To get a better understanding a blockchain is a unique kind of database, a computer file that maintains organized data. In reality, the blockchain is a distributed database; copies of the Bitcoin blockchain are present on tens of thousands of computers throughout the globe.

This set of blockchain copies cannot be hacked since they must all coincide. The ledger for Bitcoin  is a log of money-related activities. Initially, ledgers were written by hand. The Bitcoin blockchain now houses digital records of Bitcoin transactions from the Bitcoin ledger. By the way, the blockchain used by Bitcoin is not encrypted; it is a public, open system that enables anybody to use a blockchain explorer to go inside the blockchain and see what’s happening.

Since 2008, Bitcoin has seen a wild journey. It was a sluggish start. Of fact, Bitcoin’s value was virtually nothing at the beginning. In fact, a Bitcoin user didn’t make their first purchase of a physical good until the middle of 2010 (and as you’ll see, he probably regrets it today!).

But by early 2011, a Bitcoin was only worth $1, and even though its value continued to rise gradually, by the middle of 2017, the world had caught on, and its price had skyrocketed. As I speak to you the Current price of bitcoin resides around $18000 per coin.

Bitcoin uses public-key encryption, but not to produce encrypted messages that are sent to the blockchain. It’s used to sign communications, instead. Your wallet software uses the private key to encrypt the transaction details before adding the public key and sending the message to the blockchain to move Bitcoin from one address to another. Even if the communication has been encrypted, it is not safe because anybody can decrypt it.The public key is used to decode the message by the Bitcoin node processing it. Additionally, it verifies that the public key is linked to the message’s provided address. If it is, the node knows that the owner of the private key used to encrypt the message must also “own” the address linked to the public key used to decode it since public key, private key, and address are all mathematically and uniquely related with one another.