What is a Merkle Tree? Importance of Merkle Trees in Blockchain

What is a Merkle Tree?

Merkle Tree (or Merkle Tree) is a data structure used in computer science applications. It is a mathematical data structure made up of hash functions of various data blocks that summarize all the transactions in a block. It also enables fast, secure, and consistent content verification across large datasets.

In Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Merkle trees are used to encrypt blockchain data more efficiently and securely because the Merkle tree structure provides an easily accessible record of the transactions in a block.

So it is very simple to check if the data in a block has been changed or tampered with. This is true because any change to the transaction (or any other related data) in the Merkle tree will result in a completely different corresponding Merkle root.

How Merkle Trees Work?

Here is a simple example to help you visualize how a Merkle tree works:

Block xyz has A, B, C and D as four transactions, all executed on the same block. Each transaction is then hashed as follows:

Hash A.
Hash B.
Hash C.
Hash D.
The hashes are concatenated together, resulting in:

Hash AB.
Hash CD.
And so the Merkle Tree of the block is formed by combining these two hash functions – hash ABCD. This final hash is called the Merkle root, which provides a summary of all the transactions it contains in a block.

In practice, Merkle trees are much more complex (especially when each transaction ID is 64 characters long). However, this example gives you an overview of how the algorithms work and why they are effective in verifying data consistency in the Blockchain.

In a nutshell, a Merkle tree is created by dividing the data into parts, which are then hashed many times to form the Merkle Root. The user can then effectively verify if something is wrong with a piece of data.

Why is Merkle Tree necessary for Blockchain development?

As I said at the beginning of the article, Merkle Tree is a mathematical data structure made up of hash functions (hash) of many different data blocks, it summarizes all transactions in a block, from Merkle Tree, enables fast and secure content verification on large datasets and verify data consistency.

Imagine if Bitcoin didn’t use Merkle Trees, every node on the network would have to keep a complete copy of every Bitcoin transaction ever made. As you can imagine that amount of information is enormous. Merkle Trees is a solution to this problem, Merkle Tree separates proof data from the original data itself, thereby reducing the amount of information that must be kept on the Blockchain.

Benefits of Merkle Tree in Blockchain

Merkle trees have many different uses, in this article we will focus on the importance of this structure for blockchains. Merkle trees are important to Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.

Merkle trees offer four significant advantages:

Data Integrity Validation: Merkle Tree can be used to validate data integrity effectively.
Less storage space: When a cryptocurrency transaction is executed in the Merkle Tree structure, it is hashed and then an equivalent hash value is given. After each transaction is hashed in the Merkle tree, the generated hashes are concatenated with another hash value and then hashed again. Compared to other data structures, the Merkle Tree structure takes up very little storage space.
Organized and structured data for easy verification: Merkle trees can be broken down into small pieces of data for verification. Hash values ’AB’ and ‘AC’ are combined to produce ‘ABC’. The process of concatenating these hashes is repeated until the final hash is generated. The final hash provides a summary of all the transactions contained in the block.
Efficient verification: Efficient data format and data integrity verification takes only minutes.

Overview of STEPN

STEPN is a health app with integrated GameFi elements, where players can profit on their own steps, runs or jumps. Players just need to put on a pair of NFT sneakers and then convert their fitness steps into GST tokens to increase profits.

Currently, STEPN is the 28th project about to be sold on Binance Launchpad. The opening sale will be done according to the registration mechanism on March 9

Highlights of STEPN

NFT mechanism: Unlike normal walking money-making apps like Toss or Yodo, withdrawing funds to buy yourself a pair of sneakers will make you much more motivated to exercise. NFT shoes, in addition to being upgraded, you can also buy, sell and exchange on Marketplace. Most importantly, you can also rent running shoes.
Move-to-Earn: The combination of health promotion and making money will make even the laziest people excited. Similar to the mechanics of Play-to-Earn games on the market, using each type of shoe for outdoor activities will give you a fixed amount of rewards.
Swap feature: STEPN has a Swap feature available that allows you to instantly convert your GST to other coins/tokens on the market.
Solana wallet integration: You can create a new wallet or restore a Solana wallet from a third party right in the product application.

Preparation before using STEPN

Download and create a wallet on STEPN
Step 1: Visit the homepage of STEPN to download and install the application on the respective operating system here.
Step 2: Open the application and enter your email address to register. Click Send code to get the confirmation code. Then, enter the code received from the email and select Login – The system will automatically register an account for you according to the email entered above.
Step 3: Select the wallet icon on the right corner of the screen.

Click Wallet and select:

Create New Wallet to create a new wallet.
Import a Wallet to recover Solana wallet with Secret Phrase (Passphrase).
Step 4: Enter the pin code with 6 digits and confirm.

After that, you will be provided with a Secret Phrase consisting of 12 keywords – this is the key to being able to restore the wallet on other devices, so it needs to be carefully recorded and secured.

You choose 12 keywords in the correct order and choose Confirm.

Step 5: Select the Avatar icon on the left corner of the main screen to be able to install basic information and to know more other indicators.

Get coin/token into wallet on STEPN

To be able to use the product, you must have SOL as a fee. You can buy SOL on centralized exchanges like FTX, Binance,… to transfer to your wallet and conduct transactions. It is possible to refer to SOL exchanges using Coinecko.

Note: You must transfer the coin to the correct wallet of the network to conduct the transaction.
Currently, the purchase price of 1 NFT sneaker is about 10 SOL
Step 1: In the Wallet interface, select Receive or click on the coin/token you want to receive → Select Receive.

Step 2: Select Copy Address to copy the wallet address or get the QR address.

Note:

To be able to buy NFT, a large amount of SOL is required. If you transfer other coins/tokens to your wallet, you can select the Trade icon in the Wallet section to convert to SOL. However, you still need some SOL to waste gas.
Currently STEPN only allows transactions between SOL, USDC and GST.

Transfer coins/tokens on STEPN wallet

Switch to Spending account

Before you want to buy NFT, you need to switch from wallet to Spending account or Inventory section.

Step 1: In the Wallet interface, select Transfer → To Spending.

Step 2: Here, you can transfer assets between your wallet to your Spending account, the Inventory section and vice versa. You choose the coin/token, gem, NFT shoe or box you want to transfer with the amount.

Step 3: Select Confirm Transfer to proceed with the transaction.

Withdraw assets from STEPN

Step 1: In the Wallet interface, select Transfer → To External.
Step 2: Select the asset you want to withdraw.
Step 3: Enter the wallet address as well as the amount of coin/token that you intend to withdraw. Note to check the correct network before withdrawing coins/tokens from the wallet to avoid loss of assets. Click Confirm to confirm the transaction.

Instructions to use STEPN to make money

Buy NFT on STEPN
We need to learn a little about the parameters first before choosing a shoe. Please choose the shoes that are right for you according to the parameters below:

Walker: With a speed of 1 – 6 km/h when consuming 1 mana will earn 4 GST.
Jogger: With a speed of 4-6 km/h when consuming 1 mana will earn 5 GST.
Runner: With a speed of 8 – 20 km/h when consuming 1 energy will earn 6 GST.
Trainer: With a speed of 1 – 20 km/h when consuming 1 mana will earn 4-6 GST.

Step 1: On the main screen, click the plus sign on the shoe image or the shopping cart icon in the right corner to enter the NFT Marketplace. Here you can buy Sneakers, Gems and Boxes. For more convenience in choosing the right NFT, you can choose Filter to adjust the product, shoe type, rarity, etc.

Step 2: Find the NFT shoes you like and click Buy.

A detailed information panel will appear, you will see the following NFT indexes:

Four lock boxes around the shoes: Where you can attach Gems, when upgrading seconds to a higher level, the lock boxes will change to the color of the corresponding gem.
Shoe type: include Walker, Jogger, Runner, Trainer.
Quality (Rarity): Rarity in increasing proportion including Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary.
Shop Mint: Mint of NFT, maximum is 7 times. Therefore, when buying NFT, you should choose pairs with this index as low as possible.
Durability: Maximum durability is 100. Therefore, when buying NFT, you should choose pairs with 100/100 durability. The durability is repairable for re-lift, with 1.8 GST for 5 durability.

Attributes (Attributes):

Efficiency: A stat that supports the amount of GST received. Corresponds to the yellow Gem.
Luck: Increases the drop rate of Mystery Box rewards. Corresponds to the Blue Gem.
Comfort: The indicator supports the amount of GMT (Governance token) received. Will be unlocked when NFT reaches level 30. Corresponds to the red Gem.
Resilience: A stat that supports the amount of cost when fixing durability. The higher the stat, the less GST fix will be. Corresponds to the purple Gem.

Step 3: Once you have selected a suitable NFT, you choose Buy Now → Confirm to confirm the transaction.

After buying shoes, you need to wait 24 hours to be able to restore 100% of your energy, which corresponds to 6 hours of 25%. The more shoes, the higher the energy will be, each pair of NFT will have 2 energy to use per day.

Getting Started with STEPN
First of all, your phone needs to open the GPS and 4G function. When exercising, you must be outdoors in conditions that are not covered by buildings or trees and do not use vehicles or treadmills. If you have started to turn on Move-to-Earn mode and the system says Moonwalking, it will not be counted.

After ensuring the above conditions, go back to the homepage and click Start to get started

Run with STEPN
As mentioned above, you need to ensure the conditions during the run because there will always be an anti-cheating censorship system. If the light in the top corner of the screen runs red and shows Moonwalking, you will not receive the GST bonus.

Also make sure not to lose GPS signal. When the signal column is red, you will also switch to Moonwalking mode in the position highlighted in the illustration.

The system will display detailed parameters when you are running in turn as follows:

Yellow GST Bar: Indicates the maximum amount of GST that can be received
Blue energy bar: Indicates the maximum energy index that you have.
Time (Clock): Shows the time after you start pressing the Start button.
Optimal Speed Range: When you run within the speed range according to the index of the shoe, the watch will show blue and vice versa, it will be red.
Foot (foot icon): Shows the number of steps you have exercised.
Kilometers (Distance): Total distance you have run expressed in kilometers
GST token: The amount of bonus tokens you have received.

Note:

Pay attention to the durability of the shoes and the appropriate speed, during the run you can change the NFT at any time by clicking the shoe icon on the right corner of the screen.
When the energy bar stops at 0, press Stop to stop the training session, because then you will not receive any more rewards.

After receiving GST, you can use it to upgrade NFT, repair shoes, buy shoes, gems or boxes. When you have a lot of shoes, you will also increase your energy and earn GST.

At the end of the training session, the system will display all the items earned as well as related stats and information. You can share with friends or download with the options as provided by the application.

Mint NFT to get Box
By combining two pairs of NFTs together with the same amount of fees, you will mint a ShoesBox. Open each shoe box, you will receive a random NFT sneaker.
Step 1: Click on the shoe icon below the screen to enter the Inventory section.
Step 2: Choose a pair of shoes on Lv 5 that you want to mint and press the heart-shaped Mint icon.

Step 3: Click on the icon community to select NFT again. You need to ensure enough money including GMT and GST to mint NFT coins. Click Mint to proceed.