Skip to main content

what is blockchain

 A blockchain is a growing list of records , called blocks, that are linked together using cryptography . Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree). The timestamp proves that the transaction data existed when the block was published to get into its hash. As blocks each contain information about the block previous to it, they form a chain, with each additional block reinforcing the ones before it. Therefore, blockchains are resistant to modification of their data because once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without altering all subsequent blocks.

block chain


Blockchains are typically managed by a peer-to-peer network for use as a publicly distributed ledger, where nodes collectively adhere to a protocol  to communicate and validate new blocks. Although blockchain records are not unalterable as forks are possible, blockchains may be considered secure by design  and exemplify a distributed computing system with high Byzantine fault  tolerance.

The blockchain was popularized by a person (or group of people) using the name Satoshi Nakamoto  in 2008 to serve as the public transaction ledger  of the cryptocurrency bitcoin , based on work by Stuart Haber, W. Scott Stornetta, and Dave Bayer. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown to date. The implementation of the blockchain within bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double-spending  problem without the need of a trusted authority or central server. The bitcoin design has inspired other applications and blockchains that are readable by the public and are widely used by cryptocurrencies . The blockchain is considered a type of payment rail.

block chain


Private blockchains have been proposed for business use. Computerworld called the marketing of such privatized blockchains without a proper security model "snake oil "; however, others have argued that permissioned blockchains, if carefully designed, may be more decentralized and therefore more secure in practice than permissionless ones.

Cryptographer David Chaum  first proposed a blockchain-like protocol in his 1982 dissertation "Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups." Further work on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks was described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. They wanted to implement a system wherein document timestamps could not be tampered with. In 1992, Haber, Stornetta, and Dave  Bayer incorporated Merkle   trees into the design, which improved its efficiency by allowing several document certificates to be collected into one block. Under their company Surety, their document certificate hashes have been published in The New York Times  every week since 1995.

The first decentralized blockchain was conceptualized by a person (or group of people) known as Satoshi Nakamoto  in 2008. Nakamoto improved the design in an important way using a Hashcash-like method to timestamp  blocks without requiring them to be signed by a trusted party and introducing a difficulty parameter to stabilize the rate at which blocks are added to the chain. The design was implemented the following year by Nakamoto as a core component of the cryptocurrency bitcoin , where it serves as the public ledger  for all transactions on the network.

In August 2014, the bitcoin blockchain file size, containing records of all transactions that have occurred on the network, reached 20 GB (gigabytes ). In January 2015, the size had grown to almost 30 GB, and from January 2016 to January 2017, the bitcoin blockchain grew from 50 GB to 100 GB in size. The ledger size had exceeded 200 GB by early 2020.

The words block and chain were used separately in Satoshi Nakamoto's original paper, but were eventually popularized as a single word, blockchain, by 2016.

According to Accenture , an application of the diffusion of innovations  theory suggests that blockchains attained a 13.5% adoption rate within financial services in 2016, therefore reaching the early adopters ' phase. Industry trade groups joined to create the Global Blockchain Forum in 2016, an initiative of the Chamber of digital commerce .

block chain


In May 2018, Gartner  found that only 1% of CIOs indicated any kind of blockchain adoption within their organisations, and only 8% of CIOs were in the short-term "planning or [looking at] active experimentation with blockchain". For the year 2019 Gartner reported 5% of CIOs believed blockchain technology was a 'game-changer' for their business.

A blockchain is a decentralized , distributed , and oftentimes public, digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that are used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. This allows the participants to verify and audit transactions independently and relatively inexpensively. A blockchain database is managed autonomously using a peer-to-peer  network and a distributed timestamping server. They are authenticated  by  mass collaboration  powered by collective self -interests. Such a design facilitates robust  Workflow where participants' uncertainty regarding data security is marginal. The use of a blockchain removes the characteristic of infinite reproducibility  from a digital asset. It confirms that each unit of value was transferred only once, solving the long-standing problem of doubles-spending . A blockchain has been described as a value-exchange protocol. A blockchain can maintain title rights  because, when properly set up to detail the exchange agreement, it provides a record that compels offer and  acceptance .

block chain


Logically, a blockchain can be seen as consisting of several layers:

  • infrastructure (hardware)
  • networking  (node discovery, information propagation and verification)
  • consensus (proof of  work , proof of stake )
  • data (blocks, transactions)
  • application  (smart contracts /decentralized applications , if applicable) 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

what is secret of 369

  The number 3 serves as the only number that equals the sum  of  all preceding numbers (0 + 1 + 2 = 3). Also, when 3 is added to itself, the smallest perfect number ensues (6). And when 3 is squared, the result is the number that completes the single-digit numbers in the decimal system, better known as the number 9 why 369 is universe of key ? Nikola Tesla was obsessed with numbers, but especially 3, 6 and 9. He wanted the world to know the significance of the number 3 6 9, he claimed that these were extremely important numbers, but the question is why? What was that Nikola Tesla wanted the world to understand? How it became Nikola Tesla 3 6 9 theory? To understand that, we must first know about Mathematics. Why it is so different yet the same anywhere in the universe. Maths was and has been the most valued subject of all the time and the most powerful too. Two plus two will always be four everywhere in the universe. Possibly Nikola Tesla knew the power of the numbers 3 ...

Anthropic principle

  The   anthropic principle   is the principle that there is a restrictive lower bound on how statistically probable our observations of the universe are, given that we could only exist in the particular type of universe capable of developing and sustaining sentient life.   Proponents of the anthropic principle argue that it explains why this universe has the  age  and the  fundamental physical constants    necessary to accommodate conscious life, since if either had been different, we would not have been around to make observations. Anthropic reasoning is often used to deal with the notion that the universe seems to be  fine tuned . There are many different formulations of the anthropic principle. Philosopher Nick Bostrom  counts them at thirty, but the underlying principles can be divided into "weak" and "strong" forms, depending on the types of cosmological claims they entail. The  weak anthropic principle  ( ...

Kardashev scale

  The   Kardashev scale   is a method of measuring a  civilization ' s level of technological  advancement based on the amount of energy  it is able to use. The measure was proposed by   Soviet    astronomer   Nikolai    Kardashev    in 1964. The scale is hypothetical , and regards energy consumption on a cosmic  scale. Various extensions of the scale have since been proposed, including a wider range of power levels (types 0, IV through VI) and the use of metrics other than pure power. Categories  The Kardashev scale has three designated categories, these are: A  Type I civilization , also called a planetary civilization , can use and store all of the energy available on its planet.  A  Type II civilization , also called a stellar    civilization , can use and control energy at the scale of its planetary system. A  Type III ...