Blockchain

A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger technology (DLT) that immutably records transactions across a network of computers. It is structured as a growing list of "blocks," where each block contains a timestamped batch of transactions and a cryptographic hash of the previous block, creating an unbroken chain. This cryptographic linking ensures the integrity and security of the data, as altering any information in a past block would invalidate all subsequent blocks and be immediately detectable by the network's participants, requiring consensus from the majority to accept any change.