The public nature and shared distribution of the blockchain ensures its integrity.
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2025 8:42 am
Transactions are combined into blocks of information, once a block has reached a predetermined size, it is added to the end of a chain of previously created blocks – hence the name blockchain.
The blockchain database is not stored on one central computer or server on the network, it is distributed across many different computers called nodes. Each node keeps a copy of the blockchain database, then when a new block is created it is added to the end and the updated blockchain is distributed across the network.
If one instance of the data gets corrupted or someone attempts to alter it, the data can be tested against known good versions. This is done by hashing.
Hashing is a cryptographic method where data is passed through an algorithm and converted to a string of binary digits (represented by zeros and ones) of a fixed length, this string is called a hash. The conversion masks the original data. Hashing is used to protect your password when it is sent through the internet to log in to a website, it is also mobile database used to prevent your credit card number being exposed when you buy something online.
One major benefit of hashing is that any change in the input data would result in a different output hash, so it is easy to identify whether the data has been corrupted or altered. A part of each block in the blockchain contains the hash of the previous block.
In a sense, a blockchain is the perfect database – it is secure, incorruptible and can handle an unlimited amount of data. Although Bitcoin was the first, each successive cryptocurrency uses its own implementation of blockchain technology to record and secure transactions.
However, blockchain technology is used for more than cryptocurrency: computer scientists are exploring new ways to use blockchain technology which we will discuss in a later chapter.
The blockchain database is not stored on one central computer or server on the network, it is distributed across many different computers called nodes. Each node keeps a copy of the blockchain database, then when a new block is created it is added to the end and the updated blockchain is distributed across the network.
If one instance of the data gets corrupted or someone attempts to alter it, the data can be tested against known good versions. This is done by hashing.
Hashing is a cryptographic method where data is passed through an algorithm and converted to a string of binary digits (represented by zeros and ones) of a fixed length, this string is called a hash. The conversion masks the original data. Hashing is used to protect your password when it is sent through the internet to log in to a website, it is also mobile database used to prevent your credit card number being exposed when you buy something online.
One major benefit of hashing is that any change in the input data would result in a different output hash, so it is easy to identify whether the data has been corrupted or altered. A part of each block in the blockchain contains the hash of the previous block.
In a sense, a blockchain is the perfect database – it is secure, incorruptible and can handle an unlimited amount of data. Although Bitcoin was the first, each successive cryptocurrency uses its own implementation of blockchain technology to record and secure transactions.
However, blockchain technology is used for more than cryptocurrency: computer scientists are exploring new ways to use blockchain technology which we will discuss in a later chapter.