I know I know, a few days back, these terms bewildered me as well. They were (and still are) suddenly all around the internet but WHY did they gain so much attention???!!

Let's understand them in a veryyy basic language :

BLOCKCHAIN :

So what IS a Blockchain? It's nothing more than "BLOCKS" + "CHAIN". Yeah!! I'm not even kidding.

Blockchain is a database(collection of data in some structured manner) that collects information in blocks and links them together in a chain form. Newly formed blocks are attached to the previous ones and they keep forming a chain. The new blocks have the address of the precious ones. You can literally access the oldest info stored in the blockchain as the date of formation of blocks is visible to the users.

DECENTRALISATION :

Decentralization is introduced to counter the ill-effects of centralization. Centralization consolidates the power to a single or specified group of people. For example : When you make money transactions to someone, the transaction process is controlled by the banks. They take some amount from you to complete your transaction. They have access to your personal information as well. They control the rates.

To counter this consolidation of power of decision-making , decentralization is important. Decentralization distributes the power of decision-making to a number of systems on the blockchain. These systems(nodes) make a common decision via consensus. All these nodes, through various techniques like cryptography, protocols etc., come to a common point and the decision is made. Through this method, one single entity cannot dominate the users or their data in any way.

In a decentralized blockchain(it is not necessary for a blockchain to be decentralized but both of these go strong together) , say Bitcoin, digital money transaction between two people has no third party in between. The transaction is controlled only by the two of them. No extra cost, no data breach, less chances of security threats and so on.

DECENTRALIZATION vs DISTRIBUTION :

Decentralization gives the power to various nodes whereas Distribution is simply the access of information to these nodes. Distribution can happen in a centralized network as well. All the systems can view the data but won't have any kind of authority to make any changes in it.

A blockchain with decentralization and distribution properties becomes stronger for the use. It :

• reduces the chances of online malicious attacks

• stores the data safely in various nodes, so even if a few nodes disappear or go bad, the other nodes store the same data.

• is harder to get attacked on by a single user as the consensus algorithm protects the data.

I hope these terms do not sound absurd to y'all anymore 😁

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Thanks Folks!!!! ✌️✌️