-time shared, decentralized repository. It records the operations performed by each user on the repository and combines these operations into a secure and immutable chain structure, which will be recorded and synchronized to all nodes on the network
Blockchain is a decentralized ledger
Blockchain is seen as a decentralized ledger technology that reduces the cost of trust for third parties. Transactions and actions initiated by anyone can be recorded and verified without the need for a central authority or third party.
It is a way to ensure that digital assets can be transferred in a secure manner when transactions are conducted between two or more parties. And once the completed transaction is recorded in the blockchain, it means that it cannot be tampered with, and everyone on other networks can directly and publicly access the information. These completed transactions will be recorded in each data structure defined as a “block”, and all blocks are connected to form a chain, which is the “blockchain”.
Each block contains the cryptographic hash, timestamp, and transaction data of the previous block. Therefore, the data already stored in the blockchain is difficult to tamper with, and the data is more secure and transparent.
But this does not mean that blockchain is a 100% absolutely secure technology. In theory, if someone can jointly master the authority to verify the data, initiate unreasonable transactions and easily force it to pass the verification, it may still pose a threat to the security of the blockchain.
But the premise is that the party launching the attack needs to master more than 51% of the computing power, that is, 51% attack. With the scale of the current mainstream blockchain, it is very difficult, and in reality, the cost of doing evil will be extremely difficult to achieve.
Blockchain origin
Blockchain technology was first mentioned in the white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Payment System” released by the mysterious Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. It can be said that BTC is a project based on blockchain Technology Implementation, but it is not completely equal to blockchain.
Bitcoin is the first blockchain
Bitcoin Network is the first blockchain network. Created in 2009, it is the first application of blockchain technology. Its value is to allow users to complete peer-to-peer value exchange without the trust of any third party.
After the birth of Bitcoin, many projects rushed to follow suit and created their own unique blockchains, aiming to solve the current inefficient value transfer methods through innovative ways. One of the most critical technological changes is the emergence of “smart contracts”.
Smart contracts unlock more possibilities for blockchain
The most representative is the smart contract developed by the second largest Cryptocurrency project by market capitalization “Ethereum Ethereum”. Simply put, it is a code that can operate based on the blockchain, set clear rules, and deploy it to the blockchain. After it is deployed, it can run forever.
The use of smart contracts is very diverse, such as publishing tokens, generating wallets, establishing decentralized exchanges… and other applications, but at this stage, blockchain technology is still limited by the trade-off between scalability and security, It is difficult to see the real landing in a short period of time, and it is deep into people’s daily applications.
However, the blockchain ecosystem, because of the concept of smart contracts, has spawned more things that are difficult to achieve with the original technology, and has been recognized by more people, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) , non-fungible token (NFT), GameFi.
Why is blockchain technology important?
After understanding the basic definition, origin and related concepts of blockchain technology, it is important to understand the importance of this technology
Change the way data is stored
Blockchain has revolutionized the way data is stored, shared and managed. It is a theoretically more secure, transparent and immutable distributed database that enables peer-to-peer data transmission without the trust of a third party, which can be widely used in finance, gaming, digital identity and other fields.
Application scenarios full of potential
Its technical features unlock the possibility of more real-world scenarios, such as decentralized applications (DApps) based on smart contracts, NFT non-fungible tokens, digital identities (DID).
Blockchain technology can also enable faster, safer and more cost-effective transactions and data sharing between parties. This has the potential to revolutionize the way we currently process and share data
Highlights
Blockchain is an open, shared repository that you can think of as a public ledger. Allowing anyone to complete transactions without going through a third party
Data is recorded as the structure of “blocks”, and all blocks are connected to each other in order, forming a blockchain.
Bitcoin established in 2009 was the first blockchain network
Blockchain has changed the way we store data, bringing more innovative technologies and scenarios, such as DApp, DeFi, and NFT
Main Video
Related Articles
What is a Blockchain?
Before we move into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it's vital to understand about its underlying technology: the blockchain.
Introduction
Blockchain is an open, real-time shared, decentralized repository. It records the operations performed by each user on the repository and combines these operations into a secure and immutable chain structure, which will be recorded and synchronized to all nodes on the network
Blockchain is a decentralized ledger
Blockchain is seen as a decentralized ledger technology that reduces the cost of trust for third parties. Transactions and actions initiated by anyone can be recorded and verified without the need for a central authority or third party.
It is a way to ensure that digital assets can be transferred in a secure manner when transactions are conducted between two or more parties. And once the completed transaction is recorded in the blockchain, it means that it cannot be tampered with, and everyone on other networks can directly and publicly access the information. These completed transactions will be recorded in each data structure defined as a “block”, and all blocks are connected to form a chain, which is the “blockchain”.
Each block contains the cryptographic hash, timestamp, and transaction data of the previous block. Therefore, the data already stored in the blockchain is difficult to tamper with, and the data is more secure and transparent.
But this does not mean that blockchain is a 100% absolutely secure technology. In theory, if someone can jointly master the authority to verify the data, initiate unreasonable transactions and easily force it to pass the verification, it may still pose a threat to the security of the blockchain.
But the premise is that the party launching the attack needs to master more than 51% of the computing power, that is, 51% attack. With the scale of the current mainstream blockchain, it is very difficult, and in reality, the cost of doing evil will be extremely difficult to achieve.
Blockchain origin
Blockchain technology was first mentioned in the white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Payment System” released by the mysterious Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. It can be said that BTC is a project based on blockchain Technology Implementation, but it is not completely equal to blockchain.
Bitcoin is the first blockchain
Bitcoin Network is the first blockchain network. Created in 2009, it is the first application of blockchain technology. Its value is to allow users to complete peer-to-peer value exchange without the trust of any third party.
After the birth of Bitcoin, many projects rushed to follow suit and created their own unique blockchains, aiming to solve the current inefficient value transfer methods through innovative ways. One of the most critical technological changes is the emergence of “smart contracts”.
Smart contracts unlock more possibilities for blockchain
The most representative is the smart contract developed by the second largest Cryptocurrency project by market capitalization “Ethereum Ethereum”. Simply put, it is a code that can operate based on the blockchain, set clear rules, and deploy it to the blockchain. After it is deployed, it can run forever.
The use of smart contracts is very diverse, such as publishing tokens, generating wallets, establishing decentralized exchanges… and other applications, but at this stage, blockchain technology is still limited by the trade-off between scalability and security, It is difficult to see the real landing in a short period of time, and it is deep into people’s daily applications.
However, the blockchain ecosystem, because of the concept of smart contracts, has spawned more things that are difficult to achieve with the original technology, and has been recognized by more people, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) , non-fungible token (NFT), GameFi.
Why is blockchain technology important?
After understanding the basic definition, origin and related concepts of blockchain technology, it is important to understand the importance of this technology
Change the way data is stored
Blockchain has revolutionized the way data is stored, shared and managed. It is a theoretically more secure, transparent and immutable distributed database that enables peer-to-peer data transmission without the trust of a third party, which can be widely used in finance, gaming, digital identity and other fields.
Application scenarios full of potential
Its technical features unlock the possibility of more real-world scenarios, such as decentralized applications (DApps) based on smart contracts, NFT non-fungible tokens, digital identities (DID).
Blockchain technology can also enable faster, safer and more cost-effective transactions and data sharing between parties. This has the potential to revolutionize the way we currently process and share data
Highlights
Blockchain is an open, shared repository that you can think of as a public ledger. Allowing anyone to complete transactions without going through a third party
Data is recorded as the structure of “blocks”, and all blocks are connected to each other in order, forming a blockchain.
Bitcoin established in 2009 was the first blockchain network
Blockchain has changed the way we store data, bringing more innovative technologies and scenarios, such as DApp, DeFi, and NFT
Main Video
Related Articles