Blockchain is a technology that maintains a digital ledger or a digital notebook, which is highly secured and unchangeable once recorded. In other words, blockchain is a way to keep a secure and trustworthy record of information and transactions that are open for anyone to see and hard for anyone to mess with.
What it makes special:
- Decentralized: The blockchain is not controlled by one person or company. It’s shared across a network of computers (nodes). This makes it very hard for anyone to cheat or manipulate the information.
- Secure: Each block contains a reference to the previous block, which creates a chain. If someone tries to change something in an older block, it would mean changing all the following blocks, and everyone in the network would notice. So, it’s very secure.
- Transparency: You can see all the information on the blockchain. It’s like an open book. Anyone can view it, which makes it trustworthy.
- Trustworthy Transactions: Once something is on the blockchain, it’s very hard to alter or erase. This is why it’s often used for things like cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin) and legal contracts.