YouTube video transcript (Ben Simpson) explaining blockchain and decentralization: blockchain is described as a distributed database/ledger where every participant holds a copy (avoiding single-point failure), making it tamper-resistant and highly secure; Bitcoin is presented as the first and "best" blockchain and an exemplar of this decentralization. The speaker connects these properties to why crypto is the future.
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Everyone is talking about crypto and blockchain, but no one actually knows or understands what blockchain is. If you own cryptocurrencies, they are all built on a different style of blockchain. Bitcoin was the first blockchain. It is the best blockchain. And every single different cryptocurrency has its own blockchain or it's built on another one. Alright? The best way to understand a blockchain is basically it is a database. So think about like a usb, right? You put files on your usb, you. That is where the database is held. If you lose that usb, it's gone forever. All right? With a blockchain, it's no longer just on one usb, it is on everyone's ability to access it. All right? So let's say Bitcoin, for example. Everyone that uses Bitcoin has a copy of that usb. So rather than just me holding all the data, everyone that uses bitcoin has a copy, all right? And if one of them goes down, it recreates itself because everyone else has a copy. This is what's called decentralization. Decentralization is when everyone has a copy, alright? Versus centralization, where there's just one. The way blockchains work and why they're so powerful is because if you think of a bank, right? You think about where you hold your money right now in a bank. If that bank was to go down or shut down or you know, not be able to give you your money anymore, it's all gone. Bitcoin and blockchain, if it was to go down, it recreates itself because everyone has a copy. That is why it is not able to be ever shut down. Because. Because everyone that owns Bitcoin has a copy of that blockchain. It is a ledger, all right? Every time a transaction is made, it is recorded every line. Think of it like a Google Doc or a Word Doc. It is created forever and it's never be able to be deleted, reduce, cut, altered at any point. It is the most secure database software network in the world. And that is why blockchain is so powerful. And that is why crypto is the future. The decentralization.
