Bitcoin & Blockchain explained for normal people

Blockchain and Bitcoin explained in a way your mom would understand

glen elkins
7 min readApr 6, 2018

It’s difficult to talk about blockchain when self-described “experts” thread each discussion with terse cultural & technical jargon like “HODL” and “proof-of-work.” If you’re a lay-person, you probably have no idea how to make sense of that. It’s probably easier to just assume “blockchain” and“Bitcoin” are things that only ultra-nerds and financial-types know about.

For the rest of us, it just doesn’t feel real. This overview aims to fix that.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a way to store information across a network of personal computers. Information on a blockchain can only “move forward,” meaning once something is recorded, it’s stored forever. Information can change on the blockchain, but the full history is open and available.

The blockchain concept relies on two main ideas: decentralization and distribution.

Centralized systems

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glen elkins

Front End dev + Solution Architect. Read The Web Performance Handbook — https://amzn.to/39dGsT9