Learn
Understand how blockchains work.
Short lessons on the ideas behind every comparison, each with its sources and review date. They name mechanisms, not favorites, and apply the same way to every chain.
New to blockchains? Start here.
Understand the basic idea
The first lessons explain how a network of computers agrees on one shared history, and what that record keeps.
Read a chain profile
Every profile has the same sections: a summary, then design, tradeoffs and capabilities. Numbered links beside each claim open its source, and the profile says when it was last reviewed.
Ask a first sourced question
Ask your AI assistant something like “What changed recently on this chain, and what source supports it?” and follow the source in the answer. For now the connection admits accounts on its access list; the same records are open to everyone on this website.
Foundations
Consensus: how a network agrees
Consensus systems combine rules for valid blocks, a rule for choosing between conflicting histories, and resistance to fake identities.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
State models: accounts and outputs
A state model says what the ledger records and what a transaction changes.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
Confirmations and finality
Inclusion, confirmation depth and finality are different claims.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
The Nakamoto coefficient
A Nakamoto coefficient counts the smallest set of entities whose combined control reaches a stated disruption threshold in a specified subsystem.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
The dimensions of decentralization
Consensus power, networking, governance, wealth, and transaction activity measure different aspects of decentralization.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
Consensus resource tradeoffs
Compare consensus resources by the scarce-resource values in Compare Profiles.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
Execution models
Some chains run contracts: code stored in an account executes against shared account state when a transaction calls it.
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026 Next review due Sep 16, 2027.
Reading comparisons
Design priorities (one school of thought)
One school of thought holds that blockchain designs trade between three priorities: keeping node operation open to ordinary users, resisting attacks, and processing more activity.
Reviewed Sep 28, 2026 Next review due Sep 28, 2027.
Reading speed claims
A headline transactions-per-second figure is not comparable until it is classified.
Reviewed Sep 28, 2026 Next review due Sep 28, 2027.
Scaling families
Layer 2 is an overloaded term. Rollups execute transactions elsewhere and post data or proofs to a base layer.
Reviewed Sep 28, 2026 Next review due Sep 28, 2027.
System classes
Not every system called a blockchain works the same way, so each iKnow Blockchain profile states a system class before comparing anything else.
Reviewed Sep 28, 2026 Next review due Sep 28, 2027.
Learning about one chain
Each chain's profile lists the topics your AI can explain for it, with sources, and the chain's design facts under the same fields as every other chain.
Browse the blockchains