Understanding Crypto Fundamentals: Value Investing in Cryptoassets and Management of Underlying Risks

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023

T. JeegersUnderstanding Crypto Fundamentalshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9309-6_6

6. Blockchain Basics

Thomas Jeegers¹  

(1)

Vienna, Austria

 

Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (But who will guard the guards themselves?)

—Juvenal, ca. 100 BCE

Understanding cryptoassets involves understanding blockchain. The first cryptoasset, Bitcoin, is only possible through blockchain, and blockchain was developed to make Bitcoin possible. While alternative technologies were subsequently developed to make cryptoassets technically possible, blockchain remains the core behind most cryptoassets.

This chapter only scratches the surface of some essential technical aspects enabling ...