What is Blockchain, and how does it work?
Tags: blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, techarticle
Published: 2022-01-11 06:47:57

---
title: What is Blockchain, and how does it work?
published: true
date: 2021-12-15 00:00:00 UTC
tags: blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, techarticle
canonical_url: https://shiva.hashnode.dev/what-is-blockchain-and-how-does-it-work
---

Dummy/Noob guide for everyone

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After all, what is Blockchain?. Recently, Bitcoin has been in the headlines for a long time. There has been a lot of hope among people about bitcoin because the price of bitcoin is increasing day by day.

But do you want to know what is the technology behind Bitcoin? If yes, then you will like this post. Because Bitcoin is related to Blockchain, so you have to know about Blockchain, how it works.

## **Now the question arises that do you know what is Blockchain Technology? Why is it important to know about it?**

Blockchain technology is about to transform our IT industry the way open-source software did a decade ago. And just as Linux has been the core of modern application development for almost a decade, Blockchain is also going to be a great way to share information in the coming times, and which will be low cost and very easy to implement. Can be done between open and private networks.

But a lot of hype was generated about Blockchain technology because they felt it can completely change our future technology. This thing is also true to a large extent, but speaking like this will not make sense, rather we have to understand Blockchain technology completely, think about its different aspects, somewhere else we can think of it to be better than any other technology.

The pace of adoption of Blockchain is indeed very slow, but technology experts believe that this speed is going to accumulate in the coming time, which is good news for us. In the future, this technology is going to change the entire world.

That&#39;s why today I thought that why not provide complete information about this new Blockchain technology to you people so that you will understand it easily. Then, without delay, let&#39;s start and understand what is Blockchain.

## **What is blockchain technology?**

Blockchain is a digital ledger. But do you know what a ledger is? Ledger is a book that maintains such accounts, where debits and credits transactions are posted from the book where the original entry is. Or just say that the entries from the original book are updated in this ledger.

We can say that a blockchain is a digitized, decentralized public ledger.

## **Understand Blockchain Technology in simple words by this example**

Let&#39;s say you have a file of transactions (a &quot;node&quot;) on your computer (a &quot;ledger&quot;). Two government accountants (which we call &quot;miners&quot;) also have the same file in their system (hence they are &quot;distributed&quot;). As soon as you make a transaction, your computer e-mails both of those accountants to inform them.

Every accountant wants to first check whether or not you can afford it (and in return, they can get their salary, which is &quot;Bitcoins&quot;).

Whichever of these two checks first and finally validates it and presses &quot; REPLY ALL&quot;, while with this he also attaches his logic to verify that transaction, and it is called &quot; Proof of Work&quot;.

If in the meantime, if that second accountant also agrees, then everyone updates their files of transactions….. This whole process or concept is called &quot;Blockchain&quot; technology.

Therefore, blockchain is such an incorruptible digital ledger of transactions that is programmed to record virtually everything. All the list of records that are in the blockchain is called &quot;block&quot;. Therefore, this blockchain is always a continuously growing list of records that are linked and secured.

## **Who Invented Blockchain Technology?**

Blockchain technology was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 so that he can do it in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, according to his public transaction ledger. The main aim of Satoshi Nakamoto behind doing all this was that he wanted to create a decentralized Bitcoin ledger—the blockchain—that gives people the ability to control their money so that no third party, or anyone The government, too, could not access or monitor this money.

Satoshi, the creator of Bitcoin, vanished in the year 2011, leaving behind this open-source software that Bitcoin users can use and update and improve.

Many believe that this is not a person named Satoshi Nakamoto, it is just a fictional character. By the way, the correct information is not available from anyone about its veracity.

The invention of the blockchain for bitcoin is the first digital currency that can solve the double-spending problem without the help of any trusted central authority or central server. That&#39;s why this Blockchain Technology has also been the inspiration for many other applications.

## **Why should we know about Blockchain?**

There are three main reasons we should know about Blockchain:

1. There is no need for Blockchain technology to existing publicly. It can also exist privately – where the nodes will simply point into a single private network and the Blockchain will act as a distributed ledger.
Financial institutions are under a lot of pressure as they have to show regulatory compliance, and hence many institutions are doing Blockchain implementations. Secure solutions, such as Blockchain can become a huge and important building block to reduce compliance costs.

2. Blockchain technology has more reach than finance. It can be applied in any multistep transaction where traceability and visibility are required. The supply chain is a notable case where Blockchain can manage leverage and to audit sign contracts and product provenance.
Along with this, it can also be used in voting platforms for titles and deed management. As the digital and physical worlds are converging, the practical applications of Blockchain are also increasing slowly.

3. The exponential and disruptive growth of Blockchain can only come when public and private Blockchains converge together in an ecosystem where firms, customers, and suppliers can collaborate in a secure, auditable, and virtual way.

## **How Secure is Blockchain?**

In this way, nothing on the internet is secure. If we talk about Blockchain technology, then it is &quot;unhackable&quot; to a great extent compared to the rest of the technology. To do any transaction in Blockchain, all the nodes of the entire network will have to agree, only then that transaction will be valid. Here, no single entity can say whether or not the transaction has taken place.

To hack it, you will not have to hack only one system like a bank, but all the systems in the entire network will have to be hacked, so hacking is not such a simple thing in this technology.

The computing resources of almost all blockchains are tremendous because there is not a single computer here, but there are many computers connected to the network.

> The email was for the Internet like Bitcoin was for Blockchain

In the 1990s, when internet technology (TCP/IP or HTTP) was in its native stages, email was a very large and first major application then. But later new applications like web browsers came. Websites then became very popular.

People then used a lot of chats software such as Skype. If we consider now, then you can see many applications running on your mobile, which use the Internet.

Similarly, when blockchain technology came a new time, bitcoin was also the first major application like email which used this technology. Other cryptocurrencies followed this trend later. Now blockchain technology is used in many applications, such as security, online voting.

## **Internet Technology vs Blockchain Technology**

If we talk about both technologies, then the Internet allows computers to exchange information; Whereas Blockchain allows computers to record information.

Both use many computers (nodes).

Let&#39;s know something new about the Internet and Blockchain.

The first generation of the Digital Revolution brought us the Internet of Information. Whereas the second generation — which is powered by blockchain technology — presented us with the Internet of Value: a new platform that will reshape the world of business and make the old order of human affairs even better.

Blockchain is such a vast, global distributed ledger and database which is running continuously on millions of devices and it is open to anyone, here not only information but anything which has some value like money, titles, deeds, identities, even votes — these can be moved, stored and managed securely and privately.

Here mass collaboration is needed to establish trust and some clever code to implement it, whereas, in the old ways, powerful intermediaries such as governments and banks are needed.

That&#39;s why we can say that Blockchain technology is made by us, works for us and we control it, which makes it very secure.

## **The Technology Behind Blockchain Technology**

The key technology behind Blockchain is mainly the three technologies given below.

1. Private Key Cryptography

2. P2P Network (Peer-2-Peer)

3. Program (the blockchain&#39;s protocol)

## **Why do we require blockchain technology?**

Blockchain is such a mechanism that helps all of us to reach our highest degree of accountability. Now there will be no more missed transactions, human and machine errors will be reduced, no third party or government consent is necessary behind all these transactions, but only trust or secure validation of all connected nodes matters.

The most critical area where Blockchain helps us and it guarantees the validity of a transaction by recording them is not being done in just one main register but the registers of all the distributed systems connected in the network, in all these registers. Transaction will be called valid only after there is secure validation.

## **Real-life Applications of Blockchain Technology**

Now you must have understood the basic concept of this technology, so let us now know where they are used in real-life applications.

**1. Follow My Vote:** It wants to change the way we vote and become the first open-source online voting solution in the world.

**2. Arcade City:-** This is a true decentralized ride-sharing service which is also known as the &#39;Uber killer&#39;.

**3. ShoCard: –** It stores your identity in Bitcoin&#39;s blockchain so that you can be easily verified.

**4. Symbiont: –** It provides better smart securities in Blockchain.

**5. Bitnation:** This is a &quot; Governance 2.0&quot; an initiative that seeks to establish do-it-yourself governance by working with a collaborative platform.

**6. ChainLink:** It uses blockchain technology to verify and validate the authenticity and title of real-world items.

## **What are Public and Private Blockchains and what is the difference between them**

Although there are many varieties of Blockchain, all of them mainly fall into two categories – public or private. Public blockchains allow anyone to view and send transactions as long as they are part of this consensus process.

These are also consortium blockchains, where only certain pre-selected numbers of nodes are authorized to use the ledger. For example, a group of banks and their clearinghouses use blockchain as a part of trade clearing, where each node is associated with some step in the verification process.

In private blockchains, in contrast, a distributed ledger puts restrictions in writing to any group of employees who work in that organization. Along with this, there are other restrictions on it.

In addition, the blockchain – due to its self-policing security – eliminates a large amount of existing record-keeping, which becomes very confusing later when multiple parties are involved in the same transaction.

## **Blockchain Technology – Its Opportunities and Advantages**

This blockchain helps our smart devices to communicate with each other so that they can communicate better. Blockchain solves the problem of manipulation. This brings everything to the level of their highest accountability. Makes online identity and reputation decentralized. So that we can own our data ourselves.

Cryptocurrencies distribute the ability to control the value of currencies from the hands of the government to the public so that now no one will have a hand over the value of currencies.

In an informal economy, the blockchain protects us from the middleman so that the asset can be exchanged easily and freely.

With the help of Blockchain technology, many issues related to freedom, jurisdiction, censorship, and regulation can be addressed correctly and smoothly.

With blockchain-based systems, there is no need to keep any more intermediaries, but records and transfer of assets can be taken care of easily. Due to which the transaction speed increases.

Data once entered the blockchain becomes immutable, which can no longer be changed in any way, which reduces the chances of fraud to a great extent. Apart from this, the transactions are very clear which can be easily investigated and audited later.

## **Blockchain Technology – Its Criticisms and Challenges**

Although Blockchain technology has many advantages, still it also has some drawbacks, which let us know.

**Requires a lot of power:** The operation of these blockchains requires a lot of computing power, due to which the need for electricity is very high. If we look at the situation of today&#39;s climate change, then it is not so easy in favor of any developing country because they have their own needs too. That&#39;s why it is true only for developed nations.

**Security of private key:** This private key should always be kept secret because if third parties come to know about them, then it is such a thing that you have given control of all your bitcoin in their hands. Apart from this, the private key should be backed up and protected from accidental loss, because if it is lost once then no one else can recover these funds and they will be lost forever.

**Transaction speed:** Transaction speed can also become a problem. Because we know that verifying the blocks in the chain is very important for the security of the distributed network and it takes a lot of time to do so.

**My opinion about Blockchain**

Blockchain can become a very significant part of our financial and technological digital future. This &#39; blockchain&#39; technology, which lies behind bitcoin, has proved so far how big this technology is, and it has the potential to create a new world of technology.

This is a big thing like the internet. This is such a wave of innovation that can keep common people like us away from these financial complexities., With this, it can free us to exchange goods and services with anyone in the entire world so that we will not have to go through these other corporate intermediaries.

It can radically decentralize our entire society and save us from banks, governments, even companies, and politicians. This can bring a huge digital revolution. We just need to understand it and understand it and explain it to others.

## **Future of Blockchain**

By now you must have understood that what is the usefulness of Blockchain and how it can be used in all our work. Our thinking about this information has been changed, how and where information can be stored, who can access this information and what can we do with this information.

Which is the main reason some organizations are against it because how blockchain organizes information and maintains our records-keeping infrastructure goes to the heart of these things.

It is clear from this that people will not accept Blockchain technology so easily and it is not going to come overnight because it challenges traditional technology at every step.

We had seen a similar case in TCP / IP, which was initially criticized a lot but later it took about 30 years to implement it, but finally, everyone understood its importance. In the same way, the world is still taking time to understand Blockchain, but in a few years, it will be adopted.

## The End!

I hope you found this article valuable. If yes, let me know in the comments 😊

Also, if you got questions ping me anywhere.