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LEARN / Blockchain and shared state

Different chains. Shared questions.

Explore Bitcoin, Ethereum, Base, Solana, Circle Arc and ArcBlock Chain through transactions, authorization and settlement. Connect each design to the application around it.

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Choose a starting point

  1. 01
    From records to evidence

    Five questions about records, signatures, facts and consensus.

    Start with a concrete question5 questions
  2. 02
    Understand the layers of blockchain

    From shared state and consensus to chains, OCAP and DIDs.

    From mechanisms to systems18 questions
  3. 03
    Identity, permission and a way out

    Eight questions about accounts, credentials, delegation, recovery and migration.

    Understand control through everyday tasks8 questions
  4. 04
    Understand Bitcoin through a payment

    Follow spendable outputs, signing conditions and confirmations before comparing application designs.

    6 questions
  5. 05
    Understand Ethereum execution and settlement

    Trace a contract call, its execution cost and the settlement boundary of a rollup.

    11 questions
  6. 06
    Understand Solana accounts and instructions

    Identify program ownership, transaction boundaries and the role of ordering evidence.

    5 questions
  7. 07
    Explore Circle Arc and its application boundaries

    Learn USDC gas and network selection, then check portability and privacy status.

    8 questions
  8. 08
    Connect ArcBlock Chain to identity and applications

    Separate account identity, transaction authority and the runtime hosting an application.

    10 questions
  9. 09
    Understand Base from authorization to settlement

    Connect Ethereum accounts, L2 execution, fees and withdrawal.

    8 questions

Explore the connections

Each explanation stands on its own. “Builds on” links show the background it uses.

01

Blockchain and shared state

Concepts, products and related approaches

  1. What does a blockchain let participants agree on?

    Two requests can be signed correctly and still conflict. Their order matters.

  2. How does Bitcoin prevent an output being spent twice?

    Understand UTXOs, independent validation and accumulated work.

  3. What do hashes and signatures prove?

    Checking whether a file changed is different from checking who signed it.

  4. How does Ethereum change shared state?

    Separate execution rules from consensus.

  5. Why can’t a blockchain guarantee truthful inputs?

    Recording a claim and checking the event it describes are different jobs.

  6. How do Solana programs and accounts divide the work?

    Understand a chain through data and execution.

  7. When is a database enough?

    Identify the conflict that needs shared resolution before choosing a chain.

  8. Why is consensus more than PoW or PoS?

    Participation, fork choice and confirmation need separate answers.

  9. What does proof of work prove?

    A cheap-to-check result reflects a costly search.

  10. How does proof of stake organize validation?

    Stake and protocol duties are different from identity authentication.

  11. What does Byzantine fault tolerance tolerate?

    Faults can include conflicting messages, not just silence.

  12. Why does “immutable” need conditions?

    Receiving a transaction, including it in a block and finalizing history provide different evidence.

  13. How does Proof of History differ from consensus?

    Ordering evidence and acceptance of history are related but distinct.

  14. Which layer does OCAP unify?

    Unified chain access does not merge chains.

  15. How does ArcBlock Chain differ from ARC?

    Separate shared on-chain records from application execution.

  16. Must a DID depend on a blockchain?

    Identifiers and verifiable registries can combine without being synonyms.

  17. What is a smart contract?

    Code and state executed under a blockchain’s rules.

  18. Are dApps and Blocklets the same thing?

    Separate decentralization properties from application packaging and execution.

  19. How do crypto payments fit an application?

    Map network transaction state to an order without conflating them.

  20. What is decentralization?

    Look beyond machine counts to authority, rules and user choice.

  21. Who controls coordination?

    Separate shared rules, coordination services and ultimate authority.

  22. Can you switch services?

    Test whether records, identity and application relationships survive a move.

  23. What remains usable when a service closes?

    Separate exporting, verifying, continued access and running a replacement.

  24. Bitcoin UTXOs: where change comes from

    Follow one output through a payment and its change.

  25. Bitcoin Script: conditions for spending

    Distinguish spending conditions from application hosting.

  26. Ethereum gas: why failed calls still cost

    Separate execution work, transaction value and fees.

  27. Ethereum rollups: which confirmation matters?

    Distinguish an L2 response from settlement and withdrawal.

  28. Solana account ownership: who may edit data?

    Separate an owner program from a human holding a key.

  29. Solana transactions: several instructions, one result

    Learn atomic execution without assuming free failure.

  30. Circle Arc: a blockchain for stablecoin applications

    Understand the network, then distinguish it from ArcBlock ARC.

  31. Circle Arc gas: USDC pays for execution

    Distinguish a fee asset from a fixed fee promise.

  32. Circle Arc finality: what a committed block proves

    Separate consensus finality from application delivery.

  33. Circle Arc mainnet, testnet and official tools

    Find the correct network, explorer and test faucet.

  34. Porting to Circle Arc: what EVM compatibility leaves to check

    Check value semantics before reusing Ethereum code.

  35. Circle Arc privacy and personal data storage

    Separate confidential execution plans from a data space.

  36. ArcBlock transactions: envelope and operation

    Read the signed outer record and its typed inner operation.

  37. ArcBlock delegation: permission without sharing a key

    Understand operation-scoped delegation and revocation.

  38. ArcBlock accounts, wallets and DID

    Separate signing tools, ledger records and identifiers.

  39. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Circle Arc, Base and ArcBlock

    Compare state, execution and application responsibilities.

  40. Layer 2: what is inherited from Ethereum?

    Separate settlement dependence from a connection through a bridge.

  41. Base: an Ethereum Layer 2 in practice

    Follow the path from an L2 transaction to Ethereum.

  42. ArcBridge: connecting ArcBlock and Ethereum

    Understand the bridge without confusing it with an entire L2 chain.

  43. Ethereum and ArcBlock: applications and assets

    Compare responsibilities, then examine the bridge between them.

  44. ArcBlock Multi IO: several inputs and outputs, one transaction

    Compare a transfer format with a model of spendable outputs.

  45. Ethereum accounts: what does a signature authorize?

    Separate the wallet, account record, signed request and contract permission.