{"id":715,"slug":"is-blockchain-the-same-as-bitcoin","question":"Is blockchain the same as Bitcoin?","intent":"informational","language":"en","url":"https://worldwiki.io/q/is-blockchain-the-same-as-bitcoin","entity":{"slug":"blockchain","name":"Blockchain","url":"https://worldwiki.io/entity/blockchain"},"answer":{"short_answer":"No. A blockchain is the underlying data structure: a shared ledger of hash-linked blocks that can only be added to. Bitcoin is one application built on it, a cryptocurrency whose white paper was published on 31 October 2008 and whose first block was mined on 3 January 2009. Other public blockchains, such as Ethereum, run smart contracts. Permissioned platforms such as Hyperledger Fabric are used by known groups of organisations and do not need a public cryptocurrency.","detailed_answer":"<p>Bitcoin was the first large-scale public blockchain <span class=\"ref\">[6]</span>. Platforms such as Hyperledger Fabric use blockchain structures without mining. Their participants are known and identified <span class=\"ref\">[11]</span>.</p>","format":"paragraph","confidence":75,"verified_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23","updated_at":"2026-09-18 16:10:23"},"sources":[{"id":153,"title":"IR 8202, Blockchain Technology Overview","url":"https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/ir/8202/final","publisher":"National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:11"},{"id":154,"title":"Glossary: permissioned","url":"https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/permissioned","publisher":"NIST Computer Security Resource Center","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:11"},{"id":155,"title":"Glossary: permissionless","url":"https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/permissionless","publisher":"NIST Computer Security Resource Center","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:12"},{"id":156,"title":"Glossary: smart contract","url":"https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/smart_contract","publisher":"NIST Computer Security Resource Center","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:13"},{"id":157,"title":"Block Chain — Bitcoin Developer Guide","url":"https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/block_chain.html","publisher":"Bitcoin Project (developer.bitcoin.org)","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:13"},{"id":158,"title":"The story of Satoshi Nakamoto and the 1 million bitcoins","url":"https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/cef/items/663083/de-","publisher":"European Commission, CEF Newsroom","type":"government","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:17"},{"id":159,"title":"Stuart Haber","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Haber","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"other","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:17"},{"id":160,"title":"The Merge","url":"https://ethereum.org/roadmap/merge/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:18"},{"id":161,"title":"Proof-of-stake (PoS)","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:20"},{"id":162,"title":"Blocks","url":"https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/blocks/","publisher":"ethereum.org","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:21"},{"id":163,"title":"Introduction — What is Hyperledger Fabric?","url":"https://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/en/latest/whatis.html","publisher":"Hyperledger Foundation (Linux Foundation)","type":"official","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:21"},{"id":164,"title":"Bitcoin electricity consumption: an improved assessment","url":"https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2023/bitcoin-electricity-consumption/","publisher":"Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge","type":"academic","accessed_at":"2026-09-18 18:01:23"}],"published_at":"2026-09-18 07:10:23"}