What Exactly Is a Blockchain? A Shared Public Ledger
The bottom line A blockchain is essentially a public, decentralized, extremely hard-to-tamper ledger. Think of it as a ledger book placed in a town square: everyone holds a copy; if someone wants to record an entry, most people must approve it, and once recorded, secretly changing it is nearly impossible. Understanding it through everyday life Imagine a village’s bookkeeping: Traditionally the village chief kept the books alone — whatever he wrote stood. That’s centralization. If the chief erred, or was bribed to alter records, no one could challenge him. ...