Bitcoin Forum

I get asked alot about bitcoin and how the blockchain works by friends and family who are interested and I can never give a straight answer.

What do you guys tell your friends and how would you describe the blockchain in one sentence/paragraph?

Tom

A tamper-proof, transparent, democratic public ledger.

It is in no way democratic as there is no "voting" or "majority rules" but simply "the rules of the software" (is the >50% attack the reason you included that word?).

So perhaps just: A tamper-proof, transparent public ledger.

The blockchain is pure anarchism but at the same time perfect and ordered. No one can control it, and this is why it is perfetc than the actual economic system.

Just my personal opinion.

Perhaps you're right. It's Bitcoin that is democratic, relative to fiat in that economic policy is no longer centrally controlled, but democratically decided by the community (miners - code as law).

That is not an accident or a coincidence. Anarchy (consensus) was always the true order. It is the violent power-hierarchies of capitalism and the state that are the disorder / dystopia.

"Anarchy is Order Without Power"
-Proudhon  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon)

The miners don't decide anything by any method that equates to what most people would call "democratic" as all they do is build on the best chain that they see - so again I don't get the use of the word "democratic".

Yes, they do. The miners decide which coins to mine*, the miners decide which fork survives in a hard fork, the miners decide which bitcoin patches are used and which are not. This is all the epitome of democracy.

*You may argue, no, they mine whichever is most profitable and profit is determined by market valuation, but reality is not so simple and clear cut. Some will only mine bitcoin even when another coin would be more profitable.

Hmm... okay - so you mean deciding which version of the software to run - still it isn't "democratic" as if forks happen then miners can choose to stick with a fork (there is nothing to force them to do otherwise).

If three groups of mining pools that each had around 30% of the hashing power each decided to go a different way then you'd end up with 3 versions of Bitcoin (not one).

I wasn't thinking about alt coins in this regard btw.

Saying a miner can stick with a dying fork is like saying a miner can stick with a dying altcoin. Yes, they technically can, but will they? Will any miner pay the electricity bill for that shit? Not for long.

Note: I'm not speaking of hobbyists on their laptops here, but people with real money invested in mining as an enterprise. Those with farms and such, the real players.

It's hard to define the blockchain in a single sentence. It usually serves as a permanent public record of all transactions included in valid mined blocks.

But it's more than that, all nodes broadcast the blockchain to each other. It's a public ledger and allows to track the balance of any address at any point in time.

You missed my 3 x 30% point but for sure I get your point (I just don't think of it as "democratic" which is perhaps why I think simply better to not use that "loaded term").

Decentralization say that about 5 times

Just the actual blockchain and no mention of bitcoin or anything else? I guess simply put it's a decentralized digital public ledger but that doesn't really tell a laymen much about it to be honest.

I think that is about as "short and sweet" as it gets.

Yes. Mind you, this is the same as saying "defining precisely what bitcoin is, and what it is not". Bitcoin's live implemented code is tempered by the will of the community. This is democracy, but not as you know it. It's happening in slow motion and on hard drives all over the world.


To help clarify what I mean when I say "bitcoin is the democratization of money", here is some writing from people more articulate than I:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/10724/bitcoin-really-represent-democratization-money/

http://emergent-culture.com/the-democratization-of-money-is-bitcoin-the-currency-of-liberation-new-economy-transition-town-monetary-reform-economic/

http://historiesofthingstocome.blogspot.sg/2014/07/bitcoin-economy-of-eternal-now.html

Well if you want to "change the meaning of democracy" to have zero to do with "voting" and "majority rule" then I guess you are right.

But you can pretty much win any argument by changing the meaning of words that everyone else tends to associate with a different meaning.

I think you'll find that the majority of people still believe that the word "democracy" refers to a system of majority voting (which Bitcoin is not).

What some dead French philosophers think we should consider the word "democracy" to mean is basically *irrelevant* (or do we have to run votes now to determine what people mean by words?).

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm more fond of certain dead French philosophers than I am of most living American politicians.

:D

Well that I think we can probably agree upon!

(and I would apply that to the vast majority of all politicians in the world)

A secure public ledger that cannot be changed.

As to the democratic question I think it is not so much democratic because it is so difficult to change the protocol. I think of it like the US constitution in that you can fork it but you need a large consensus to do it so changes are exceptionally rare.

I like the word "database" when describing the blockchain. As opposed to "ledger". I feel it is easier to relate to in terms of common folk.

Or even simpler just: 'a ledger' ;D

Could anyone actually describe it in detail in a few sentences? I think just saying the blockchain is a A tamper-proof, transparent public ledger doesn't do it justice in my opinion (but I'm probably no good at explaining it).

That doesn't differentiate from any other ledger so "cute - but not helpful".

The OP asked for "one sentence" so asking now for more sentences is just going off-topic.

I would have thought that most people would be more familiar with the term ledger than database but maybe this is a generational thing.

I love that description, and I would like to quote it. It is a public and private ledger.

It is not a private ledger - or are you referring to some sort of secretly embedded information?

(that still doesn't make it a private ledger - but a public ledger that also contains some private ledgers)

Okay. Here's my attempt to describe the blockchain technology. I would say "It's a public ledger that carries all the transaction log maintained by the everybody but controlled by nobody."

It's a bunch of magic numbers & stuff that only people with glasses and no life really understand.  :-*

Its a decentralised open-to-public ledger containing all transactions and sizes of transactions that everyone can use, but noone can alter to ensure safety, unlike what banks use.

anyways thats how i would describe it, but its not like you can go ahead and say that without people asking you bunch of additional questions,
but i believe its enough to spark an interes.

cheers

But the blockchain can be changed, even in hindsight you just need over 50% of the networks hash power (for PoW).

I would not know how to improve CIYAMs answers either to be honest.




I dont like database because it results in wrong associations IMHO. One would think of a database as something that keeps track of balances, while the blockchain does not do that. A ledger is similar in that regard, but if you think of it as a traditional accounting book you are very close to what the blockchain actually does. It keeps track of the transactions, a balances at a certain point in time would have to be calculated out of the history of the transactions same as in an accounting book.


Uhh, I think Ill have to re-evaluate my previous statement, this might be very well the best definition yet. ;)

Blockchain for me means being able to store, send and receive value without using a bank and also to avoid governments.

If a bunch of miners that had a hashing power over 51% decided to change something bamzo.. it is changed.  This is the reason I mine.

IMO if you are a "bitcoiner" and you are not mining you are not a bitcoiner.

Yes exactly, that is what I wanted to say. Thanks for the explanation and you are right the blockchain is a public and nor corruptible  ledger (much more interesting than the numerous banks).

Public database to all bitcoin transaction ::)

I think it's pretty simple, than looking in wikipedia ;D

I think the OP would like to know our description of the word "blockchain" and everyone has his own word to explain what does it mean block chain.

50 Horses run with a set of Military instructions to the same location and back, once 30 of the horses have returned, the message is treated as confirmed, with no more than 20 total intercepts being thought possible.

Tetris. The blockchain is like a recorded game of Tetris that you can visit at any point in it's past, that is continuously being played by multiple computers at the same time. 

The block chain is a public database that records bitcoin transactions. - This description is sufficient enough. The simplest and the most accurate one.

I think all "bitcoiners" should be protecting the network.  ROckminer.. $100 and you can help protect it.  Shoot kijiji and you can get an S3. Although the "new r-box" doesn't use much power so it' is great!

On topic, this sentence.

Blockchain.

An innovative technology capable of storing and displaying transactions all over the world that is monitored by a network of computers and can be seen by the general public, though the data displayed cannot be altered or changed by any means.

Blockchain is a safe, easy to use, legitimate, and crowded wallet :D

i see it as an innovation that has the potential to change our currently much dated financial system.

The blockchain is a digital public ledger of accounts containing values protected by modern encryption with transactional trust between those accounts enforced using strong mathematical principles.

A safe and secure public ledger for every transaction ever happened in the bitcoin network

The agreed upon record of all bitcoin transactions.

I really miss the word distributed - that's one of the core characteristics of the blockchain.

I'd say: A tamper-proof, transparent and distributed ledger.

A few people here have described Bitcoin as a ledger that can't be changed.
But is that entirely correct?
I know there was one altcoin (was it Vericoin?)which had a lot of coins stolen from an exchange and the exchanges and miners got together and rolled back the blockchain so that the thief lost their coins.

Presumably that is possible with Bitcoin?

A transparent, unchangeable, digital public ledger.

That would require collusion of everyone running a copy of the blockchain to suddenly switch to a new one AND for miners to actually mine on it. I don't see any conceivable way people would support a hard fork like that, look at the controversy over Gavin's idea to merely increase the block size as an example of how hard it is to convince people to make a single development change.

Blockchain = transparent distribution and permanent  :-X

Blockchain is a cashier network working on both sides noting transactions and keeping ledgers...

Slow usless peice of shit

Everyone has their own opinion  ;)

I would go with "A multi-functioned and decentralized tamper-proof, transparent public ledger" .... quite a mouthfull... but it says a lot.

Juicyjuice87 - What do you compare it to, when you say it's slow and useless? A single functioned credit card with chargebacks? or a wire transfer?  ;)

good, nice, simple.
its for me, and it depend the user.

Blockchain is a series of events (like financial transactions as in Bitcoin), that majority of the nodes on a network agree on their time and seriality.

P.S. Sorry for my english, not a native speaker

A public ledger you can trace the money flow.

WOW three pages :) Thanks guys! Am gonna get stuck into this thread now. Looks very interesting and will comment.

Thanks guys for all your posts. I think I will compile one long paragraph/short essay out of all your replies!

Thanks again.

Tom

The solution of the epic bizantine general problem.

I can describe it in one word: cool.  8)

The cloud-based database which automatically records all BTC transactions and keeps them forever for everyone to see.

The idea of "automatic recording" is important to me, because sometimes, you wish you'd be able to make unrecorded transactions.

Decentralized secure consistent data storage

The BTClockchain(tm), it puts the bank in YOUR pocket!   8)

It is a public ledger that records all the transactions of Bitcoin. It is public and keeps the movement of Bitcoin as transparent as possible.

For people familiar with computer science and/or mathematics, I've actually used this as a description. We can say that the blockchain is a 6 year old experiment that verifies a proof-of-work chain is a sufficient solution to the Byzantine Generals' Problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_fault_tolerance).

thats why some altcoins are worthless any altering of the blockchain is forbidden, whats needed is coinbase type insurance products to help protect from theft

Ponzi

A database that anyone can use to see any bitcoin transaction.

that makes it easy for people to understand.

The best and simple online wallet that I've ever meet.

I have been use it for a year without any problem.

The title "asking" Describe the blockchain in one sentence , not the web wallet blockchain.info (aks BC.info). I have seen a lot of people are confusing the word blockchain (block chain) with that webwallet (not real good, but this is my personal opinion).

secured network,public ledger

They often do. That's why the online wallet should have been named differently. It is actually not good nor are any online wallets.

I'd say it is a transparent and secure public ledger.

The ultimate dream for transaction of value.

There are opinions claiming that block chain is not secure as we may think, and in fact is quite vulnerable to attacks. You may want to check that here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1021233.0

As for me: Blockchain is just database of all bitcoin transactions.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1021233.msg11055777#msg11055777

Yes of course but do you know that you can save data (img, txt file, etc..) on a blockchain using the OP_return? So it is not only a database for save bitcoin transaction, but it is more than that thing ;). The usage of blockchain in the next few years will improve...

A transparent secure network which allows trade without the need for government or central bank.

An impenetrable bunker open to anyone that wants to freely trade in the middle of the financial doomsday.

Bitcoin infrastructure?

My understanding of blockchain:
Ledger which store all of Bitcoin transactions, which is open and free to everyone all the time just with access to the Internet.

Trustful and verified network...

One of the first website that hasn't to be ashamed and who has suffered no attack since its creation.

decentralized register of all transactions, that also function as the best online wallet

Western Union killer,
Paypal killer,
Bank killer,
Fiat killer,
Killer of all government and financial evil,
Digital gold

truth though numbers

Blockchain is a term widely used to represent an entire new suite of technologies.
There is substantial confusion around its definition because the technology is early-stage, and can be implemented in many ways depending on the objective.

Most of the world of cryptocurrency technologies such as Bitcoin rely on database forms with the advantage of being able to track large and secure transaction volumes. The technology used by many digital currencies is Blockchain.

Blockchain builds bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.

Blockchain is a technology,

It addresses the core "trust" problem in the market economy, reducing the cost of trust between strangers to extremely low levels.

an integrated transaction logging technology with modern technology, which has a unique, immutable code that revolutionizes the workings of the Internet, banking and other things

Blockchain is a completely transparent system, thanks to which in the future the world will change for the better!

Blockchain is a system a public ledger that all cryptocurrency transactions are being recorded and
added  in chronological order.
blockchain help the market in transaction made easily.

Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.

Blockchain is a database that serves all participants, is owned by all participants, but does not belong to anyone in particular and is not controlled by anyone in particular.

i see it as an innovation that has the potential to change our currently much dated financial system.

The word blockchain itself is self-explanatory. It's the chain of blocks associated with each other and everyone has access to every block that means there is a decentralization philosophy. We are able to control our data without the help of any third party and that's the USP of the blockchain. If someone asked me to explain it in a single sentence, I would say "Decentralization of the data with the help of modern smart technology".

Blockchain is a digital book of common accounts containing modern encrypted values with transactional trust between enforced accounts using strong mathematical principles that can not be hacked by anyone with a strong security system. 8)

the vast majority of the universe of digital money innovations, for example, Bitcoin depend on database frames with the upside of having the capacity to track extensive and secure exchange volumes. The innovation utilized by numerous advanced monetary forms is Blockchain.

Bitcoin Transaction confirmation checker by Hash OR BTC path checker.

Thanks....... :)

cannot be determine quickly this also needs strong knowledge that anyone can understand how does it may ever had to work on.

Blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions are recorded chronologically and publicly.

Modern technology gives people a certain degree of control but must follow the core indeterminacy principle.

Most Probably - "The Future of the world transactions"  ;)

Decentralized database of transactions

'The answer to more problems than people realise'  :)

Blockchain is a creating a chain of blocks.Block,reperesents a number of transactional records.Chain,components links them all together with a hash function.

Blockchain is a cashier network working on both sides noting transactions and keeping ledgers...

A very ingenious technology by the developers.

For me Blockchain is the future of human technology a digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another crypto currency are recorded chronologically and publicly to make the transaction more faster and easier. And also Blockchain is a permissionless distributed database based on the bitcoin protocol that maintains a continuously growing list of transactional data records and it is a critical part of the bitcoin peer to peer payment system.

The technology that powers bitcoin.

A transparet fast transaction hiding your personal data while sustaining your long time cry due to the old system less of service.

Short and sweet. I definitely agree.

Blockchain technology is an electronic money encryption technology in the cryptocurrency market.

If you want to explain about blockchain and bitcoin to relatives then you must first understand what is blockchain and bitcoin and its function. Simple, bitcoin we can describe as money in the form of digital and blockchain likened as a ledger that records all data transactions of digital money. Which distinguishes digital and fiat money from bitcoin transactions carried out by miners to be subsequently confirmed and recorded in a global transaction ledger connected to all servers worldwide so that there will be no transaction engineering and is guaranteed to be more secure and transparent.

BlockChain is a technology of recording transactions integrated with modern technology.

a database that is stored not in one place but in every user.

Volatility at its finest.

blockchain is the system that bitcoin use it for their core, so the transaction will listed on blockchain, and we know that blockchain is decentralized its mean that the blockchain doesn't have the center. hmm i think it will be good for the newbie that want to know about blockchain, if they are the expert i think you need to suggest him to learn about blockchains ystem

The technology blockchain of all time, it's just safe to say that it's a smart machine in terms of how much money is around.

It looks like a tough question and a lot of hesitation to answer it.
My answer is that I am very difficult to predict and transparent.

Based on my research, blockchain is a digital transactions that is made by different cryptocurrency like bitcoin that contains the list of recorded data that was been encrypted.

Blockchain adalah Buku Besar yang tidak dikelola dan di kontrol hanya oleh satu pihak atau organisasi tertentu, namun Catatan Buku Besar (Blockchain) disebarluaskan secara publik dan di kelola oleh jutaan komputer di seluruh dunia dalam waktu yang bersamaan.

Setiap komputer yang terdapat didalam jaringan dapat melihat atau menambahkan catatan tentang transaksi yang baru terjadi ke dalam Buku Besar Blockchain, inilah kekuatan utama teknologi tersebut, jadi sangat mustahil bagi siapapun untuk menghapus Buku Besar Blockchain karena tidak di kelola oleh satu orang dan satu tempat saja, akan tetapi di kelola secara global dalam waktu yang bersamaan.

The blockchain is a public, authenticated, write once Ledger of transactions, Providing transparency by being public, authentication via cryptography and security by being unmodifiable (write once).

Blockchain technology doesn't have to exist publicly. It can also exist privately - where nodes are simply points in a private network and the Blockchain acts similarly to a distributed ledger. Financial institutions specifically are under tremendous pressure to demonstrate regulatory compliance and many are now moving ahead with Blockchain implementations. Secure solutions like Blockchain can be a crucial building block to reduce compliance costs.

Nowadays there is great confusion around its definition because this technology is early and it can be implemented in many ways depending on its purpose. 8)

Blockchain on Bitcoin is a decentralized system. This means that Bitcoin is not influenced by any government policy that may have adverse effects on the system. Bitcoin is also an example of the success of a peer-to-peer system without a control center that controls the running of the system. Bitcoin could replace credit cards and debit cards in the future.

It is never enough to describe a blockchain in a sentence. I can only say that blockchain is a database of information storage, Bitcoin is based on blockchain techlonogy.

Blockchain is a new way to send money without the participation of banks and store data in a transparent and unchanged form. It's that simple.

Similarly, the most common GUI devised for the blockchain are the so-called “wallet” applications, which people use to buy things with Bitcoin, and store it along with other cryptocurrencies.
learn about blockchain
here's a link for you https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp  (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp)

Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.

Quite simply a decentalised, tamper-proof public ledger (database).

The impacts and use cases of which can't be summed up in a simple paragraph. The power and potential of this new technology should be properly explained once the above definition is clear.

 :)

Blockchain for me means being able to store, send and receive value without using a bank and also to avoid governments.

A blockchain is a technology behind cryptocurrency that stores data and runs in blocks which is present on many servers/computers around the world. I hope I made it right :)

To me, blockchain is a digital public account that contains values that are protected by a modern encryption with transactional trust between permanently enforced accounts using the principles of such powerful mathematical algorithms. 8)

Blockchain is a distributed public ledger.

The word 'distributed' encompasses many of the features that the other posters are terming as 'democratic'. Additionally, it relates to the decentralised nature of the blockchain.

Blockchain on bitcoin is a decentralized system. This means that Bitcoin is not influenced by any government policy that may have adverse effects on the system. Blockchain, the technology underlying the bitcoin system, has long predicted to change the entire future of information technology.

it is a decentralized digital public ledger that cannot be changed which has come to stay in this world of technology and electronic machinaries

I don't know exactly about definition of Blockchain, but I like the idea about blockchain of Don & Alex Tapscott "The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

blockchain adalah sebuah teknologi yang simple dan sederhana.

Blockchain is suitable for recording events, medical records, transaction processing, notarization, identification and proof of origin. This has the potential to alleviate the consequences of data change in the context of global trade.

Usually serves as a permanent public record of all transactions included in a valid mined block, But more than that, all nodes broadcast blockchain to each other.

blochain the partner of currency or bank.

Technical:

Blockchain is an immutable and sequenced data structure that uses hashing algorithm.

Layman:

Blockchain is a technology used by cryptocurrencies to store transaction data in a very secured manner.

The blockchain is a public, authenticated, write once ledger of transactions, providing transparency by being public, authentication via cryptography and security by being unmodifiable.

it seems that I can not describe bitcoin in just 1 sentence, but in general bitcoin is a digital currency that can be used for one of the payment methods when you buy something in the world of internet or real that can use bitcoin as payment.

   Decentralized and freedom because bkockchain is designed as a decentralized technology that use in global network computers to manage the database that records bitcoins transactions.

Just the actual blockchain and no point out of bitcoin or anything else? I wager sincerely put it is a decentralized virtual public ledger however that does not without a doubt tell a layman much about it to be honest.

Bitcoin is the future and we gradually moving onto the future, it's also transparent, open, profitable and free for all who are interested.

Blockchain is a secure platform upon which Decentralizwed transactions and public ledger is displayed

blockchain is a technology.to explain to friends more clearly, I always put in the example of the program utorrent.The principle of this program is more clear to tell briefly what it is

Blockchain is a public, authenticated, online ledger that tracks and verify every time the virtual money (cryptocurrency) is used on it.

Blockchain is a completely new way of transferring money without the participation of traditional banking networks, as well as the image of data storage in a transparent and unchanged form.

A blockchain (block chain) is a distributed database that does not have storage devices connected to a shared server.

Block (a chain of blocks) is a distributed database, in which storage devices are not connected to a shared server, this database stores an ever-growing list of ordered records called blocks.

The blockchain is an entirely new way of transferring money without the involvement of traditional banking networks, as well as the way data is stored in a transparent and unchanged form.

Block chain is huge source of big bucks.

This is realy works for me if someone asking me the same question. I am saying thag bitcoin is just a part lf the chain and the blockchain is the one who make transaction easy, annonimouslly and transparently.

Blockchains are records or what you call ledger in accounting that keep all the transactions being done.

A blockchain is an immutable (unchangable), decentralized open ledger.

It's also called DLT for distributed ledger technology, and that's it in its most basic form.

A blockchain is a decentralized network with a memory.

a future digital technology in the field of currency, which can not be affected by any government policy

technology for the future, as a companion fiat currency,
to transact without the need for another intermediary

 A blockchain is described as an independent, transparent, and secure decentralized, distributed and a public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.

I describe the block chain a digital, decentralized future technology and a digital ledger. This is used to record the transactions in any computers. I think it is the best technology because the record did not disrupted or altered retroactively with the collision of the other computers or other network here in bitcoin and other currencies.

For my own knowledge about blockchain market it is in the great position and condition every time because they can regulated properly the transaction of the business and they put the things that needed in there right position, in short they can centralize everything in the business that can cause to function well thee business.

Legitimate in terms of law? I feel it might not be legitimized in countries that do not adopt cryptocurrency

Someone said that: Bitcoin is a system for transferring tokens of value between users on the web but with no central agency using instead the blockchain, a distributed ledger to record all transactions in a format that is checked and authenticated by participants called miners who earn bitcoins for their effort.

I want to explain that using of clever math the blockchain provides a place where you can record events (typically financial transactions) in chronological order with a guarantee that they can’t be tampered with. This means you can audit the contents of any bitcoin wallet and know how the money got there and how much it’s supposed to have.

A sentence only: the blockchain is a public, authenticated, write once ledger of transactions, providing transparency by being public, authentication via cryptography and security.

I can not just use one sentence to talk about this issue. However, I would like to describe blockchain is not just a technology, blockchain is like a book teaching people how to explore and analyze investment.

Blockchain is a system designed to manage a non-recoverable digital financial transaction system that can be programmed to record and manage its work system.

I think it's very difficult to describe blockchain using only 1 sentence because blockchain can mean and have a lot of meaning and I think blockchain is a big book that can record all existing transactions.

Chain block is more than just encryption currency, it is actually a database validation by the wider community, rather than a central agency, it is a set of a group of people supervision and maintenance records, rather than relying on a single entity, such as Banks or the government, they are likely to be on a specific server hosting data.

The blockchain is essentially a decentralized distributed ledger database, which itself is a series of data blocks generated using cryptographic correlations. Each data block contains information for validating multiple online transactions.

The rebellious new age system that can turn over world economy and set us all free from government pressure

In simple words, blockchain is transparent and good opportunity among people who want to invest therein.

Online transparent bank

A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions.

The blockchain  is a public ledger that cannot be easily tampered with, giving it a built-in layer of protection that isn’t possible with a standard, centralized database of information.