ABSTRACT
Many people associate blockchain with Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin is probably the most prominent example of applied blockchain technology, there is certainly more to blockchain than cryptocurrency. All bitcoin transactions are broadcast to the Bitcoin network and usually begin to be confirmed onto the Bitcoin blockchain within 10–20 minutes as the result of a process called bitcoin mining. Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key or seed, which is used to sign bitcoin transactions, providing a mathematical proof that they have come from the owner of the bitcoin wallet. All bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the Bitcoin network, which means any Bitcoin participant may see the balance at, and transactions relating to, any Bitcoin address. Bitcoin has started a revolution with the introduction of the very first fully decentralised digital currency, and the one that has proven to be extremely secure and stable from a Bitcoin network and protocol point of view.
