WHAT IS MERKLE TREE

A Merkle tree, also known as a binary hash tree, is a data structure used in blockchain technology to efficiently summarize and verify large sets of transactions. It was invented by Ralph Merkle in 1987 and is used to verify the authenticity and integrity of data in a decentralized network.

In a Merkle tree, each leaf node represents a transaction, and each non-leaf node represents a hash of its child nodes. The root node of the tree represents a single hash that summarizes all of the transactions in the tree. When a new block is added to the blockchain, its transactions are organized into a Merkle tree, and the root hash of the tree is included in the block header.

The advantage of using a Merkle tree is that it allows for efficient and secure verification of large sets of transactions. When a node in the network receives a block, it can quickly verify the authenticity of the transactions by checking the root hash of the Merkle tree against the hash in the block header. This reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and verified, making it more efficient for nodes in the network to reach consensus on the validity of the transactions.

Merkle trees are an important component of blockchain technology, as they enable the efficient and secure verification of transactions in decentralized networks, helping to ensure the reliability and integrity of the data stored in the blockchain.