In recent years, blockchain technology is emerging as technological innovation and in all industry sectors. The transactions and data stored on the blockchain network are immutable and secured. Distributed ledger technology, including blockchain, uses hashing functions to secure the data.

To understand how Bitcoin works, it is necessary to explore the concept of hashing. Let us start with the concept, other related terminologies, and types of hash.

What is Hash in Blockchain Technology?

Hashing is a cryptography process for converting any data form into a unique text string. Irrespective of the type, scale, length, and size of the data, any data piece of data can be hashed. The output is as fixed length string.

With blockchain adopted for cryptocurrencies, it used a predetermined hashing algorithm for transactions of the same varying length. Length of input does not affect the hashing process. Output is called a Hash.

For example, Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA 256) is used in Bitcoin. SHA 256 always gives out a fixed length with a 256-bits length (32 bytes).

Hashing process ensures easy tracing or recalling of the transactions. Hash size depends on the hash function decided. In simple words, a YouTube video of 50 megabytes and a text message of 10 kilobytes would have the same length of 256-bits. The difference would be in the hash pattern.

Characteristics of hash functions in cryptography

For securing any cryptographic function, certain properties or characteristics are portrayed in hashing function. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin have unique hashing functions, making them different from other cryptocurrencies. Let us discuss these features.

For deep diving into the characteristics of hash functions, click:

https://blockchainshiksha.com/hash-in-blockchain/

This Article is first published on www.blockchainshiksha.com

Written by: Shubhada Pande