When you are starting to learn more about Bitcoins and other cryptocurrency, it is common to find unfamiliar terms that seem difficult to understand. Two of the terms you are sure to come across are sidechains and blockchains. Let’s look at what each of these is and how they work.
The Blockchain
A blockchain is essentially a digitized public ledger that has been decentralized and that records all cryptocurrency transactions. The ledger will continue to grow as various blocks are completed. The blocks are the most recent transactions that have occurred on the system. These blocks are added to the blockchain in chronological order, which will make it easier to keep track of without the need for any other type of centralized recordkeeping.
All of the computers that are connected to the network will have a copy of the blockchain, which gets downloaded to the computer automatically. The computers in the system are called nodes. While the concept of blockchains is starting to be used with a range of different industries today, it all started as a means to account for Bitcoin.
The purpose of the blockchain is to ensure that there are no fraudulent activities happening with the Bitcoin. One of the types of fraudulent activities that the blockchain helps to prevent is double spending, which means spending the same bitcoins twice. The verification of all of the transactions ensures that double spending is not possible, and if someone were to attempt to do so, they would be caught relatively quickly.
Because the cryptocurrency is decentralized, it means that there is no larger body that oversees everything that is happening. There is no oversight. This is where the Bitcoin miners and the blockchain come into play. Everyone who is connected to the system is making these checks on the transactions as a means to verify them. The users of Bitcoin are the ones who take care of these validations to make sure the system is running properly.
This way, they do not have to rely on an outside party to take care of the verification. This also means that it is never just one person or entity that is doing the checking. It is many people. The individual blocks then become part of the blockchain, which is then verified by other Bitcoin users. The mining adds another block to the blockchain every ten minutes or so.
One of the fears that some people have when it comes to central banks is that those banks do not properly keep track of the transactions, or that they could be committing fraud knowingly. This has been known to happen on a number of occasions. Those who are considering getting into Bitcoin know that the system is safe in terms of fraud.
The Sidechain
The sidechain is considered to be quite a bit technological improvement to Bitcoin. While the idea for the sidechain is several years old, it was only recently that sidechains started to become a real possibility for Bitcoin. While they are new, if they prove to be successful, they could have a big affect on the prospects of the Bitcoin price. It is important to note that it is quite different from the blockchain, although they are related.
A sidechain is a way that will allow those who are using Bitcoin to move the coins to a different blockchain that has different features. They allow this to happen without the need to transfer funds that are on a bitcoin blockchain.
A new blockchain may have different functionality, for example, and the sidechain would be an easy way for the user to take advantage of this. The goal is to make the movements easier and to make them faster.
The sidechain will allow the users to provide proof that they are entitled to move the coins. It is important to note that when you are moving Bitcoins, you are not just moving generic coins. You are moving specific coins, as they will all have a private key. You will usually need to provide this key when you are moving the coins. However, there may be different protocols in place in some circumstances, and they may require a signature to make the move. While sidechains are available in Bitcoin, many believe that other currencies could benefit from the sidechains even more.
It is important to note that there are different types of sidechains that have been proposed in the past and that are in use today. They often have different types of security models. Some of the sidechains are decentralized, staying with the original goal of cryptocurrency, while others make use of a federation of notaries to make sure the transfers go off without a problem and that they are verified.
The sidechains, while they may have security protocols in place, are not considered to be as secure as what is found with Bitcoins main chain. There are many sidechains available today, and those who are interested in using them will want to research each individually to find out what it can offer and how it can work with the currency they have.
One of the side effects of sidechains that could occur is removing the need for altcoins. While there are many of these types of currencies on the market today, with the sidechains involved, it could eventually cause all of the value of these coins to return to Bitcoin.
The sidechains can enable new uses for the Bitcoin, which could mean that even more people start to join the Bitcoin bandwagon, which could also help to increase the value of Bitcoin.
As you can see, while blockchain and sidechains work together, they are not the same thing. Many of the terms involved with Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency can seem difficult to understand, but take the time to educate yourself on at least the basics so you have a beginner’s understanding of Bitcoin mining before you get started.
