12.7 Blockchains
One variation of the concept of a hash chain is the blockchain. Blockchains are a technology that has garnered a lot of attention since they provide a convenient way to keep track of information in a secure and distributed manner.
Hash chains are iterations of hash functions, while blockchains are hash chains that have extra structure. In order to understand blockchains, we need to look at several different building blocks.
Let us start with hash pointers. A hash pointer is simply a pointer to where some data is stored, combined with a cryptographic hash of the value of the data that is being pointed at. We may visualize a hash pointer as something like Figure 12.1.
Figure 12.1 A hash pointer consists of a pointer that references ...
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