Читать книгу Bitcoin For Dummies - Peter Kent - Страница 47

It is possible to build encrypted blockchains and encrypt data within a blockchain. For example, it is possible to create encrypted blockchains that obscure the transaction data, such as the Zcash blockchain, and some blockchains used for purposes other than cryptocurrencies may be encrypted. In general, though, cryptocurrency blockchains are not encrypted — the Bitcoin blockchain is not — so anyone can read the transactions stored within them.

No, the cryptography in cryptocurrency isn’t used to encrypt the data in the blockchain, it’s used to sign messages that you send to the blockchain. These messages are the ones that trigger transactions and updates to the blockchain ledger. We’ll explain this signing process in a moment, but to understand that, you have to understand a little about the magical keys.