A blockchain is, at heart, a shared notebook. Imagine a notebook that lives on thousands of computers at the same time. Whenever someone writes a new line in it, every copy updates within seconds, and every copy has to agree before the line is accepted. No single person owns the notebook, and no single person can quietly tear out a page.
That notebook is what we call a blockchain. The lines inside it are transactions — records that say this wallet sent this amount of Malairte to that wallet at this time. Once written and agreed on, those lines cannot be edited or deleted.
Why is it called a "chain"?
Transactions are grouped into blocks. Each block is stamped with a fingerprint of the block before it, so the blocks lock together in order, like links of a chain. If anyone tried to change a transaction from last week, every block after it would notice immediately, and the rest of the network would reject the change.
Who keeps the notebook safe?
This is where mining comes in. Computers running the Malairte software volunteer to check transactions and write the next block. In exchange for the electricity and effort, they earn newly minted Malairte. Because thousands of independent computers do this work, there is no central office to bribe or hack.
How is Malairte different from Bitcoin here?
The blockchain idea is the same, but the doorway is very different. Bitcoin today is mined by giant warehouses of specialised machines called ASICs. Ordinary people cannot meaningfully take part. Malairte is built so that an everyday PC — the kind you already own — can mine using its CPU or graphics card. The blockchain belongs to the people who use it.
What you should remember
- A blockchain is a shared, tamper-resistant ledger.
- It is kept by many computers, not one company.
- Malairte uses one to record every coin movement.
- You do not need to understand the maths to use it safely.
If that all made sense, you already know more about blockchains than most people. The rest of the Learn pillar builds gently on top of this idea.