A record of financial transactions that cannot be changed, only appended with new transactions.
However, the participants’ identities remain anonymous.
Public ledgers were used much prior to the birth of digital assets, but have risen more in prominence since the crypto markets roared to life.
Both parties involved in a cryptocurrency transaction can verify the details on the ledger.
This means they have oversight on the network, on the people who use it, and whether transactions are genuine.
There are many challenges in using a ledger.
The nature of blockchain requires every transaction to be recorded on the network — and there can also be security concerns.
These relate to fears that hackers, governments and security agencies can track public records and information about network participants.
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