Your first steps
Begin with “What is a blockchain?” and work toward “Your first blockchain knowledge check”. Each available lesson includes a visual explanation and a quick knowledge check.
Read in order or choose a topic below. Completion marks stay in this browser. All 20 lessons in this track are available.
- 01
What is a blockchain?
A shared notebook that lots of computers check together.
5 MIN READ - 02
What is Ethereum?
A shared computer that anyone can use and anyone can check.
5 MIN READ - 03
What is a digital ledger?
A record of who owns what, or what changed, kept as data.
4 MIN READ - 04
Why do computers need to agree?
The order of valid updates can change the answer.
4 MIN READ - 05
What makes a block a block?
A batch of ordered transactions plus information needed to check it.
4 MIN READ - 06
How are blocks linked?
Each new block points to the fingerprint of its parent.
4 MIN READ - 07
What is a transaction?
An authorized instruction asking Ethereum to update its state.
4 MIN READ - 08
What does decentralization mean?
Control and verification are spread across participants.
4 MIN READ - 09
Who can use Ethereum?
The protocol is open, while individual services can set their own conditions.
4 MIN READ - 10
Who owns Ethereum?
No company owns the protocol in the way a company owns its private app.
4 MIN READ - 11
Ethereum versus the internet
Ethereum uses the internet; it does not replace the whole thing.
4 MIN READ - 12
Ethereum versus Bitcoin
Two networks with different designs, assets and trade-offs.
4 MIN READ - 13
What can a blockchain prove?
It can verify rule-following records, but external claims need extra trust.
4 MIN READ - 14
What a blockchain cannot prove
Correct execution does not make every input truthful or every outcome useful.
4 MIN READ - 15
Public does not mean anonymous
Addresses are pseudonyms, and public activity can reveal connections.
4 MIN READ - 16
What is a network fee?
A charge for the network resources used to process an action.
4 MIN READ - 17
What is an Ethereum account?
An entry in Ethereum’s state, identified by an address.
4 MIN READ - 18
Reading your first block explorer page
Learn the labels before treating a receipt as a complete story.
4 MIN READ - 19
A tour of the Ethereum ecosystem
The protocol, its interfaces and its applications form different layers.
4 MIN READ - 20
Your first blockchain knowledge check
Put the shared notebook, its rules and its limits together.
3 MIN READ