This is a tool for creating a SHA256 hash of any data you want. Enter your data in the box below and click generate hash.
SHA256 is a cryptography method which creates a fixed length hash from a data source of any size. It is only one way so you can never go backwards and get the data from the hash which is very important as you’ll see. The other important factor is if you try changing just one letter of the input you’ll get a completely different hash output which is unrelated in any way to the previous hash. Finally the SHA256 algorithm is a maths calculation so it never changes. If you put “test” into any SHA256 function you’ll always get back a hash ending 00A08, which is a good way for developers to see if it is working 🙂
SHA256 is used primarily in our system as a means of mining. This is a two step process, we first take the latest block of data from the blockchain (see an example at
https://blockchain.jsecoin.com) and we create a hash of this data. We then convert the binary data in to hex string (turning 101010100 in to text) and send it out to the miners that are currently connected to the network.
https://jsecoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sha256-1-1024x539.jpgThe miners take this PreHash as we call it and add a random number called a nonce to the end. They then rehash this data and get a completely different value. If the value of the new hash contains leading zeros i.e. it starts with 000000 we submit it to the servers. The lowest value hash with the most leading zeros is chosen to secure the blockchain. The hash is written to the block and also to the next block in sequence providing a continuous chain of blocks… hence the name.
In a traditional cryptocurrency like Bitcoin the miner that finds the lowest value hash gets all the rewards for that block. This creates an ultra-competitive system where the more mining power and electricity you consume the more chance you have of winning each blocks mining reward. Bitcoin’s electrical consumption is now greater than all the people in Ireland and could hit 0.5% of world consumption by the end of the year. This is obviously unsustainable and unethical. The JSEcoin system distributes hashes randomly across all miners connected to the network. This means there is no financial incentive to link up high powered equipment and this is how we have created a blockchain with a minimal carbon footprint.
