Blockchain 101 for dummies-Solana's BULBapp
If you don't know anything about what blockchain is, I suggest you read this blog (extended version) it would save you hours of research on the internet to learn what it is.
Blockchain concept in simple description:
Looking at the below diagram, you can see the fundamental concept of blockchain is that a "block" or "ledger" contains information in it, the information are transactions of coins/tokens or agreements of smart contracts, each block is linked to the next block in a chain with the hash codes in red (actually the cryptographic code should be 64 characters in real examples). When someone tried to change the information on the block, the "cryptographic hash function output" - "hash in red" will be changed immediately then the chain is broken and alerted everyone in the network that someone (a miner or validator or computer node) is cheating, because the associated computers in the network in the blockchain have the same original copies to compare, check and verify. So the network information is always real and secured, no one can change the information, that is what makes a blockchain so powerful for various applications.
Since the links are encrypted so the assets (coins/tokens) in each block are called cryptocurrency. The owner of the Cryptocurrency and its balance changes as the buy/sell/transfer instruction is executed and change hands, these transactions records are stores in a block. Each block store about 2000 transactions with approx 1 MB. When a block is filled with transactions, a new block is created to fill in new transactions, hence it generates the blockchain along time. The smart contracts are related to the minting of NFTs and its transactions records.
You can think of a block as a Microsoft spread sheet that record the different owners’ crypto assets (eg. SOL coins/BULB tokens/Bulbmojis NFTs/article NFTs) and details of the owners’ transactions, actually the computer program edit the cells in the spread sheet to reflect the transaction records change. The beauty of the blockchain is that the owners’ name are all anonymous they are all identified by wallet addresses (blockchain address) ONLY. All balances and the transactions are open and transparent for anyone to view.
How Fast each block generates?
For bitcoin each new block is created in every 10 minutes, Ethereum is 15 seconds, that’s is fast, well Solana is super-fast each block only takes 0.4 seconds to fill up with 65,000 transactions per second. That’s why BULBapp is built on the Solana blockchain, it can handle millions of users using the $BULB. Because of the economy of scale Solana charge BULBapp very little fees to execute the transactions for the BULBers to exchange their $BULB.
Each transaction only costs 0.00002 SOL approx. 0.002USD.
Solana is competing with Ethereum to be the fastest and most reliable blockchain in the world, and I think Solana will win because of the low costs, companies like BULBapp will switch to Solana blockchain.
Wallet address and signature key
Why the Hash is always 64 characters? This is because all cryptocurrency has the DNA of Bitcoin when it was first created. Coincidentally this Hash can be found on your BULBapp profile under your BULBer name. Mine is
AZXHgFzUSwrhSZEzhm5WuqfWA7zX8oBGwM6XZwWKoo7w
This is your wallet address, it is also known as the blockchain address. So each week’s Airdrop, BULBapp find you by this address and send you the earnings with $BULB, the transactions is stored in one of the Solana blocks. It is ok to give your wallet address to anyone for receiving tokens. It is very safe and secure only you can access to authorise the change with a signature key known as the private key, which is also 64 characters. When you buy BULB energy or NFT you type in your password XXXXXXXXXX the Cryptographic Hash function in the blockchain computer network generates the signature key with 64 characters long to access your wallet address.
If someone try to guess that key (64 characters with a combination of 10 numbers and 26 alphabet letters), he or she have to guess 36^64 times to get it right which bigger the size of our universe filled with sand with one grain of sand as one time, it even will take more than a million years to use a supercomputer to do all the guesses, so it is super secured.
Solana blockchain network security
Solana blockchain security is secured and transparent, all transactions information and owners' wallet addresses are open for access through SOLSCAN. <--If you click on this link,
You will see our $BULB supply and number of $BULB holders. Information is open to anyone to access to provide that transparency.
It is also very secure, If a hacker tried to change your wallet address to the hacker’s address the chain will be broken and alert all computers in the Solana network which has 3000 big computers to check, compare and verify the transactions and at-least 50% must agree, ie more than 1500 computers, this is call the consensus mechanism a process of comparing 3000 blockchain to see if there is any missing links, only 1501 blockchain agree to achieve consensus which implies the information is safe and secure. so it is unlikely that people able to cheat with the collaboration of 1501 computers.
Consensus mechanism
Solana has the most innovative consensus mechansim in the world, because it can compare, check and verify information by proof of history. Compare to Bitcoin's proof of work, Ethereum's proof of stake which is much slower.
See the below diagram, the central computer is where the Solana consensus mechanism is executed. The diagram is simplified with just 4 computer nodes to illustrate the point. In actual life the Solana network compares with all the same copies of 3000 blockchains to see if any blockchain is broken. That’s a lot of information to compare. However, Solana came up an innovation called Proof of History that it rises above as the fastest blockchain in the world.
Solana send packets of information back and forward extremely fast via its new innovative technology, and allow it to check and verify information super fast.
One game changer characteristic of a blockchain is decentralisation. Because the Blockchain cannot function without the consensus of all the computers in the network as they need to collaborate to secure the integrity of the transactions and ownership of the assets, so it forms a democratic system where all participants in the network have equal rights to control the network, not one party can dominate and change the protocol.
Not one entity can control it as compare to the Central entity of the Federal Reserves of America whom can print money out of thin air to increase money supply and induce inflation, whereas according to the Bitcoin protocol supply is limited to 21,000,000 and therefore produce upward pressure on price over time. The $BULB protocol is limited to 1 billion tokens, so when the use case of $BULB is established upward pressure on price will likewise manifest.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology is considered as Indutrial revolution 4.0, because it changes how we view money and economic system. Because the information storage is spread out to 3000 computers it is called a decentralised network no one can control all information.
Based on this foundation we derived Web 3.0 where everything is based on democratic vote with decentralisation with user owning largest portion of the wealth creation of the blockchain. Based on this concept BULBapp derived a decentralised blogging platform where owners own the wealth creation process, each BULBer do their job to construct this platform, with writers, readers, sharers, referrers, reporters and moderators, we all do our parts to maintain this platform as a innovative way to communicate and share knowledge.
If you have any questions feel free to drop a comment, I will answer for sure.
