What is Blockchain Technology?

You may have heard the term “blockchain” before, in reference to Bitcoin and Ethereum, two of the major implementations of the technology.

In this context the words “block” and “chain” are actually talking about digital information (block) stored in a public database (chain). At its most basic a blockchain, is a growing list of records, which are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data.

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamato conceptualized the distributed blockchain. It utilized a peer-to-peer network to timestamp and verify each exchange, and could be managed autonomously without a central authority. This became the foundation of the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin. Thereafter the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency popularity grew with the success of Bitcoin.