What is the Blockchain?
The blockchain’s name originates from the process of cryptocurrency transactions, in which a block refers to an incorruptible record of transactions that have just been initiated. Once each block of transactions has been completed, it is added to a chain of other similar blocks in a chain, where all transactions can be viewed by anyone. This transparency does not show the names of who is sending cryptocurrency to who, but rather the encrypted address and the specific value of each specific transaction.
A simple to understand metaphor below, from William Mougayar, author of The Business Blockchain will give a better, comprehensible insight within the blockchain universe.
"Before Google Docs, if you wanted to collaborate on a piece of writing with someone online you had to create a Microsoft Word document, send it to them, and then ask them to edit it. Then you had to wait until they made those changes, saved the document, and sent it back to you. Google Docs fixed that by making it possible for multiple people to view and edit a document at the same time. However, most databases today still work like Microsoft Word: only one person can make changes at a time, locking everyone else out until their done. Blockchain fixes that by instantly updating any changes for everyone to see."
Image courtesy of BlockGeeks
The Origins of Bitcoin
2008 is the first record of Bitcoin appearing throughout the internet when Bitcoin.org was registered as a new domain. The next step to popularity was on a cryptography mailing list, where users were anonymously sent a paper about a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, written by an author named Satoshi Nakamoto. Following this, in early 2009, as popularity slowly grew, the Bitcoin source code began running through a software program which would mine and create the actual Bitcoin, and record the transactions on its blockchain.
Game developer Hal Finney was then approached by Nakamoto to assist in the advancement of this technology, but allegedly never found out who the real Satoshi was, up to the point of his death in 2014. From 2009 to 2011, Bitcoin was slowly gaining popularity as it became the primary currency for the underground online marketplace, SilkRoad. Bitcoin has been on a strong uptick ever since and still remains the primary cryptocurrency in the crypto-marketplace.
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