Glossary · B
Blockchain
A distributed ledger of transactions stored in chronological blocks, each cryptographically linked to the previous one. Copies of the blockchain are held by thousands of nodes worldwide. Completed transactions cannot be altered, making the ledger tamper-resistant.
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How Blockchain works in practice
A blockchain is an append-only ledger replicated across many independent machines, where each block commits to the one before it. That structure is what makes history expensive to rewrite without any central authority.
Worked example
Every participant holds the same ledger. Changing a past transaction would require redoing that block and every block after it, faster than the rest of the network extends the honest chain.
Figures are illustrative and chosen to be checkable, not live market data.
The mistake that costs people money
Immutability is a property of well-decentralised chains, not of the word 'blockchain'. A chain with few validators or concentrated stake offers correspondingly weaker guarantees.
Blockchain: common questions
- What is Blockchain?
- A distributed ledger of transactions stored in chronological blocks, each cryptographically linked to the previous one. Copies of the blockchain are held by thousands of nodes worldwide. Completed transactions cannot be altered, making the ledger tamper-resistant.
- How does Blockchain work in practice?
- A blockchain is an append-only ledger replicated across many independent machines, where each block commits to the one before it. That structure is what makes history expensive to rewrite without any central authority.
- Can you give an example of Blockchain?
- Every participant holds the same ledger. Changing a past transaction would require redoing that block and every block after it, faster than the rest of the network extends the honest chain.
- What do people get wrong about Blockchain?
- Immutability is a property of well-decentralised chains, not of the word 'blockchain'. A chain with few validators or concentrated stake offers correspondingly weaker guarantees.