A short summary of what is a blockchain and what is bitcoin.

Blockchain, Bitcoin, Digital Ledger Technology, Public Infrastructure

What is a blockchain or digital ledger?

I saw this very good definition by @lebey1 here on Hive, and I think it is a good introduction to the topic of What is Bitcoin.

A blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps account of every transaction on a digital version of paper called a block, and everyone running a bitcoin wallet with. On the digital ledger the transaction and the record are one thing, so there are no errors in the record or ledger. And a complete copy of the historical ledger is called a Node, and after every transaction the entire network is updated simaltaneously and this includes the thousands of people running nodes worldwide, who make up the Network. Thus all on the Network, can view all the transactions and by all updating the record they verify them. The blockchain employs cryptographic algorithms to encrypt every data or transaction on it. This way, the security of the blockchain is the best available and unbreakable by any known Super computer. This enables peer-to-peer transactions, without using banks .
source

So with the above in mind, what is bitcoin?

This bitcoin blockchain is the world's first publically owned digital payment infrastructure that is accessible by everyone with access to the internet. And the bitcoin blockchain is different from every other tool used to send money over the internet because it works without the need to trust a middleman or trusted intermediary.
This is how bitcoin removes and eliminates the need for an intermediary to access or conduct transactions; - Bitcoin is a secure means of payment or transfer of value and it is also transparent, which promotes trust.
This is how bitcoin enables peer-to-peer transactions, without using banks .
Bitcoin's technology offers all these features because it is built on a blockchain.
It is helpful to remember that the bitcoin blockchain, is a digital ledger that employs cryptographic algorithms to encrypt every data or transaction on it.
In this way, the security of the blockchain is the best technology currently available and unbreakable by any known Super computer.
Importantly, since Cash can't travel over the internet, cash is real, only virtual or unreal things can travel over the internet, you can't pay someone over the internet. You can only make a promise to pay. Such a promise to pay is called a debt. So when you send a cash payment over the internet, you are not sending cash, you are sendinga promise to pay or debt. The message you are sending is a promise to pay or debt. One way to summarize this is to say: The message is a debt, and the debt is the message.
However you can send bitcoin over the internet, because bitcoin is virtual. So when you send bitcoin to someone to settle a debt, you are sending the actual payment, not a promise to pay or debt. So with bitcoin you are not sending a debt, you are sending a payment. Another word for a payment is money. So one way to summarize this is that the message is the money, and the money is the message.
Lastly, when you send a payment message over the internet, promising to pay some one, this debt message can take days to weeks to be honored. Honoring the debt is called settlement, and the last payment is called the final payment or finality.
Once again remember you can't send cash over the internet, only a promise to give someone cash, eventually., and usually does.
Modern settlement of credit cards or checks can take several days, and some debts take 30 days to settle.
But bitcoin allows settlement on the same day, actually in 30 minutes or less. Bitcoin requires six confirmations, a computer term for the transaction was checked six times before the bitcoin network agreed it was correct. Then the bitcoin or payment is sent and once received the debt is settled and final.

Last words

The internet is a new public infrastructure for information. I think it is useful to think of the cryptocurrency and blockchain are like a new public infrastructure for money. Our financial institutions are by their nature conservative and slow to change, but the internet and digital messaging are now over 25 years old and the world has embraced them completely. It is time for our money infrastructure to embrace them also and move us forward into the next phase of the digital age in which we live, and into which many of us were born.

@shortsegments

About me.

I am a writer who has focused on cryptocurrency, the blockchain, non-fungible digital tokens or NFTs, and decentralized finance for over six years. But I also like to write about life, my garden, my island home and other stuff.

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title: A short summary of what is a blockchain and what is bitcoin.

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