Getting started with Blockchain Technology – Bitcoin and more

Think of it as a large worldwide computer where everyone can securely access data and execute transaction code. All transactions are stored in blocks of data. These blocks are made in a way that’s really hard to manipulate or fail once they are store in a blockchain.

Origin

You must be aware of the very popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the first broadly used cryptocurrency you can call it a digital currency. Technically it does not hold any value as it’s not something you can withdraw and hold in your hand. All transactions are transparent and can be fully anonymous the underline technology in bitcoin is Blockchain.

History

1. Stuard Harber and Scott Stornetta in 1991 cryptographically secured chains of the block.
2. The first recognized work on Decentralized digital currency was done in 1998 by Nick Szabo.
3. It took almost 10 years to develop the mature Blockchain concept published by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, Satoshi is most considered as the founder of bitcoin in 2009. But as a fun part, no one really knows who is Satoshi Nakamoto. It is highly likely that Satoshi is not a real person and could be a pseudonym used by someone else.
4. In 2014, Bitcoin becomes a mainstream term used by financial institutes and media but due to the anonymous nature of bitcoin, there were lots of critics too.
5. As the race continues as of now in 2021 Blockchain has gained a lot of popularity and there are lots of startups now working on building their own cryptocurrency.

Characteristics of blockchain

Global Singleton: If you are a developer and you know how Singleton works you can think of the blockchain as global singleton instances.

Unstoppable: There is no one who can control the blockchain.

Accessible: By its nature is accessible, wherever there is an internet you can access the blockchain.

Verifiable: Everyone who has access to the blockchain can verify the transactions from the beginning of time.

In the next article we will cover how transactions works. Stay tuned.