Are you tired of hearing about all these fancy algorithms that make your head spin? But first, let’s take a step back and talk about what exactly is hashing.

Hashing is like taking a big chunk of data (let’s say your favorite cat video) and turning it into a shorter string of characters that represents the original content. This process is irreversible, meaning you can’t get the original data from just looking at the hash output. Hashing is used in blockchain cryptography to ensure transaction integrity, prevent double-spending, and secure mining processes.

Now some popular hashing algorithms that are commonly used in crypto: SHA-256 (used by Bitcoin), Keccak-256/Ethash (used by Ethereum), X11 (used by DASH), Scrypt (used by Litecoin), Blake256, Tiger, Groestl, and Lyra2rev2. These algorithms are designed to be one-way functions that provide robust collision resistance for crypto applications.

So how does hashing work in blockchain cryptography? Let’s take a look at Bitcoin as an example. When you send a transaction on the Bitcoin network, your wallet generates a hash output based on the input data (sender address, recipient address, and amount). This hash output is then added to the current block header along with other information like previous block hash, timestamp, and nonce value. The resulting block header hash is then used as the target for mining.

Mining involves finding a valid solution that generates a hash output below a certain difficulty threshold set by the protocol. This process ensures that new blocks are added to the chain in a decentralized manner without requiring any central authority or intermediary. Once a miner finds a valid solution, their transaction is verified and added to the blockchain.

Hashing also plays an important role in address generation for wallets. Public wallet addresses are generated by hashing public keys using a hash function like SHA-256. This process provides more convenient sharing of wallet addresses while maintaining security and privacy.