Bitcoin has been a huge craze that swept over the world. Its price went up out of nowhere and plummeted the next month like a roller coaster. Several governments defined it as speculation and banned trading of crypto-currency, such as Bitcoin, in their territory.
There were many legendary stories where people earned a fortune via crypto-currency, and therefore people more focus on crypto-currency, rather than on the technology behind it. However, I believe that the new tech, blockchain, is the real meat. Many governments and global enterprises already see the potential of blockchain and they are looking for ways to apply it to various industries, from food to finance.
So. What is blockchain?
I'm not going to explain this concept like a real professional in this post. I myself am a newbie in this field, which means I am going to use easy, simple, and un-professional words. It is highly likely that I am embarrassing my future self with this post. But the most effective way to learn for me is to write about it. Whether you choose to read this monologue is totally up to you. So here we go.
Let's break down the term first: block and chain.
#1 Block
Simply speaking a block is a piece of information. Blocks basically have three pieces of information, at least.
- Information that you want to save forever. It could be transactions, medical histories, or whatever.
- Hash. A hash is the name of the block.
- Hash of the previous block. In other words, the name of the previous block.
#2 Chain
As you can see in the picture above, a block has a hash and the hash of the previous block. Therefore hashes make the blocks connect to one another and tie up the blocks. In a nut shell, hashes are the chain.
Real blockchains look way more complicated than the one above, of course. The hashes will look different and complex, and so will information. I just over-simplified it to understand. However, this is the basic principle of blockchain.
If you and I understood this, I believe we understood half of the concept as an old Korean saying goes, "if you started to work, you already finished the half of the work."
We've done a lot today! (Half of the work, right?) I will get back to you when I understand the last half of the concept.
Bye.