Transforming and creating businesses and public systems using Blockchain

Abstract

A blockchain is a public, distributed ledger in digital form of transactions of any asset of value. Blockchain involves a series of blocks that carry data about the transactions and are linked to each other using cryptographic hashes. When a transaction is requested on the blockchain, one of the computers in this network creates a block, by solving a cryptographic puzzle, which is then verified by the other computers, called miners, in the network. After verification, the block is added to a chain of other blocks, representing other transactions, creating a blockchain. This chain of blocks is not restricted to one database or a small set of databases but is copied across all computers in the network. In other words, all computers in the network maintain a copy of the transactions that take place and there is no centralized node that stores the blockchain. Moreover, once a block is verified and added to the blockchain, it cannot be tampered with. Since blocks are linked to previous blocks using hashes, altering a single block invalidates the blockchain as the data that is stored in the other blocks no longer tallies with that of the altered block.