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Andrew Groot
75 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
75 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
# Overview
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Bitcoin Cash is a decentralized cryptocurrency with a public distributed ledger.
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Transactions are validated and transmitted over the Bitcoin Cash peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and stored in the [blockchain](/protocol/blockchain).
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Bitcoin Cash utilizes the Proof-of-work timestamping scheme with SHA-256 hash function, and targets a 10-minute block time.
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It also utilizes the secp256k1 parameters with ECDSA and Schnorr algorithm for digital signatures.
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The ticker symbol for Bitcoin Cash is BCH.
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## Design
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```mermaid
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graph RL
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subgraph b0 [Block N-1]
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end
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subgraph b1 [Block N]
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hs1(Hash)
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ph1(Prev_Hash)
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ts1(Timestamp)
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mr1(Merkle Root)
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end
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subgraph b1_t [Merkle Tree]
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Hash0
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Hash1
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Hash2
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Hash3
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Hash01
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Hash23
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mr(Root)
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end
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subgraph b2[Block N+1]
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end
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classDef block fill: #AAA
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class b0,b1,b2 block
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b2 --> hs1
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ph1 --> b0
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mr --> mr1
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Hash01 --> mr
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Hash23 --> mr
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Tx0 --> Hash0
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Tx1 --> Hash1
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Tx2 --> Hash2
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Tx3 --> Hash3
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Hash0 --> Hash01
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Hash1 --> Hash01
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Hash2 --> Hash23
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Hash3 --> Hash23
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```
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Bitcoin Cash operates on the blockchain which is distributed among the Bitcoin Cash network.
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[Transactions](/protocol/blockchain/transaction) in Bitcoin are submitted to network nodes, which will [validate the transaction](/protocol/blockchain/transaction-validation) against the transaction history in the blockchain.
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Once transactions are considered valid, they will be grouped into blocks through [Merkle Trees](/protocol/blockchain/block/merkle-tree).
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Through rigorous hash computation, blocks can be mined into the blockchain by the network nodes and are subsequently broadcast to the Bitcoin Cash network.
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The blockchain serves as the public ledger for Bitcoin Cash.
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It consists of one single chain of blocks and each block contains the hash of its previous block.
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Due to the characteristics of hash functions, the content of any block cannot be altered without changes to all its subsequent blocks.
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The time and computation intensity of such change is near impossible.
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Therefore, the transaction history in the blockchain can be considered immutable even with public access.
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The transactions on the Bitcoin Cash is pseudonymous.
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The blockchain does not keep records of coin ownerships for users.
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Instead, each transaction refers to the unspent outputs of previous transactions.
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The outputs of the transaction is then locked through [locking scripts](/protocol/blockchain/transaction/locking-script) and whoever holds the correct [unlocking scripts](/protocol/blockchain/transaction/unlocking-script) can use the outputs in their future transactions.
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The Bitcoin Cash network is an ad-hoc decentralized network of volunteers, in which Bitcoin Cash transactions are transmitted and validated.
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Messages on the network are usually broadcast on a best-effort basis.
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The consensus of the blockchain is achieved through the proof-of-work mechanism, in which the chain with the most work is agreed on.
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