BlockShots: Blockchain Simplified

Traditionally blockchains execute transactions sequentially. Some of the newer chains have been trying parallel execution of transactions to improve blockchain performance. In this episode we understand what are parallel transactions and how they work.

In this episode we understand what are real world assets and why they are being tokenised. What are real world assets? Any thing of value that has been generated or created in the real world before being represented digitally. For example: Fiat currencies, Art, Commodities, etc. Benefits of tokenisation: Enhanced liquidity, easier trade, easier record keeping and tracking of ownership. This is a p...

After a brief break, we are back with new episodes. Ethereum recently upgraded to a new update called Dencun. In this episode we understand what this update is and how it is important. 9 different updates clubbed together. Biggest and most important — introduction of blobs. Protodanksharding. Reduce transaction fee on rollups by providing cheaper data availability. EIP 4844. No fee reduction on Et...

Restaking is staking of already staked tokens. But how is the possible? If tokens are staked for one purpose — providing econoimic security for consensus of a network — they could be further staked to provide security to other networks or apps. The process of restaking works by overriding the withdrawal and slashing conditions of user’s staked tokens. Listeners are encouraged to also check out the...

Modular blockchains has been one of the buzz words in the last year. In this episode, let’s understand modularity in blockchains. In the beginning, consensus and execution were part of the same blockchain like Ethereum 1.0. Then execution was decoupled and put into rollups. Then came the need for storing rollup data in the L1. And then we got DA layers as separate networks. Now we have consensus o...

In this episode, we understand what are altcoins? Altcoin was first used for any coin other than bitcoin. But the definition has evolved a bit among different circles in the crypto land. Listen to the full episode to explore the topic in detail. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.blockshots.net

In this episode, we understand what are orphan or uncle blocks. This is more of a Proof of Work related concept where two blocks are produced at the same time. One of them becomes part of the chain - based on the longest chain consensus rule - while the other becomes and orphan (Bitcoin) or uncle (Ethereum 1.0) block. Listen to the full episode to understand what eventually happens to these blocks...

In this episode, we understand the two ways of doing blockchain governance - on-chain and off-chain. When the decisions to update the blockchain software are driven by processes off the chain (online forums, meetups, etc.) then it leads to off-chain governance. When the decisions are made using a voting process that is recorded on the blockchain (as transactions) and when the update of the blockch...

A fork choice rule is part of the blockchain consensus mechanism and it is used to find out the canonical chain for adding new blocks. Fork choice rule becomes relevant when there is a fork caused by network partition or two blocks being produced at the same time. A fork could also happen when there are dishonest validators in the network. When validators produce new blocks, they need to identify...

Rollups are L2 scaling mechanisms where transaction execution is done offchain in the rollup node or sequencer. The state is updated on the L1 based on this execution. Rollup nodes also publish transaction data “rolled up” as batches and blocks on the L1 chain. When it comes to following the blockchain data structure of adding the reference of previous (parent) block to the next block — rollups do...

When users stake their tokens to provide security and validation in a PoS network, those tokens are locked for the duration of staking. The users can’t use staked tokens for anything else. This is native staking. In Liquid Staking, a liquid token is generated and given to the user in return of staked tokens for the duration of staking. The liquid tokens could be used in some scenarios like DeFi, e...

Sharding in blockchain is of two types — execution sharding and data sharding. There could be other types in the future, the crypto space evolves quickly. In episode 41, what I explained was primarily execution sharding. Where the transaction execution is divided across several sub-chains for faster throughput. https://episodes.blockshots.fm/p/episode-41-blockchain-sharding#details However, Ethere...

To scale blockchains, we need scalability solutions like rollups. To make sure that the rollups are doing the right thing, we need data availability. And to ensure that data availability is done right, we need data availability sampling. This episode explains data availability sampling at a high level and tries to paint a bigger picture on how some of the above mentioned concepts are connected. Fo...

Validiums are L2 scaling solutions similar to ZK Rollups with a basic difference that they use a separate data availability layer instead of posting rollup data on the execution layer (Ethereum mainnet). Validiums also use ZK proofs to prove state transition validity to the L1. Similar to ZK Rollups, Validiums post the validity proof on the Ethereum mainnet (execution layer). However, unlike ZK Ro...

There is a new term in the crypto land — blobspace. Before understanding blobspace, let’s first do a quick refresher on data availability. Check out Episode 88 of the podcast. https://episodes.blockshots.fm/p/episode-88-what-is-data-availability#details Data availability is about making the L2 block data available on the L1s. For Optimistic rollups — to build fraud proofs. For ZK Rollups — to know...

Just a couple of days ago, in a work call, someone asked me the difference between blockchain and blockspace. Blockspace is a bit of a abstract concept. The capacity to fit transactions in a block. Check out episode 44 for a overview of block limits. https://episodes.blockshots.fm/p/episode-44-block-gas-limit-block#details Blockspace is a higher lever concept that refers to the overall capacity of...

In this 100th episode we do something special. We look at the Bitcoin whitepaper and summarize the key points. We understand what are the design goals and the problems to solve for Bitcoin. You can read the full Bitcoin whitepaper here - https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. Thank you for your support till 100 episodes. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to...

In this episode we understand what is latency in blockchains and how it relates to throughput. We also look at various factors and variables impacting the latency and throughput in blockchains. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.blockshots.net

In this episode we understand what are Intents in blockchains and how they are different from transactions. We also understand the different usage and needs of intent based approach in designing blockchain applications. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.blockshots.ne...

In this episode we understand what are ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and why they are used in Bitcoin and other crypto mining. We also understand their relation with the hash power based proof of work systems. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.bloc...

In this episode, we understand the two state models in blockchains - UTXO and Accounts based. Bitcoin uses the UTXO model while Ethereum uses the accounts model. Let’s understand what these are and what are the differences between them. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podc...

In this episode, we do one more dive into the topic of block finality and discuss the various tradeoffs associated with achieving fast finality. We also discuss some factors impacting finality, and how they further impact our applications. For more details, check out the blog post here - https://www.gautamdhameja.com/instant-finality-feature-or-bug/ Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a p...

In this episode we continue the discussion on block finality and understand two different types of finality - Probabilistic Vs. Deterministic. We also look at how these two are applicable in different kind of consensus systems. For more details, check out the blog post here - https://www.gautamdhameja.com/instant-finality-feature-or-bug/ Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episod...

In this episode, we understand what is finality in blockchains and why is it needed. We look at a few scenarios where the concept of finality plays an important role in determining the state of the blockchain. For more details, check out the blog post here - https://www.gautamdhameja.com/instant-finality-feature-or-bug/ Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would li...

In this episode, we understand what is Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism and how it is different from normal Proof of Stake. Check out episode 22 first to get the best out of this one. https://episodes.blockshots.fm/p/episode-22-proof-of-stake-492 Music: https://www.purple-planet.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...