Introduction
Blockchain can be defined as a digital record of all the transactions that take place in a computer network. The name comes from two words, one is block which means that there are blocks of individual data which has all the information about the transaction and the second is a chain which means that all this data is arranged in a single list which is here referred as a chain. Block chain is a system of storing and transferring information in a distributed and decentralized way. You can think of it as a ledger or a record book that is shared and updated by many participants, instead of being controlled by a single authority. Each entry or transaction in the ledger is verified and encrypted by a network of computers, called nodes, using cryptography. These transactions are grouped into blocks, and each block is linked to the previous one by a unique code, called a hash. This creates a chain of blocks, or a block chain, that is secure, transparent, and immutable One of the major tasks performed by Blockchain is to store the transaction data of Cryptocurrencies. The network required for Blockchain is a peer-to-peer network in which every user of the network has the information of all the transactions made in that specific network. Transactions are made using Cryptocurrency wallets. All the transactions that are made are encrypted. Some of the common examples of Cryptocurrency are Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) etc.
Conclusion
As fundamental technologies with transformative potentials, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies have found a wide spectrum of application scenarios in various types of industries, ranging from the underlying techniques of data storage, encryption, and verification, to the middle level of finance and asset management, and to a variety of high-level business models. The property of its security, privacy, traceability, inherent data provenance and time-stamping has seen its adoption beyond its initial application areas. Its decentralized application across the already established global Internet is also very appealing in terms of ensuring data redundancy and hence survivability. Thus the invention of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies can be seen to be a vital and much needed additional component of the Internet that was lacking in security and trust before. Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies technology still has not reached its maturity with a prediction of five years as novel applications continue to be implemented globally.