Blockchain technology has been around for a long time, and it was a hot topic a few years ago. However, I have always been confused about the technology involved. Recently, I came across a blog called XLog that uses blockchain technology (https://xlog.app/), so I took this opportunity to organize my knowledge and dispel the confusion in my mind.
Stereotypes#
Here are some characteristics that I have come across and understood after a brief introduction to related topics. These characteristics form the basis for understanding the content. If the understanding is not accurate, it can be confusing, and if there are errors, it can lead to deeper confusion. Although I am not involved in this field, it is still valuable to build a basic understanding of these characteristics in order to be able to understand related articles or use related products.
Decentralization#
The first time I came across the term "decentralization" was with ZeroNet (https://github.com/HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet). I installed it out of curiosity when I saw it trending on GitHub. My impression was that it took up a lot of local space and the speed was not ideal. So, my impressions of decentralization are as follows:
- Takes up space
- Slow speed
Blockchain#
The basic concept of blockchain mainly comes from articles related to Bitcoin. Here are my impressions:
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Blockchain is like a linked list, with HASH pointers connecting the blocks together.
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Content integrity is ensured through asymmetric encryption.
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Proof of work is used to prevent tampering with the blockchain.
Wallets & Exchanges#
When I tried to use virtual currency (recharge ChatGPT), I encountered some problems, which left the following impressions:
- Wallet address
- Exchange: for cryptocurrency trading
- Different networks exist
- The same cryptocurrency can exist in different networks (USDT)
- High transaction fees
- Wallet support is limited, depending on whether the wallet itself has implemented the necessary support
Ethereum#
- Gas fees
- Proof of stake (POS)
- Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
- Smart contracts
Organization and Addressing Doubts#
😐Understanding Decentralization#
Currently, I haven't come across anything that contradicts my initial impression. Decentralization is an inefficient solution, but it has its advantages in other aspects.
🤔The Validity of the Statement that 51% of the Computing Power in Proof of Work (POW) Determines Consensus#
At first, I was a bit confused. In my mind, I imagined that there would be a contagious effect, and when I created a malicious block and broadcasted it, other miners would follow my block and create blocks afterwards, as shown in the following diagram:
Of course, this idea is wrong. A malicious block should not be broadcasted in order to achieve its goal. When I broadcast it, I am actually creating a normal block because I cannot forge a consumer's spending without the consumer's private key. If I were to forge it, it would not propagate to other nodes because it would not comply with the rules. I can only rely on my own computing power to exceed 50%. The branching phenomenon I imagined is actually a normal forking problem in a decentralized network, not a malicious attack.
🤔Ethereum Virtual Machine and Smart Contracts#
These two concepts are not difficult to understand. In a blockchain, each block can carry data, and this data can also be executable bytecode. Smart contracts are executable programs in this environment.
🤔Proof of Stake (POS) Mechanism#
Simply put, proof of work relies on computing power to determine consensus, while proof of stake relies on the amount of money to determine consensus. To break the rules, one needs to have enough money.
😑What Does the Network Displayed in Wallets Mean?#
A virtual currency network refers to a decentralized network composed of a group of computer nodes distributed around the world that supports virtual currency transactions.
Just looking at this definition of a network, there shouldn't be anything difficult to understand. However, after making my first virtual currency transaction, I found that many tokens are under the Ethereum main network, which gave me the illusion that all transactions can be completed in this network. Simply put, different networks are two unrelated things. Please use the appropriate network for currency transactions.
😑Gas Fees#
The fixed pricing of these fees makes me feel that virtual currency is not user-friendly for small transactions. The high fees make me feel that using virtual currency in daily life is probably a pseudo-demand. It is more suitable as an asset, like gold.
About Nodes#
So far, I have tried not to get caught up in the details to build some intuitive thinking about blockchain-related topics. However, there is one thing that I can't get past in my mind, and that is nodes. For a centralized service, it is not necessary to understand the servers, but for a decentralized node, not understanding it makes me doubt the security of this decentralized network.
Cost of Configuring Nodes#
From the official documentation, I can see some basic resource requirements:
Node Distribution#
Clients - ethernodes.org - The Ethereum Network & Node Explorer
Where is the Blog Data in XLog?#
Finally, returning to the XLog blog website, if you check the personal homepage, you will find an identity indicator at the bottom:
Note that there is an IPFS address here. IPFS is a distributed storage, so the data is stored here. For more information on how this storage works, you can refer to this link:
After that, by finding the transaction record of the first blog post through the wallet, you can find the corresponding blog post data using this IPFS address:
Conclusion#
Generated by Notion AI
In this article, the author organizes their understanding of blockchain technology, including decentralization, blockchain, wallets and exchanges, Ethereum, and other common concepts. They also address some doubts they had while learning about blockchain technology and their concerns about nodes. This article provides a basic understanding and interpretation of blockchain technology for beginners.