Cryptocurrency couldn’t exist without a technology that many have heard of, but few really understand. Blockchain is something of a buzzword these days and, from the outside, it can look dauntingly complicated. Surely this is something best left to the geeks, right?

Well, blockchain is indeed pretty complex, but that doesn’t mean it’s incomprehensible: it just needs some careful explanation. In this episode, we’ll begin to explore the subject of blockchain; what it is and what it’s designed to do. We’ll introduce a few terms that are useful to know in the world of crypto, but we’re going to keep things pretty simple today. The tricky stuff comes later!

A working knowledge of blockchain technology is an invaluable aid to understanding cryptocurrency. Once we start to talk about Bitcoin in later episodes, a little blockchain know-how will go a long way.

If you want to dig deeper into the wonders of blockchain, then there are a number of well-written and easy-to-understand books available. We found all of those below super-helpful when researching blockchain for this and later episodes.

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything (2018), by Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna

The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains (2018), by Anthony Lewis

Bubble or Revolution? (2021), by Neel Mehta, Adi Agashe and Parth Detroja

Blockchain Revolution (2016), by Don and Alex Tapscott

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeart Media: Noel Brown

Editor: Sam Moult

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