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Overview of Merkle Trees

IMPORTNAT TOPIC CONCERNING SOFTWARE ENGINERRING

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46 views4 pages

Overview of Merkle Trees

IMPORTNAT TOPIC CONCERNING SOFTWARE ENGINERRING

Uploaded by

p.coderation
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Overview of Merkle Trees:

A Merkle Tree is a data structure used in blockchain to efficiently and securely verify the
integrity of data (in this case, transactions). It allows for quick verification of whether a
particular transaction is included in a block by using cryptographic hashes.

Key Concepts:

 Merkle Root: The top hash of the Merkle Tree, representing all transactions in the block.
 Merkle Path: A series of hashes that prove the inclusion of a specific transaction in the
Merkle Root.

Steps to Verify Transaction Inclusion:

1. Identify the Transaction:


o First, you need the transaction ID (or transaction hash) you want to verify. This
hash is usually a unique identifier generated by hashing the transaction data.
2. Obtain the Merkle Path:
o The Merkle Path consists of the hashes that, when combined with the
transaction hash, can reproduce the Merkle Root. It includes the sibling hashes
at each level of the tree up to the root.
3. Recalculate the Merkle Root:
o Starting with the transaction hash, you iteratively hash it with its sibling hash
(provided in the Merkle Path). This process continues until you reach the Merkle
Root.
4. Compare the Calculated Merkle Root with the Block's Merkle Root:
o If the recalculated Merkle Root matches the Merkle Root in the block header,
the transaction is confirmed to be part of that block.

Important Technical Details

 Hash Function: The hash function used (e.g., SHA-256) should be cryptographically
secure to prevent collisions (two different inputs producing the same output).

n transactions, the tree height is ⌈log2(n)⌉


 Path Length: The length of the Merkle Path depends on the number of transactions. For

Quick Recap:

This process efficiently verifies the inclusion of a transaction without needing to download the
entire block, making it ideal for lightweight clients. The Merkle Tree structure ensures that any
modification to a transaction would result in a completely different Merkle Root, thereby
ensuring data integrity.
Example:

In a blockchain, the Merkle Tree is constructed in a bottom-up manner. They are concatenated
into Levels as shown above.

Reverse Process: Retrieving a Specific Transaction from the Merkle Root

If you have the Merkle Root and want to retrieve or verify a specific transaction's presence in
the block, you generally cannot reconstruct the exact transaction data due to the one-way
nature of hash functions. However, you can verify the inclusion of a transaction by checking
against the Merkle Root. Here's the detailed process:

Known Information:

 Merkle Root: The top hash of the Merkle Tree.


 Transaction Hash: The hash of the transaction you're interested in.
 Merkle Path: The set of sibling hashes that, together with the transaction hash, can be
used to reconstruct the Merkle Root.

Verification Process:

 Transaction Hash: Start with the hash of the transaction you want to verify. Let's call
this H2 for a specific transaction Tx2.
 Sibling Hash at Each Level: You also need the sibling hash at each level of the tree to
compute the path up to the Merkle Root.

Let's assume we want to verify the inclusion of Tx2Tx2Tx2 using the known Merkle Root. We
will need:

 Level 0: H1 (sibling of H2 to form H12)


 Level 1: H34(sibling of H12 to form the Merkle Root)
 Compute Upward
 If the computed Merkle Root matches the known Merkle Root from the block header,
the transaction is confirmed to be part of the block.

Key Points

 One-Way Nature of Hashing: The process described cannot retrieve the actual
transaction data from the Merkle Root due to the one-way nature of hash functions.
Hashing is a non-reversible process; you can only verify that a specific piece of data is
included in the dataset.
 Merkle Path: To verify a transaction's inclusion, you need the Merkle Path, which
consists of the hashes at each level that accompany the transaction hash up to
theMerkle Root.

Extra Key point on previous lecture:

 Git employs a Merkle DAG structure, using SHA-1 hashes to represent and verify the
integrity of its objects (blobs, trees, commits). This structure ensures efficient storage,
fast operations, and robust data integrity, leveraging the principles of Merkle Trees to
manage and track changes in a version-controlled environment.

References:

 https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/
 https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/
 "Mastering Bitcoin" by Andreas M. Antonopoulos (Book)
Written by Muhammad Essam Abdelaziz

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