Introduction to Blockchain
Fleeting- External reference: https://opentezos.com/blockchain-basics/main-properties
- External reference: https://opentezos.com/blockchain-basics/
introduction to blockchain
yellow paper is a document containing research that has not yet been formally accepted or published in an academic journal. It usually contains unannotated statements with sufficient details to implement an idea
white paper is an authoritative report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body’s philosophy on the matter.
blockchain is a particular type of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), a consensus on replicated, shared, and synchronized digital information, geographically spread across multiple sites
important not to confuse a cryptocurrency (first made to exchange value) with its supporting component: a blockchain
originally, the word “blockchain” did not designate a technology, but the name of the data-structure used to store the data
exact word “blockchain” doesn’t even appear in the Bitcoin whitepaper but it now reflects the technology used to arrange and chain data to ensure immutability and cryptographic verifiability
In IT, a consensus algorithm is a computer program allowing users to reach common agreements on the states of data in a distributed network. For example, consensus algorithms are used in Distributed Calculation, Distributed Database, etc
Halving. Every 210,000 blocks (~4 years), the block reward is simply cut in half
Halving has a strong economic impact.
event leads to a phase of increasing price, namely “Bull Market”[
The numbers chosen by Satoshi Nakamoto for the total supply and the Halving are inspired by gold mining. The more you dig to find gold, the less there is, and the harder it is to dig. That’s precisely why the blocks validators are called the “Miners”.
The Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) property reinforces this BFT solution
more profitable to earn bitcoins by participating in the protocol than to attack it. If you want to attack it, you’d have to invest an unreasonable amount of resources. Even in the improbable case that your attack is successful, you’d still lose money on your investment…
The probabilistic solution to the Byzantine General Problem and the MAD property assure the robustness of the network
protocol evolves and adapts with the Halving and the Difficulty to mimic gold mining and assure deflation