If you are a bitcoin user, then it’s crucial for you to know what is a blockchain and what can it be used for, as this has a major importance for any cryptocurrency user. A blockchain is basically a public ledger that contains all the Bitcoin transactions that have been made. This isn’t available only for bitcoins, instead every cryptocurrency has its own blockchain, and thanks to it you can easily figure out how much information has been processed by each address. You can think about the blockchain as being a report with all your transactions.
Included in each of the blocks you will be able to find a hash of the previous one, and this basically creates a neat effect in the form of a chain that continually replicates the genesis block, while also adding new information as well. The interesting thing about a blockchain comes from the fact that new information is added continually in the form of completed blocks. All of these are added in a linear and chronological order, which is very interesting to say the least!
After each node receives a blockchain copy, this copy will automatically be downloaded when you join the Bitcoin network. Thanks to a blockchain you don’t have to worry about things such as addresses as well as balances, which makes it a great ledger and a very useful one as well.
Since the Bitcoin transaction is built upon the idea of anonymity, with the help of a blockchain you are able to keep track or record of all your transactions within the network, which is a necessary thing to do in this regard. The blockchain doesn’t track only a certain period of time, instead it provides an all-time database of transactions that can be accessed at all times.
Whenever a block is completed, a new one will be generated, with an infinite number of blocks being supported! It’s very interesting to see that despite its massive scope of using sometimes even millions of blocks, a blockchain is still a unique representation of your banking history when you use bitcoins. Including a hash of the previous block is very interesting, and the perfect linearity is impressive to say the least!
A blockchain is shared by all the nodes that are currently included within the system. Within the blockchain you can get a complete insight in regards to any particular address that has been used in the past. However, the always increasing size of blockchains is a major problem from a syncing and storage standpoint. In fact, it’s known that each 5 new minutes a new block is created with the help of mining!
The blockchain major role in regards to keeping a cryptocurrency under control. Being able to keep track of the transaction history can be a bit of a hassle, yet with the help of a blockchain everything is much easier and faster as well.