Blockchain Explained
Blockchain in 5 minutes
Blockchain. One of the buzzwords of the last year. People becoming millionaires with Bitcoin (₿) and other cryptocurrencies. But what really is a blockchain and what does it allow us to do despite what looks like pure speculation? Read on to find out what this world-changing technology is all about.
We will see the characteristics that make Blockchain a unique technology with real-life analogies, and then explore when using a Blockchain system is worthwhile.
We will start from the most basic building block of a Blockchain (😁) and build on from that to get the whole view of what it is from first principles.
Lets start with the first element that makes a blockchain: A database.
1) A Database
The first main concept behind a blockchain is that it is nothing more than a database.
Think of a database like an excel sheet that registers records. These records could be transactions like in the case of bitcoin (Bob sends 4 Bitcoins to Alice) or other kinds of information, like identities, or flow of goods in a supply chain. Lets take the example of transactions.
Our database would be a huge excel with lots of transactions that register the sender, the receiver, and the amount passed, like in…
