--- title: Cryptography in Blockchain | daily.dev description: Blockchain achieves trustless operation through cryptography rather than central authority. Hashing transforms data into fixed-size, irreversible fingerprints... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/cryptography-in-blockchain-1s0ui8tut twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Cryptography in Blockchain | daily.dev og:description: Blockchain achieves trustless operation through cryptography rather than central authority. Hashing transforms data into fixed-size, irreversible fingerprints... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/cryptography-in-blockchain-1s0ui8tut og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1s0UI8TUT.png og:image:alt: Cryptography in Blockchain og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Cryptography in Blockchain **[Coins Bench](https://daily.dev/sources/coinsbench)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Blockchain achieves trustless operation through cryptography rather than central authority. Hashing transforms data into fixed-size, irreversible fingerprints used for verification. SHA-256, the hash function used in Bitcoin, produces a 256-bit output and is designed to be collision resistant. Merkle trees efficiently represent many transactions with a single root hash, enabling lightweight nodes to verify individual transactions without storing the full chain. Blocks are linked via hash pointers in a chain structure, giving blockchain integrity, memory, and security. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the difference between hashing and encryption in blockchain? Encryption hides data so only an authorized party can read it, while hashing transforms data into a fixed-size, irreversible output used purely for verification rather than secrecy. Hashing acts like a fingerprint: the same input always produces the same output, and a tiny input change produces a completely different hash, making it ideal for confirming data integrity without revealing the original content. _daily.dev surfaces explainers like this for developers building intuition around blockchain security fundamentals._ ### Why does blockchain use SHA-256 specifically for hashing? SHA-256 is used because it produces a fixed 256-bit output regardless of input size, making hashes easy to store, compare, and verify, and because it is collision resistant, meaning finding two inputs that produce the same hash is computationally infeasible with current technology. It is valued for being predictable and public, not secret, which is exactly what verification requires. Bitcoin is one system that relies on it. _Developers comparing hash functions for security-critical systems can track deep dives like this on daily.dev._ ### How do Merkle trees let lightweight blockchain nodes verify transactions without storing the whole block? Merkle trees hash transactions, pair and re-hash them repeatedly, producing a single Merkle root at the top that represents every transaction in a block. To verify one transaction, a node only needs a small path within the tree rather than all transactions, and any change to a single transaction changes the Merkle root, which is why lightweight nodes can verify data securely without storing everything. _For those designing efficient verification schemes, daily.dev collects practical breakdowns of Merkle tree mechanics._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Hashing and Digital Signatures: The Two Ideas That Make Blockchain Trustworthy \(Part 3 of 10\)](https://daily.dev/posts/hashing-and-digital-signatures-the-two-ideas-that-make-blockchain-trustworthy-part-3-of-10--jesen0qus) · Coins Bench · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [When doomed stubs attack: blockchain voting and proof of work — Bitfield Consulting](https://daily.dev/posts/when-doomed-stubs-attack-blockchain-voting-and-proof-of-work-bitfield-consulting-nx5ghgrzk) · Bitfield Consulting · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Understanding Merkle Trees](https://daily.dev/posts/understanding-merkle-trees-hdm0urani) · Kirupa · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [What Is a Blockchain, Really? \(Part 1 of 10\)](https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-blockchain-really-part-1-of-10--eva8kogzp) · Coins Bench · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#blockchain](https://daily.dev/tags/blockchain), [#cryptography](https://daily.dev/tags/cryptography) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/cryptography-in-blockchain-1s0ui8tut) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Cryptography in Blockchain","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cryptography-in-blockchain-1s0ui8tut","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/cryptography-in-blockchain-1s0ui8tut"},"datePublished":"2026-07-15T12:45:00.610Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:12:27.999Z","description":"Blockchain achieves trustless operation through cryptography rather than central authority. 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