What is Blockchain Technology?
In its simplest form, the blockchain is the technology that allows people to send and receive cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. However, it is far more than just a payments system. When Satoshi Nakamoto created the world’s first ever cryptocurrency (Bitcoin), he also created an amazing protocol known as the blockchain.
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The most interesting part to the blockchain is that no single person or authority has control over it. Instead, transactions are verified and confirmed by the online community, which makes it decentralized! The protocol has lots and lots of benefits such as transparency, speed and security, which I will explain in more detail later on.
The actual idea of blockchain technology is not only linked to financial transactions, as it has the potential to be applied to just about any industry!
As the blockchain is decentralized, everybody has access to the same data (unless it is a private blockchain used by companies). That means that as soon as a transaction is processed and confirmed, it appears on the blockchain for all to see.
This is very similar to a real-world accounting ledger, where the company accountant can view every transaction that has ever occurred, along with account balances. However, as blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are public, anyone can view the transactional data.
There is so much to talk about when trying to understand the correct blockchain definition, so I thought it would be best to break everything down. The next part of my “What is Blockchain” guide is going to talk about why it is called blockchain!
Blockchain Definition: Why is it Called Blockchain?
Although there are now many different versions of the blockchain definition, they all work in very similar ways. The easiest way to explain what it does is to split the word blockchain into two – block and chain!
Think about a real-world container that carries lots of boxes from destination A to destination B. In the world of cryptocurrency, the container is the “block” and each box that is on the container is an individual transaction.
“Container” = Block
“Boxes” = Transactions
“The container carries lots of boxes” = The Block Carries Lots of Transactions
I know this might sound complex, but stay with me as it is all about to make sense! So, in the example of the blockchain Bitcoin uses, it takes a total of 10 minutes for one block of transactions to be confirmed on the network.
Like in a real-world container, there is only a certain amount of transactions that the block can carry, which is determined by the maximum block size. Every blockchain has its own maximum block size, which is normally the amount of data (megabytes) it can hold.
Bitcoin is able to hold the 1MB worth of data in each block, while others, such as Bitcoin Cash, have a block size limit of 8MB.
The larger the block size limit, the more transactions it can hold. So now you know what a block is, what about the chain?
To make things really easy for you, I am going to stick with the example of a container carrying boxes! Let’s imagine that the container has reached its first destination. That means the block has been confirmed and it is now available on the public ledger for all to see.
However, the container is ready to depart for its next destination. Every new or old box (transactions) that the container (block) carries will also be available to view on the public blockchain. This is the same for every single transaction. As soon as it is confirmed, the transaction data is clear for everybody to see, which is why it is called a “chain” of transactions!