Who hasn’t heard of the word ‘Bitcoin’ and how it has made middle class people to millionaires and made millionaires to billionaires? Bitcoin is on the rise however that is not the only kind of cryptocurrency which exists. What gives Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies life is the blockchain technology which is a very crucial element for every cryptocurrency.
While many people may be aware of what Bitcoin is, they do not really know what blockchain technology is, unless you are a trader in the cryptocurrency market. To understand what blockchain technology is, you must first know the history of how it originated.
History of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology first came about as a simple concept in computer science in the field of cryptography and data structures. The first form of blockchain which was released in 1979 by Ralph Merkle was known as the Merkle tree. The whole essence of the Merkle tree technology was to make sure that the data being transferred from computer to computer in a peer-to-peer system was validated and verified. That way, no corrupt or wrong data was sent or altered in the process of being sent. It basically acted as a sift, making sure no false data was being transferred and only the validated and correct data was transferred.
The Merkle tree was then used to create a block of chains , all of them connected to each other. The most updated data record in the chain was supposed to be filled with the history of the entire chain. Which is how blockchain technology came into being in 1991.
The blockchain was conceptualised in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto which would contain histories of entire chains and data records, would verify and validate data, would encourage the usage of a peer-to-peer network.
The Features of Blockchain Technology
- Blockchain technology secures and saves every data exchange that happens. It is added to the chain on a record, also known as a ledger. Every data exchange is known as a transaction and is added to the ledger once it is verified, also known as a block.
- A peer-to-peer network is utilised.
- Transactions added to the blockchain cannot be changed in any way.
When you join the cryptograph world, you get a key to begin with. It is supposed to be a Private as well as a Public key which gives you a unique identity and signature. People identify you with your public key, with your private key you are able to carry out different actions and transactions. Your public key also represents your wallet address and, as already said, the private key authorizes transfers, transactions, withdrawals etc. Which is why it is so important to keep the private key safe as it is connected to your public key. With your public key, no one knows of your real identity as all of it is hidden. You can make as many key pairs and cryptocurrency wallets as you want. For more information on blockchains, check out https://cryptoblog.tech/ .