Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.
Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, we’ll deliver articles explaining basic vocabulary. We aim to keep each article concise enough for a quick read, while also making them suitable for revisiting and studying.
Today’s topic is “State.”
Please watch until the very end!
Introduction
When people learn about blockchain, many fall into a common misconception: “Blockchain stores all transaction history.” However, this is fundamentally mistaken. To truly understand blockchain, we must recognize the crucial difference between “history” and “state.”
When you send 1 ETH on the blockchain, what the blockchain stores is not “1 ETH was sent on December 26, 2024 at 15:30” as a historical record, but rather “this address currently holds X ETH” as a state. This difference is not merely semantic—it directly impacts blockchain architecture, scalability, and security. It represents a fundamental difference in design philosophy.
This article thoroughly explores the concept of State. What is State? Why is it so important? How does it connect to crucial issues in the blockchain industry? We will carefully explain these questions. This knowledge will become the foundation for truly understanding web3.
The Meaning and Importance of State
State is a fundamental term in computer science. In English, it translates as “state” or “status.” State represents information that describes “how things currently are,” and it captures a snapshot of the present moment rather than recording past events.
Let us provide a concrete example. Think of a video game’s save file. What gets saved is not every choice a player has made in the past, nor a record of all events they have experienced. Rather, it saves the current status: “Current character level is 25, current funds are 100,000 gold, current location is the throne room in the castle.” With this information, a player can continue their game from that point.
Similarly, a bank account balance is also State. What gets recorded is not the complete history of deposits and withdrawals, but simply “the current balance”—a single number. Bank executives do not review past transaction records of all customers daily. Instead, they monitor real-time State information such as total deposits and total loans.
The most important characteristic of State is that it is not history itself. State records the present, not the past. If this distinction becomes blurred, we fundamentally misunderstand the nature of blockchain.
The Banking System and State as Analogy
By deeply considering how State functions in banking systems, we can gain a clearer understanding of State in blockchain.
Banks do not recalculate the entire history of deposits and withdrawals each time a customer requests a withdrawal. Rather, each account has a “current balance” State that exists permanently in the bank’s database. This State updates immediately whenever a new transaction occurs. If a customer withdraws 10,000 yen, the balance is reduced by 10,000 yen. If they receive a 50,000 yen transfer, the balance increases by 50,000 yen. The core of the banking system is managing these changes to the “current balance” State.
Using analogy, transaction history is a log, while balance is State. A log is a record of “what happened”—”withdrawal of 10,000 yen on January 15, 2024; receipt of 50,000 yen transfer on January 20, 2024.” In contrast, State is a record of “how things stand now”—”as of December 26, 2024, the balance is 500,000 yen.”
