My approach is to get the basics down before tackling new concepts.
To prove that a transaction is in a particular block, you only need a small number of hashes along the path from that transaction to the Merkle root. The number grows logarithmically with the number of transactions.
The advantage of a Merkle tree is that a single, very short root hash can “lock in” thousands of transactions, and any change to even one of them will be detected.
The header of every $BTC block records a Merkle root that summarizes all the transactions in that block.
Did you know this already?
To prove that a transaction is in a particular block, you only need a small number of hashes along the path from that transaction to the Merkle root. The number grows logarithmically with the number of transactions.
The advantage of a Merkle tree is that a single, very short root hash can “lock in” thousands of transactions, and any change to even one of them will be detected.
The header of every $BTC block records a Merkle root that summarizes all the transactions in that block.
Did you know this already?