Before I start telling you about all the wonderful and mundane things revolving around blockchain technology, let's first revisit some terms.
To do so, I'm going to use a couple of statements and provide a short explanation of the terms used in these statements.
As seen in a previous article, technically speaking, the blockchain is the data structure of the ledger. And the use of the term blockchain is highly contextual. However, when we talk about this or that blockchain we are most probably referring to the main network.
In the case of bitcoin, the sentence becomes:
Bitcoin is a network designed and designated by the Bitcoin protocol and powered by bitcoin, the network's native token, the famous cryptocurrency.
Maybe the most recurring confusion (maybe not anymore?) is the relationship between bitcoin (lower case), the cryptocurrency (token); and Bitcoin (upper case), the blockchain underlying it (the network running the protocol).
To clarify how these terms relate to each other, I like using the analogy with an engine, something we are all familiar with.
A token, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary - is a round piece of metal or plastic that is used instead of money in some machines, for example, to get food or drink out of a vending machine, use a car park, etc.
A token in blockchain technology is a digital asset created and used on the network according to its design purposes. It could be fungible or nonfungible. And in all cases it has a utility, either to the network or to its holder.
*To better understand why bitcoin is the fuel of the network, you can refer to my post about how Bitcoin works.
A network, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary - is a large system consisting of many similar parts that are connected to allow communication between the parts, or between the parts and a control center.
We see from the definition that a network could be centralized or decentralized. In the case of blockchain technology, the network is structured in a decentralized manner into a peer-to-peer network.
A protocol, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary - is a set of technical rules that control the exchange of information between different computers or computer networks.
This means that the protocol is publicly accessible. Anyone can look at it, audit it, copy it, modify it and use it for other purposes.
Copying and using a blockchain protocol creates what we call a fork.
If someone starts running their own copy of the protocol, modified or not modified, it's like they created a new engine and started running it. They create a new network, fueled by a new version of the cryptocurrency. If enough people join in running the same protocol, the new network grows in size and the cryptocurrency eventually gains value.
As a funny example, and I'm far from promoting it, Dogecoin - the blockchain and its cryptocurrency - were created from a copy of litecoin protocol, which is itself a modified copy of bitcoin protocol. The founder launched it in 2013 as a joke and named it after his dog. At that time, many altcoins - alternative coins (alternatives to bitcoin) - were created by forking the bitcoin protocol, following the 2013 bitcoin price surge. Today, it's ranked 32nd among more than 2000 cryptocurrencies by its market cap, exceeding 200 million dollars in capitalization...
You can refer back to this article where I cover main aspects of blockchain design.
