Hash value
[1] Antonopoulos, A. (2015) Mastering Bitcoin Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies
[2] Heines, R. (2017): Blockchain Technology Applications: A Conceptual Framework from a Supply Chain Perspective
[3] Swan, M. (2015): Blockchain Blueprint for a new economy
A hash is a 64-byte code that is used in the Blockchain technology to encrypt and link the blocks or as an identification for the participants [1].
The hash of a block consists of three parts [2]:
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Previous Header: The hash value of the previous block guarantees that the blocks are connected to each other and cannot be changed, because every block is based on the previous block.
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Merkle Root: The Merkle Root is the result of bundled transactions that have been encrypted by the SHA-256 algorithm.
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Nonce: The Nonce is an 8-character numerical sequence that must be discovered by the miner to create the block. The nonce must be chosen in a way that the resulting hash starts with a certain number of zeros.
A hash function is a one-way function. With the knowledge of the three parts (Previous Header, Merkle Root, Nonce) it is easy to create a hash. However, if the nonce is unknown, it is only possible to find a suitable nonce by generating random combinations of numbers [3].
