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Blockchain 101 - A Visual Demo

Blockchain 101 - A Visual Demo on HackerTube: recommended by 3 Hacker News commenters across 3 separate months, 2017–2025.

Anders Brownworth

tutorial · intro · evergreen

Open on YouTube

Anders Brownworth gives a basic visual introduction to blockchain using an interactive web demo, covering SHA256 hashes, blocks, chains, distribution, tokens and coinbase transactions.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN repeatedly recommends it as the best ground-up, non-hype introduction for people who want to understand what a blockchain actually is.

people recommended it
3
separate months
3
strong recommendations
2
discussed on HN
2017–2025
“It explains from ground up without getting complicated”
— andreasklinger, Oct 2017, in “Blockchains explained visually (part 1 of 2)”

What HN commenters said

6 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.

andreasklingerOct 2017Strongly recommends

My favorite: ▶ this video It explains from ground up without getting complicated - it basically demystifies the whole thing completely i give this to everyone - even to non technical people

in “Blockchains explained visually (part 1 of 2)” · View on HN

dave7Aug 2017Strongly recommends

This is much more basic than academic level, for which you could maybe start with the original Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin white paper? - but this video is a fantastic introduction ▶ this video

in “Storj: Not a Dropbox Killer” · View on HN

phnFeb 2018Recommends

If you're really wondering what a blockchain actually is, this video is a really good intro: ▶ this video If you want something a bit more hands-on, I'm currently following this course: [link] I have only made it through the first section, and it does a really good job of explaining the basics of Ethereum and what a smart contract actually is.

in “Ask HN: Would like to learn blockchain tech, where do I start? What to build?” · View on HN

glauconSep 2025Cites it

Great looking tool, thanks. Looking through your "Futures" on the README I do think ... "Add videos demonstrating common concepts and attacks (such as race attack, finney attack etc)." ... would certainly make it accessible to a wider audience which, given the amount of effort you've put in, seems like a good idea. Something like these two videos, only based on your tool, would be very good - to ▶ this video (Part 1), [link] (Part 2) .

in “Show HN: Demochain, a toy blockchain network that runs on the browser” · View on HN

agreenOct 2017Cites it

Intro: 1. [link] 2. [link] 3. [link] 4. ▶ this video 5. [link] 6. [link] Build Your Own Blockchain: 1. [link] 2. [link] 3. [link] Resource List for an Advanced Understanding (Multidisciplinary Approach): 1. [link] --- Additionally, here is some advice from Balaji Srinivasan (source: [link] ): 1. First, I'd master database and cryptography fundamentals, with something like Dan Boneh's course for the latter 2. Then, I'd read the Bitcoin.org and Ethereum documentation 3. Then, you should write short Python or Go scripts to do things like printing out the blockchain, formatting and signing a transaction by hand, managing private keys, that type of thing. This will give you a feel for the raw data structures. 4. After doing all this, I'd take a look at application libraries like Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali's new blockstack.org The reason I'd do it in this order is that you would learn fundamentals first before proceeding to the cutting edge.

in “Ask HN: Resources to learn blockchain and smart contracts?” · View on HN

fergazenMay 2017Cites it

In every post i've made it has been crystal clear I'm referring to "blockchain the data-structure"... The "consensus component" is an algorithm for detecting if one blockchain disagrees with other blockchains, and ignoreing it if it does. ▶ this video

in “Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1” · View on HN

Topics & tags

CryptographyAlgorithms & data structuresblockchainsha256hashingbitcoinvisual demo