Merkle tree is defined as a way data is organized so that if it were visualized, it would look similar to a tree. Merkle trees are used for efficiently summarizing, verifying, and securing large amounts of data. The process of making a merkle tree involves a mathematical hash function.A Merkle tree works like this:
-
Two units of information are individually hashed. These are known as Merkle leaves.
-
Those two hashes are then hashed together. These are known as Merkle branches.
-
Multiple branches are hashed together finally getting one single hash. This is known as a Merkle root.