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Cover image for Web3 For Dummies - Part 01 - What is a Blockchain?
Maxi Contieri
Maxi Contieri

Posted on • Originally published at maximilianocontieri.com

Web3 For Dummies - Part 01 - What is a Blockchain?

TL;DR: In this series, we will talk from the very blockchain basics to building a complex DAPP.

Background

What is FIAT? ๐Ÿ’ฐ

  • The standard currency is called FIAT.
  • FIAT requires a middle man authority (a bank or a government as examples).
  • A cryptocurrency in some technology (like blockchain) relies on automatic rules to comply with the exchange rules.
  • The most widely used digital currencies are cryptocurrencies.
  • We call them crypto because it relies on mathematical cryptographic properties similar to password encryption.
  • We cannot trust other people around without a middle man.
  • We use cryptography to exchange value in the same way we use https to send sensitive data over the internet.

Hashes โž—

  • We have been using math hashes for a long time in computer science.
  • Hash functions take an input and produce a deterministic output.
  • We use hashes on databases, algorithms, and data structures.
  • A good hash function is easy to calculate on the input, but very hard (in computer time) to reverse from the output.
  • Multiplying two integers is a very fast operation.
  • Factoring an integer into its prime factors is a very expensive operation (provided factors are large enough).
  • We can transform any data on blockchain into numbers and encrypt them very fast.
  • If we chain a block content, its hash changes unless they have the same hash.
  • We called this a hash collision and can keep its probability near zero using math.

The Blockchain โ›“๏ธ

What is a blockchain? ๐Ÿ”—

  • Blockchain is about decentralized trust.
  • You exchange value without an intermediate.
  • Trust issues are not solved by a middle man like a market, broker, credit card, or bank.
  • You don't trust or rely on reputation or a certified third party.
  • Standard middlemen are expensive, slow, and human errors prone.
  • Blockchain was first designed to exchange currency.
  • Nowadays it has many other uses such as managing loans, supporting all kinds of contracts, NFTs, Tokens, etc.

Which was the first blockchain? ๐Ÿฅ‡

  • Satoshi Nakamoto (a collective or fake alias) released the First Blockchain proposition.
  • Bitcoin was the first blockchain implementation.
  • Blockchain technology was first designed for digital currency exchange.
  • Blockchain secures transactions in an not-trusted medium (the internet).

Blockchain Properties ๐ŸŒŸ

  • Transparency.
  • Decentralize trust and carry on distributed transactions and electronic commerce.
  • Remove man in the middle, merchant accounts, banks, clearing services.
  • Reduce charges and improve efficiency by removing the middle man.
  • Full auditability and transactions history.
  • No single point of failure.
  • We replicate the database in many places.
  • Most blockchains are public, tough transactions might be encrypted.

Blockchain Implementation ๐Ÿ”ง

How does it work? ๐ŸŽฐ

  • All new data is added, never removed, or replaced.
  • Blockchains are immutable databases on transactions.
  • Most traditional databases (relational, files, hierarchical, spreadsheet) can be overwritten.
  • Blockchain only allows CREATE and READ, No UPDATE or DELETE.
  • It is not a traditional CRUD.

How do we store data? ๐Ÿ’พ

  • To update a change, we need to add a new transaction at the end.
  • This is analogous to account ledgers.
  • Every Block has a group of transactions with (possible) different partners.
  • Blocks are chained like a linked list.
  • Since blockchain is immutable; stored data is available forever.
  • Blocks are replicated in nodes.
  • Nodes are replicated all over the net.
  • If we want to add new data, we need to reach a consensus.
  • All nodes have the same authority and a single vote.
  • We reach a Consensus once one of them gets (50% + 1) votes.
  • A Transaction can be anything as long as we can store it with bytes.
  • To transfer cryptocurrency we will add to the ledger a Transaction for an amount with source a destination addresses.

The chain ๐Ÿ”

  • Genesis Block is block 0
  • Next block stores the previous block's hash as a linked list.
  • The hash guarantees chain is neither broken nor faked

The Nonce ๐Ÿ”‘

  • To make hash computation hard we need to introduce some random data with the transaction.
  • We force the hash value of the transactions + the fake data to have an arbitrary form.
  • We ask the computed hash function to have some leading zeroes.
  • At Bitcoin there are currently 19 zeroes.
  • The random data is called a Nonce.
  • We need a nonce such as, together with the valid transactions, it yields a hash with some leading zeroes.
  • It is very costly to search for this nonce.
  • Bitcoin uses leading zeroes. Other blockchain implementations use similar mechanisms.

Mining ๐Ÿญ

What is mining? ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿญ

  • Mining is the artificial process to find the proper Nonce to add to a group of transactions to achieve a hash with a fixed number of leading zeroes.
  • Mining takes a lot of computational time and energy.
  • Miners use specialized hardware where energy is cheap all over the world.
  • Nowadays, Mining is a threat to the environment.
  • Nodes compete for the price provided it is valuable.
  • The first one who solves the math puzzle gets the reward.
  • After global validation, new Bitcoins (or equivalent) are rewarded to the one who solves the puzzle.
  • Global validation is easy since hash encoding is cheap as opposed to hash decoding (mining).
  • The reward motivates miners to legitimize and monitor Blockchain transactions, ensuring their validity.

Integrity and Trust ๐Ÿ’ฑ

  • Blocks are added after consensus.
  • If 50% +1 agree to fake a chain, they can do it. This is known as the 51 % Attack
  • Proof of work is the most used mechanism and it consists of global hash validation.
  • Proof of Stake requires less computer power than Proof of work. it uses bet voting to select a winner.
  • Currently, there are no efficient ways to carry on Proof of Stake in a decentralized way.
  • There are several other alternatives.

Voilรก.
This is basic Blockchain.
Subscribe to learn advanced topics on these series.

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