BlockShots: Blockchain Simplified

In this episode, we take a slightly tangential topic to understand how is blockchain technology not just bitcoin. Considering bitcoin came first and later blockchain became popular, let’s get clarity on the two. 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

The finality of a block means that the majority of the nodes in a blockchain network have verified and accepted that block and their state has been updated accordingly. Finality assures that the transactions included in a block will not become invalid because of any reason. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pod...

In this episode, we discuss blockchain forks - what they are and what causes them. For multiple parties to reach consensus, they must follow some rules. Rules regarding how to decide who would produce blocks and when, the interval between blocks, how big or small the blocks could be, and so on. These rules are together part of the consensus algorithm of the chain. When some of the nodes decide not...

Blockchains are decentralized systems. There is no single point of control or administration. In contrast to other IT systems, there is no admin in a blockchain. Instead, blockchains are governed . To make updates to the rules of a blockchain, every participant must agree directly or indirectly. Blockchain governance comprises the processes to coordinate this agreement. In this episode, we underst...

In this episode, we understand types of blockchain networks depending on who can read the state and who can participate in block production (updating the state). In a permission-less blockchain, anyone can participate in the block production process, while in a permissioned blockchain, only selected nodes can produce blocks. In a public blockchain, anyone can read the state (data), while in a priv...

Blockchains, just by themselves, are a collection of nodes sharing data and agreeing on its state. To make blockchains useful for the end-users, applications are built on top of them. Simply put, applications which use a decentralized backend (like a blockchain), are called Decentralized Applications or DApps. A simple example of a DApp is software wallet applications that allow the user to query...

Smart Contracts allow users to extend the business logic of blockchains. Just the transfer of bitcoin and ether might only help with a subset of financial use cases and cryptocurrencies. For blockchains to be useful in more scenarios, they should be able to execute any kind of business logic and not just transfer of cryptocurrency. This is exactly what smart contracts provide — execution of any ki...

In contrast to the physical wallet in which we keep currency notes, a digital or blockchain wallet does not hold digital currency. Instead, the wallet holds the cryptographic keys so that they could be used in a convenient manner. A more widely accepted definition of a blockchain wallet is a software program or a hardware device that could be used to store cryptographic keys associated with one or...

Accounts are a way of representing users on the blockchain. Just like we have accounts in banks, generally represented by account numbers, we have accounts in blockchains too. In a blockchain, accounts are generally a representation of a users’ cryptographic public key. In this episode, we cover accounts and cryptographic keys - public key cryptography and its application in blockchains. This is a...

Block Production is the process of proposing and appending new blocks to the blockchain so that the state of the chain could be updated. The state update happens when the transactions included in the blocks are executed on the chain by all the nodes. In this episode we go into the details of how blocks are produced in blockchains and what is mining. This is a public episode. If you would like to d...

Signing is the process of associating user’s identity with information that is originating from the user. In this episode, we discuss digital and cryptographic signing and how it is used in blockchains. 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

Hashing is the process of deriving fixed-length strings from arbitrary-length data. It is generally used to represent data in a more compact and consistent format. In this episode we discuss the process of cryptographic hashing, hash functions and their characteristics. We also discuss the usage of hashing in blockchains and merkle trees. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

Transactions are small bundles of information that are used to propose updates to the state of the blockchain. Users sign and submit transactions to one or more nodes, and based on their validity, they are executed by all other nodes to update the state of the blockchain. Transactions are grouped into blocks . Blocks are then processed one-at-a-time to execute all included transactions together. T...

A blockchain has several core functions like storage, networking, consensus, etc. All these are coded and packaged together in the blockchain node software. This software is then distributed to the users willing to participate in the blockchain validation or mining process. Blockchain node software running on a physical or virtual machine and accepting connections is a blockchain node. When severa...

In the context of blockchains, consensus is the agreement on the state of the blockchain among all the nodes in a network. The main area where consensus is needed is the order of transactions, within a block. If all nodes could agree on the order in which the transactions happened, then they would individually arrive at the same state after processing the respective blocks. This is a public episod...

Welcome to BlockShots! In this first episode, the topic is introduction to blockchain with a basic example. Blockchain is a system that allows two or more mutually unknown parties to reach an agreement without middlemen. The agreement could be on the state of any kind of data: Fintech — accounts and balances (like in Bitcoin). There is no single point of control and failure in a blockchain.