What Is Blockchain? A Simple Illustrated Guide to Its Basics and Bitcoin Connection
This article explains blockchain as a decentralized, public ledger that eliminates middlemen, outlines its relationship to Bitcoin, highlights cost‑saving potential for banks, compares it to traditional cloud computing, and contrasts it with centralized e‑currencies like Tencent's Q‑coin.
Bert has recently started learning about blockchain and now has a basic understanding of its concepts and operation.
He follows blockchain and Bitcoin out of curiosity rather than profit, and plans to share his knowledge in the future.
What is blockchain? What is its relationship with Bitcoin?
The following comic aims to clarify these questions.
Blockchain technology is a method where everyone participates in bookkeeping, essentially a massive shared ledger that replaces individual record‑keeping.
Because there is no centralized intermediary, transactions run automatically via pre‑defined programs, dramatically lowering costs, increasing efficiency, and ensuring transparent, public records.
Blockchain is the underlying technology of Bitcoin; Bitcoin operates without any central authority and has run stably for years, prompting the extraction of its core principles into what we now call blockchain or distributed ledger technology.
A report by Spain's Santander bank estimates that if all global banks adopted blockchain around 2020, annual cost savings could reach roughly $20 billion, underscoring its transformative potential for traditional finance.
While cloud computing provides scalable, often virtualized resources through centralized providers, blockchain networks lack a specific governing entity, making them closer to distributed computing systems.
Q‑coin is a centralized electronic currency controlled by Tencent, whereas Bitcoin is a decentralized digital (cryptographic) currency whose supply and issuance are fixed by code and cannot be altered by any single party.
After viewing the comic, readers should have a clearer understanding of what blockchain is and how it relates to Bitcoin.
Source: compiled from China Securities Journal, OKLink Blockchain, and the public account “Haogetalks”.
Signed-in readers can open the original source through BestHub's protected redirect.
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