Transparency
If we take a look at bitcoin’s decentralized blockchain, all of the transactions are fully transparent and viewed by either having a personal node or through the usage of what is known as a blockchain explorer. These allow anyone to see the transaction that occurs live.
A blockchain explorer is essentially a piece of software that uses API and blockchain nodes to draw various data from the blockchain and then uses a database to arrange the searched data and present the data to the user in a fully searchable format.
Each node has its own copy of the chain that gets updated as each new fresh block is confirmed and then added to the chain itself. This means that if you want to you can track Bitcoin all the time.
Security
When it comes to the security of blockchain, we need to begin with the blocks. Each new block is always stored linearly and chronologically. This means that they are always added to the end of the blockchain. If you take a look at Bitcoin’s blockchain, you will start to notice that each block has a position on the chain known as a height.
After his block has been added to the end of the blockchain, it is extremely difficult to go back and alter the contents of the blocks. This is the case unless the majority has reached a consensus to do so. This is due to the fact that each block has its own individual hash, alongside the hash of the block before it.
Hash codes are created by a math function that turns digital information into a string of numbers and letters. If this information gets to the point where it is edited in any way the hash code changes as-well-as a result.
Imagine a scenario where a person wants to alter the blockchain and steal some bitcoin. Sounds like a plan, right? Well, if they alter their own single copy, it would no longer align with everyone else’s copy. When everyone else cross-references their copies against each other they would see this one copy stand out. This would class that version of the chain as illegitimate and fabricated.
So let’s talk a little bit about how Blockchain is used…