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Generic elements of the blockchain

You can visualize the structure of a Chromia blockchain with the help of the following diagram:

  • Transaction: A transaction is the basic unit of a blockchain. Transactions are ordered and grouped into blocks during consensus.
  • Block: A block comprises multiple transactions and other elements, such as the previous block hash (hash pointer), timestamp, and signature. As every block includes the previous block's hash, it's impossible to change one block without the appropriate changes to each of the following blocks.
  • Merkle Root: The hash of all transactions in a block. You can use a merkle tree and merkle root to quickly verify if a transaction is present in a specific block.