Fundamentally, a blockchain is a data structure. It is a linked list, or chain, of unique “blocks.” Each block points to the previous one, and is itself a list of transactions. On top of this relatively simple list-of-lists data structure is laid the key innovation that blockchains have given us: a protocol for how blocks are added to the chain without any central authority. Figure 1-1 illustrates this structure.
The cryptocurrencies that have come along with blockchains are a means to an end, providing incentives for people to run software that secures the network. For the first time in history, we have the ability to share digital information without trusting any person, government, organization, or corporation to facilitate the interaction. Ethereum provides a cryptographically secure platform for storing, updating, and removing data from a blockchain using what is referred to as “smart contracts.” We are still in the early days of learning how to use smart contracts to improve things in the real world, and it’s hard to predict how the technology will be used in the future. Similar to the “World Wide Web” in the 1990s, there has been a global influx of inspiring and creative problem-solvers who are working every day to deploy decentralized applications (DApps) that they hope will “make a dent in the universe.”
Figure 1-1. The structure of a blockchain ...
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