<p>There is no merkle tree linking blocks. Blocks are connected linearly by having the previous block hash.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-27T15:08:55.087Z
That's what I thought. Thanks for confirming!
Hang Chen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-27T02:52:18.560Z
2022-01-27T02:52:18.560Z
Ava Chow
<p>From my understanding of the Bitcoin network, Merkle Hash Tree is used on a block level, where each transaction is a leaf of the tree (except the situation that if transaction count is odd, the last leaf is a duplicate) and the root is a mingled hash of all the transactions in a block.</p>
<p>Today I read this <a href="https://medium.com/brandlitic/difference-between-blockchain-vs-linked-list-c8901ce1ca96" rel="nofollow noreferrer">post</a>, in which it says</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Merkle trees, in turn, use the hash to connect each block.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a bit ambiguous to me. Does that mean a Merkle Tree is also used on a network level, where each block is a leaf of the tree? I thought Bitcoin uses a linear chain architecture, similar to a singly linked list.</p>
<p>Is Bitcoin Blockchain a linear chain or a Merkle Tree architecture? Thank you.</p>

<merkle-tree><architecture>
Is merkle hash tree also at network level?
Hang Chen
# Is merkle hash tree also at network level?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-01-27)

From my understanding of the Bitcoin network, Merkle Hash Tree is used on a block level, where each transaction is a leaf of the tree (except the situation that if transaction count is odd, the last leaf is a duplicate) and the root is a mingled hash of all the transactions in a block.

Today I read this [post](https://medium.com/brandlitic/difference-between-blockchain-vs-linked-list-c8901ce1ca96), in which it says

> Merkle trees, in turn, use the hash to connect each block.

This is a bit ambiguous to me. Does that mean a Merkle Tree is also used on a network level, where each block is a leaf of the tree? I thought Bitcoin uses a linear chain architecture, similar to a singly linked list.

Is Bitcoin Blockchain a linear chain or a Merkle Tree architecture? Thank you.

**Tags:** merkle-tree, architecture


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-01-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

There is no merkle tree linking blocks. Blocks are connected linearly by having the previous block hash.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That's what I thought. Thanks for confirming!  

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