Blockchain is a main technology of cryptocurrences. So we need to tell a 5 important facts about it.
1. What is a blockchain?
Blockchain is a «chain of blocks.» A blockchain can be called a principle of storing information, the constituent parts of which are inextricably linked into one single ever-growing chain. Anyone can receive access to this chain.
2. The Blockchain working principle
The meaning of blockchain is information storage. Anything can be stored in it: electronic library, commodity accounting book, online diary and information about monetary transactions with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Any transaction undergoes a so-called validation (or validity check) to be added to the block. That is, a confirmation of its reliability is received from several participants in the chain. Once the operation is validated, it is permanently stored in the blockchain and is publicly available.
3. Blockchain and databases: key differences
The first and the most important difference between a blockchain and a classical database is the organization of the information security process, which is stored inside the blocks of the chain. While any ordinary database has a physical device (server, computer hard disk, etc.) and a person managing it (natural person – system administrator, or legal entity– organization or group of companies), the blockchain does not have a central control body and remains reliably protected even when one or more blocks are hacked, relying on its distributed structure.
4. Storage of the blockchain
The blockchain is stored by all involved members of the network. For example, you can keep the full version of a particular blockchain, then your device will be one of the hundreds or thousands of places where the data of a particular chain is located. Or you can go online to special network nodes, where information is stored, to check the blocks you are interested in.
5. Why does blockchain technology have high potential?
Every year we see how technology progresses. Today, process automation has finally supplanted many professions from the list of existing professions. It is profitable for people to use modern developments instead of having more workers. Each of us is eager to buy or sell goods and services, bypassing all sorts of intermediaries. Blockchain technology is able to meet these demands. Here are a few areas in which blockchain has already been used: identification, logistics, copyright, management and law, voting, charity and of course cryptocurrency market.
