How Blockchain Works

Blockchain consists of three important concepts: blocks, nodes and miners.

Blocks

Every chain is made up of multiple blocks, each of which has three basic elements:

The information contained in the block.

• A nonce is a 32-bit whole number. When a block is created, the nonce is generated at random, which results in the generation of a block header hash.

• The hash is a 256-bit number that is linked to the nonce. It must begin with a large number of zeroes (i.e., be extremely small).

A nonce generates the cryptographic hash when the first block of a chain is created. Unless mined, the data in the block is considered signed and forever linked to the nonce and hash.

Nodes

Decentralization is an important concept in blockchain technology. The chain cannot be owned by a single computer or organisation. Instead, it is a distributed ledger through the chain's nodes. Nodes are any electronic devices that keep copies of the blockchain and keep the network running.

Every node has its own copy of the blockchain, and for the chain to be updated, trusted, and verified, the network must algorithmically approve any newly mined block. Due to the transparency of blockchains, every action in the ledger can be easily checked and viewed. Each participant is assigned a unique alphanumeric identification number, which is used to track their transactions.

Combining public information with a system of checks and balances aids the blockchain's integrity and fosters user trust. Blockchains are essentially the scalability of trust through technology.

Miners

Miners use the mining process to add new blocks to the chain.

Every block in a blockchain has its own unique nonce and hash, but it also refers to the hash of the previous block in the chain, making mining a block difficult, especially on large chains.

Miners use specialised software to solve the incredibly complex math problem of generating an accepted hash. Because the nonce is only 32 bits long and the hash is 256 bits long, there are approximately four billion nonce-hash combinations that must be mined before the correct one is found. Miners are said to have discovered the "golden nonce" when this occurs, and their block is added to the chain.

Making changes to any block earlier in the chain necessitates re-mining not only the affected block, but all subsequent blocks as well. This is why manipulating blockchain technology is so difficult. Consider it "safety in math," because finding golden nonces takes an enormous amount of time and computing power.

When a block is successfully mined, the change is accepted by all network nodes, and the miner is financially rewarded.

Resources:

How-Blockchain-works