OKX Blockchain 60 Lectures | Episode 22: What is a Timestamp?

"OKX Blockchain 60 Lectures" is a blockchain educational animated video co-produced by OKX and Sina Tech, targeting users with zero blockchain knowledge. Through series articles, educational animations, and other forms, it explains blockchain concepts vividly from the perspectives of concepts, technology, and applications, covering 5 major sections and 60 knowledge points. The content of this episode was completed under the guidance of instructor Shao Jianliang, General Manager of Cannao Blockchain.

Hello everyone, I'm Little K. Today we're going to talk about: "What is a timestamp"?

Previously, we explained that UTXO is the first type of solution to the double-spending problem, but there's another scenario in the double-spending problem: double spending after recording. That is, although a sum of money was only used once, what if someone copies it through hacking a bank or using fake methods and uses it again? To solve this problem, blockchain introduces the concept of timestamps.

According to the official definition, a timestamp is a type of data that can indicate that other data existed completely at a specific time and can be verified. It is generally a character sequence that uniquely identifies a specific moment in time.

There are two key points in this sentence: First, a timestamp is also a type of data; Second, a timestamp can prove that other data already existed completely at what time point. So, simply put, a timestamp is equivalent to the production date of data and serves as a means of data verification.

In blockchain, timestamps have a very close relationship with cryptography. It can actually be said to be an application of cryptography. Its working principle is as follows:

Step 1, nodes first perform hash encryption on the information in the block to generate an information digest, which is the hash value.

Step 2, after generation, the node sends a timestamp request to the relevant timestamp server, which then extracts the hash value and time information of the data.

Step 3, the timestamp server signs these extracted hash values and time information, which means encrypting them again, stamping them with a time mark, and generating a timestamp.

The final step is that the generated timestamp data is bound with transaction information and returned to the system.

The entire process in blockchain is: we first encrypt the data, then place it in another location for notarization, using secondary encryption as proof, and then put the proven information into the next block for packaging. This process is continuously repeated, finally forming a decentralized distributed system that has undergone both hash algorithm and timestamp encryption.

The advantage of this is that it improves the immutability of the blockchain, because every piece of data has been encrypted a second time in the timestamp, with relevant time records. And when blocks are connected, time ordering is performed on top of the hash algorithm. If someone wants to tamper with the data, they not only need to break the hash algorithm but also change the timestamp.

The reason timestamps can solve the second type of problem in double spending is that they serve an anti-counterfeiting function. On one hand, timestamps improve the security of the blockchain, making it difficult for hackers to tamper with. On the other hand, the system automatically stamps time marks on every block's transaction information as identification. What time you spent how much money is all recorded. Anything without this mark is obviously "fake money."

In summary, timestamps play a very important role in blockchain. They make each block nested layer by layer in chronological order, further strengthening the security factor of blockchain. It is precisely because of their existence that the "fake money" problem in blockchain is no longer a problem.

Thank you to Teacher Shao Jianliang for his help and guidance with this episode.

Sina Weibo: @邵建良kevinshao

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