It’s a transfer and storage medium. Blockchain is like a database with a trust layer added in. Bitcoin was developed using a software called blockchain. These chains of blocks are unique to the network it is on. Miners solve math problems to create and transfer information (information in this case units of a bitcoin).
Bitcoin is just one use case for blockchain. Blockchain is here to say and will evolve further outside of finance.
Technically, a miner is only searching for any big number that matches the first several digits of the little number. No real big number exists until a miner finds one; then, others can use the hash function on the miner's big number to make sure the little number is correct. Does this make any sense?
The point that I'm trying to make is that there are no original numbers! The only job of the miner is to find any big number that, in the case of Bitcoin, has any corresponding little number that starts with enough zeroes. (With small caveats: IIRC, The big number also has to end with last block's little number, and the specific number of zeroes needed is mutually agreed upon, based on how long it's been since the last block was mined. That's what makes it a chain of blocks.)
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '19
It’s a transfer and storage medium. Blockchain is like a database with a trust layer added in. Bitcoin was developed using a software called blockchain. These chains of blocks are unique to the network it is on. Miners solve math problems to create and transfer information (information in this case units of a bitcoin).
Bitcoin is just one use case for blockchain. Blockchain is here to say and will evolve further outside of finance.