Blockchain and the problem of provenance
区块链技术和所有权问题
Blockchain is the technology that makes the NFT revolution possible, so understanding it is key.
正是区块链技术使NFT革命成为可能，因此，了解区块链技术是关键。
Oftentimes, the easiest way to wrap your head around a complicated new invention is to start with the question: “What problem was this designed to solve?” When it comes to blockchain, the answer is the problem of provenance. That is, the history of ownership.
通常，在理解一个复杂的新概念时，最简单的方式就是提这样一个问题：它试图解决什么问题？而区块链技术，要解决的则是所有权的问题。即，所有权的历史。
Blockchain is a digital “living ledger” that grows each time it is used for something. Generally, this “use” will be a financial transaction. Blockchain cannot be altered inappropriately, and it cannot be forged or counterfeited. A blockchain exists electronically, and requires a digital record—powered by a computer server—to maintain the integrity of its living ledger. Each time a transaction occurs, that transaction is recorded on this digital ledger. This ledger is transparent, so any participant in the technology can see it, and can verify that it happened. The transactions are also time-stamped and irreversible. (There are no “returns” in the world of block-chain. A transaction can’t be reversed, recalled, or undone. Something can be sold and resold, but there is no “undo” button.) Blockchain transactions also have the quality of “unanimity”—that is to say, all participants in the network agree to the validity and binding nature of all blockchain transactions.
区块链是数字化的账本，随着应用而不断增加。普遍来讲，这个用途是用于转账。区块链不能被篡改，也不能被伪造。区块链以电子形式存在，需要电子记录——一般由计算机服务提供——来维持电子账本的可靠性。每当一笔转账发生时，这笔交易就被记录在电子账本上。这个账本是透明的，因此任一位参与此交易的人员都可见，也能证明转账的确发生。转账同时也是有时间戳，不可逆的。（在区块链世界里是没有“回头路”的。一笔转账无法被退回，收回或是取消。可以售卖或是再次售卖，但是没有取消按钮。）区块链转账也需要共识——即，网络中所有的参与者需要承认交易的有效性。
Blockchain transactions are secure because everyone involved in the chain is also involved in verifying the transactions. (This is sort of like if everyone using a physical piece of currency—like the US dollar—was also involved in checking bills for authenticity, and likewise making sure all bills were being legally used by the last person who had obtained them through a transaction.) Blockchain-backed currencies and tokens prevent forgery and fakery because of this kind of technological transparency. If someone tried to tamper with a block on a blockchain, every other user of the same blockchain would immediately know. This would be like if a counterfeiter bleached a $1 bill and reprinted the design of a $100 bill on top of it; everyone using that currency would immediately know. This is one reason that—although it runs on digital technology—a blockchain can’t be “hacked” in the way a computer network can.
区块链转账是安全的，因为区块链中所有的参与者都参与确认这笔交易。（这类似于每个人都使用纸币时——比如美元——也在验证货币的真实性，即确保在交易中最后一位使用货币的人是合法地使用。）基于区块链发生的货币可以避免伪造是因为这一技术是透明的。如果有人试图在区块链上篡改一个区块，那么在区块链上的所有人会立即马上知道。这好比如果有人漂白了一张1美元的纸币，在上面再次打印了100美元的面额在上面；每个用那张纸币的人会立即知道。这就是区块链尽管运行在数字技术上，却无法被黑客攻击的原因。
Furthermore, most blockchain networks are getting bigger all the time, adding more users to the chain; this makes transactions on the chain safer and safer, because there are always more users who would notice if anything were amiss.
进而，大部分的区块链网络都在越长越大，在链上增加了更多的用户，这也让链上的交易越来越安全，因为出错时，会有更多用户发现。
To best understand the technology, it may be helpful to consider blockchain’s most prominent example, which is definitely Bitcoin. The blockchain that runs Bitcoin was created by a mysterious person (or persons) known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.” In creating his cryptocurrency, Nakamoto devised a way that the history of each Bitcoin would be verified electronically with a digital timestamp, and a record of each Bitcoin would be maintained in an electronic ledger. What would power this ledger? The answer is Bitcoin mining.
要想理解区块链技术，最好的方式就是用区块链最突出的应用案例——比特币来理解。运行比特币的区块链是由一个名叫“中本聪”的神秘人士创造的。在创造他的货币时，中本聪发明了这样一种方式，即每一个比特币都有一个数字时间戳，每获得一枚比特币都会有一条记录。是什么为这一账本提供动力？答案是比特币挖矿。
Nakamoto designed his system such that the record of all Bitcoin transactions could be decentralized and maintained by a network of computers around the world that were actively “mining” Bitcoins. We use the word mining, but what these computers are actually doing is solving a series of complex mathematic problems that then maintain the chain of transactions in the Bitcoin ledger. (Why would anyone do this mining? Because the miners are rewarded periodically for this work with new Bitcoins of their own.) There are some downsides to this model, such as environmental implications—which we’ll address—but as a system for maintaining the integrity of Bitcoin, this mass collaboration/verification model works well.