Blockchain is an encrypted database similar to a general ledger that’s promoted as being transparent, tamperproof, and secure and also has sets of consensus rules.
If a transaction violates those rules, the transaction is rejected; once a transaction is completed, it can’t be modified.
In more detail, blockchain technology is a distributed database where the data is stored on nodes or digital ledgers. These nodes are basically computers connected to the blockchain, which create a peer-to-peer network. When a new transaction or information is added to the blockchain, each node simultaneously downloads the information and then validates and verifies it before it’s added to the shared ledger. The benefit is data that’s continuously reconciled and verified.
Once a new block is added to the blockchain structure, the previous block is locked and can’t be altered or changed. Because the data is held in an interlinked network of computers, the information is owned by the users—although only the intended recipient can view and process the data.