How does a blockchain work? Try it yourself.
No theory first: type, mine and break a tiny blockchain right here in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere and no real coins are involved.
1. A hash: the fingerprint of data
The SHA-256 fingerprint below changes completely if you change even one letter. You cannot guess the text back from the fingerprint.
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2. Blocks linked by fingerprints
Each block stores its data, a number called the nonce, and the fingerprint of the block before it. A block is "mined" when its fingerprint starts with 000. Change data in block 2 and watch blocks 2, 3 and 4 turn red. Then press Mine to repair them one by one.
3. Why nobody can secretly change it
- Every block points to the one before. Changing an old block changes its fingerprint, which breaks every block after it.
- Repairing costs work. Each broken block must be mined again. Here it takes a second; on a real network it would take enormous computing power or stake.
- Thousands of copies. Real blockchains are copied on thousands of computers. A faked copy does not match the others and is ignored.
- That is why you can check, not trust. Tools like the Token Checkup read this public data so you can verify things yourself.
This is a simplified teaching model. Solana, which $MAIGA runs on, uses proof of stake and proof of history instead of this kind of mining, but the idea of chained, verifiable data is the same.