The importance of an immutable ledger!

last time we discussed bitcoin and blockchain.

Throughout history, assets such as property have been kept on ledgers which were safeguarded by an authority such as a bank or government. In most cases these ledgers were not immutable, meaning that they were subject to tampering or even deletion. Even today many governments still only keep housing ownership records on physical ledgers. This is cause for concern because they are vulnerable to circumstances such as natural disaster, theft, tampering or deletion. Unfortunately without proof of ownership anyone could lay claim to your property.

This is where blockchain comes in! We discussed Blockchain in our previous article and the purpose of this one is to highlight it’s immutable nature.

One of the biggest features blockchain is often associated with is its immutability. Blockchain by design is an immutable database in which you cannot manipulate the data that’s already stored within. The hash value of an existing block is a unique value determined by the data held within. So depending on the block’s content a unique hash value will be assigned that will identify this block only, and never an altered or different version of it. Therefore each block can reference or point to the block which precedes it, meaning blocks always reference their previous blocks and their corresponding hash.

Lets take a look at simple transaction to further break this down. Kevin wants to send money to Lisa. This transaction is represented as a “block.” This block is broadcast to every member of the network. The people in the network approve whether the transaction taking place is valid. As more transactions go on, a chain is formed (Blockchain), that visually show transparency in transactions. Lastly, the cash is sent from Kevin to Lisa, and the transaction is complete.

So in this example, blockchain’s immutable nature is visible, making it flawless. The issues surrounding tampering, deletion, hacking etc are resolved! The fact that we have validations combined with the blockchain hashing process and cryptography makes it immutable and therefore an obvious solution for recording everything to do with assets to monetary transactions and even personal records.

Do you think blockchain will take over as the universally adopted way of doing business? Let me know your thoughts on the comments.

Blockchain and bitcoin

In the last article we discussed in short SHA256 and its history, as well as a short introduction to the technology. We can't talk about bitcoin and mining without mentioning another key pillar of this industry and that's Blockchain!

Blockchain is a decentralized, digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers. It is a highly secure and tamper-proof technology that is revolutionising a wide range of industries.

At its core, a blockchain is a chain of blocks, each block contains a number of transactions. When a new transaction is added to the blockchain, it is added as the most recent block. Each block is linked to the block preceding it, this creates a chain of blocks that stretches all the way back to the first block, which is called  "the genesis block."

One of the key features of blockchain technology is that once a block is added to the chain, it becomes immutable, it cannot be altered or deleted. This is because each block contains a unique "hash," (we spoke a little about this in the sha256 article) the hash is a string of characters that serves as a sort of digital fingerprint for the block. If someone were to try to alter the contents of a block, the hash would totally change due to the avalanche effect, this would make the block and all the blocks that follow it invalid.

Another key fundamental of blockchain technology is that it is decentralized, meaning that there is no central authority controlling it. Instead, the blockchain is maintained by a network of computers, these are known as "nodes," the nodes work together to validate and record transactions. When a new transaction is added to the blockchain, it is broadcast to all the nodes in the network. The nodes then work together to validate the transaction in a majority ruling scenario, then it is added it to the most recent block confirming it via the network.

The most well-known application of blockchain technology is Bitcoin, Bitcoin is a digital currency that uses blockchain to record transactions. However, the potential uses for blockchain technology go far beyond digital currencies, as immutable decentralised networks take away the issue of trust and provide full transparency. Bitcoin is a digital currency that uses blockchain technology to record and verify transactions. At its core, Bitcoin is a decentralized system that allows for peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a centralised institutions such as banks.

When we send Bitcoin to someone else via an exchange or wallet, we are broadcasting the transaction to the network. Nodes (computers) connected to the network are known as "miners," the miners then compete to validate the transaction by solving a complex mathematical problem (essentially decoding). The first miner to solve the problem adds the transaction to the most recent block and is rewarded with a small amount of Bitcoin.

I thought I would begin a series of posts with interesting facts about bitcoin mining and some of its many components. I think its very interesting how everything came together and how existing ideas and technologies were used with new ideas. I hope you all enjoy!

SHA256

The National Security Agency (NSA) is a United States government agency that is responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign intelligence. One of the technologies that the NSA has developed is the Secure Hash Algorithm 256 (SHA-256). SHA256 is a cryptographic hexadecimal hash function that is used to secure data. SHA-256 is a member of the SHA-2 family of cryptographic hash functions, which were first published in 2001. SHA-256 is similar to the other members of the SHA-2 family, but it uses a different number of bits in the hash output. The output of SHA-256 is a 256-bit hash value, which is a unique representation of the input data.

SHA-256 is widely used in various applications that require secure data transmission, such as digital signatures, data integrity, and password hashing. One of the most notable uses of SHA-256 is in the cryptocurrency industry, where it is used to secure transactions on the Bitcoin network. an interesting function of this is the avalanche effect, any changes to the encrypted data, even the slightest change completely alters the hash value.

The NSA first proposed the use of SHA-256 in 2005 as a standard for digital signatures in the Federal government. The standard was adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2011 as a recommended standard for Federal agencies. The NSA has also developed other cryptographic technologies, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA). These technologies are widely used in government and commercial applications to secure data and protect against cyber attacks.

Overall, the development of SHA-256 by the NSA has been widely adopted and used to secure important information. Its reliability and security has proven to be valuable to many different industries and organizations including the crypto industry, where as we know its Widley used in mining and the creation of bitcoin addresses.

more to come at a later date! but i promise if you decide to follow along I will try to keep it short, sweet and interesting!BTC

This comes down to a basic calculation. Yes you can be profitable, however it will take time, you have to carfully calculate your power needs, battery needs (as I assume you will want to mine during the evening, solar array size, the miners themselves etc. you will get a calculation of cost vs profitability. A time frame based on bitcoins current, although wavering price. You may find that a break even could be years away but ultimately it should make a profit. Like ma y things it’s a risk asset investment.

America is very cheap yes. are you looking to collocate?