Blockchain Basics — Learning hub
A reference hub for blockchain fundamentals — the shared concepts behind how blockchains work.
This hub focuses on shared concepts rather than any single network, so the same mental model applies across different blockchains.
Use it to get oriented before exploring modules, glossary terms, and guides that build on a consistent system-level view.
Use this hub as a reference, or take the one-hour track for a guided mental model.
A guided orientation through the core ideas of how blockchains work. This overview helps you build a mental model and shared vocabulary before exploring details at your own pace.
You'll leave with an end-to-end mental model.
The path you'll follow:
All pages are standalone — you can jump in anywhere.
Each module focuses on one structural layer of the blockchain stack. Together, they form a system-level view of how blockchains work.
Modules can be explored in any order. Guided paths are optional.
~10 min
From wallet to mempool to block: how transactions are formed, propagated, ordered, and baked into the ledger.
Key concepts
~12 min
How ledgers represent account balances or UTXO-style outputs, why execution layers read and write structured state, and how snapshots propagate.
Key concepts
~11 min
The people and infrastructure that keep a blockchain alive, from gossiping nodes to validators, light clients, and RPC endpoints.
Key concepts
~12 min
How nodes agree on the next block, how finality keeps history from rewinding, and how fork-choice rules rank competing blocks.
Key concepts
~10 min
Gas fees, fee markets, MEV, and incentive structures that align (or misalign) users, validators, and protocol designers.
Key concepts
~12 min
Smart contracts, programming languages, and the execution environments that make on-chain programs composable.
Key concepts
~9 min
Rollups, data availability choices, and other strategies that extend capacity while keeping the base layer intact.
Key concepts
Standalone deep-dives. Read any one without starting the track.
Transactions collect into blocks that update shared blockchain state.
Nodes gossip blocks, sync state, and feed consensus protocols that deliver finality.
Execution layers read state, run smart contracts, and report gas fees and incentives.
Scaling strategies extend throughput while preserving base-layer security and settlement.
How individual transactions are propagated, ordered into blocks, and finalized into an irreversible shared history.
How execution updates state, how nodes synchronize changes, and why state representation affects performance and reliability.
How account models, UTXOs, and storage layouts shape smart contract execution and composability.
How networks resolve competing blocks, choose canonical chains, and provide safety guarantees against reorgs.
How fee markets and rewards align validators, users, and protocol designers under resource constraints.
How Layer 2 systems extend throughput while preserving base-layer security and settlement guarantees.
Quick definitions. Use while reading — not required.
A replicated ledger where many nodes agree on history by adding blocks.
Read the glossary entryA signed instruction that moves value or data from one account to another.
Read the glossary entryA bundle of transactions plus metadata that becomes part of the shared ledger.
Read the glossary entryAny software instance that participates in networking, consensus, or data serving.
Read the glossary entryThe process that narrows down conflicting blocks into a single chain.
Read the glossary entryA guarantee that a block cannot be reverted without violating consensus.
Read the glossary entryA deterministic method nodes use to pick which chain to build on.
Read the glossary entryThe cost paid to validators for including a transaction in a block.
Read the glossary entryCode deployed on-chain that runs deterministically when triggered by a transaction.
Read the glossary entryThe environment where nodes process contract calls, update storage, and emit logs.
Read the glossary entryThe process of importing the latest state and headers so a node catches up.
Read the glossary entryA guarantee that block data is published so light clients can verify it.
Read the glossary entryA scaling approach that splits state and execution across multiple chains.
Read the glossary entryThe limited capacity inside each block for transactions and smart contract calls.
Read the glossary entry