<blockquote>
  <p>Most people think of Bitcoin as a currency, but this is only one use of its protocol &amp; network.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No. It is just a currency. The Bitcoin protocol can be used for different services, but the Bitcoin network is certainly not for gene distribution, or any other form of data back-up. That is not the intention of Bitcoin. You can, however, abuse the protocol to store unnecessary unrelated information. And yes I say abuse, because we as normal Bitcoin users have to download larger blocks for reasons that are opaque to us and no not necessarily concern us (like your genetic code). They are interfering with the purpose of Bitcoin.</p>

<p>Getting to your questions now:
you cannot really store data in Bitcoin in a normal fashion, simply because that is not what Bitcoin is concerned with. You can, however, embed additional information in transactions, which are broadcasted and distributed to the network, in multiple ways, thus essentially storing your information in the blockchain. This assumes you know the storage format of course, since you need differentiate the ordinary transaction information from your additional data.</p>

<p>No nothing prevents the block chain from getting arbitrary large. In practice, however, this will not fill your hard drive so fast (especially if you take <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore&#39;s_law" rel="noreferrer">Moore's law</a> into consideration), because you need to pay a fee for each transaction per kilobyte.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-01T14:33:49.553Z
Actually, the size limit on blocks prevents the block chain from getting arbitrarily large at least in limiting the growth.
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-01T14:54:33.233Z
@Murch I was not talking about finite time necessarily. With enough time it gets arbitrary large.
Jori
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-01T20:47:47.930Z
@Murch what is the size limit on blocks? I would like to read more about it.
mc9
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-02T12:23:43.657Z
@MikeC For example here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Funding_network_security#The_Blocksize_Limit
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-17T23:59:52.213Z
The genome clocks in around [700 MB] (https://medium.com/precision-medicine/how-big-is-the-human-genome-e90caa3409b0)
Wizard Of Ozzie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-31T14:03:50.137Z
2014-11-01T14:55:18.773Z
2014-11-01T14:55:18.773Z
Jori
<p>I read <a href="http://genecoin.me/faq.html" rel="noreferrer">here</a> that since Bitcoin is a networked ledger, it is a good way to back up data. I would like to know two things:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>How does a blockchain store 'any' data? I would like to know more about a blockchain's anatomy that enables it to do so.</p></li>
<li><p>If anyone can store data in blockchains, what prevents blockchains from becoming astronomically larger? Even today, a Bitcoin client takes forever to synchronize.</p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-31T23:55:36.133Z
I honestly can't tell if that site is a joke. Poe's law in action, I guess.
Nick ODell
<blockchain>
How does a blockchain store any data?
mc9
# How does a blockchain store any data?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-31)

I read [here](http://genecoin.me/faq.html) that since Bitcoin is a networked ledger, it is a good way to back up data. I would like to know two things:

1. How does a blockchain store 'any' data? I would like to know more about a blockchain's anatomy that enables it to do so.
2. If anyone can store data in blockchains, what prevents blockchains from becoming astronomically larger? Even today, a Bitcoin client takes forever to synchronize.

**Tags:** blockchain

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I honestly can't tell if that site is a joke. Poe's law in action, I guess.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-10-31. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

> Most people think of Bitcoin as a currency, but this is only one use of its protocol & network.

No. It is just a currency. The Bitcoin protocol can be used for different services, but the Bitcoin network is certainly not for gene distribution, or any other form of data back-up. That is not the intention of Bitcoin. You can, however, abuse the protocol to store unnecessary unrelated information. And yes I say abuse, because we as normal Bitcoin users have to download larger blocks for reasons that are opaque to us and no not necessarily concern us (like your genetic code). They are interfering with the purpose of Bitcoin.

Getting to your questions now:
you cannot really store data in Bitcoin in a normal fashion, simply because that is not what Bitcoin is concerned with. You can, however, embed additional information in transactions, which are broadcasted and distributed to the network, in multiple ways, thus essentially storing your information in the blockchain. This assumes you know the storage format of course, since you need differentiate the ordinary transaction information from your additional data.

No nothing prevents the block chain from getting arbitrary large. In practice, however, this will not fill your hard drive so fast (especially if you take [Moore's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law) into consideration), because you need to pay a fee for each transaction per kilobyte.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Actually, the size limit on blocks prevents the block chain from getting arbitrarily large at least in limiting the growth.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 I was not talking about finite time necessarily. With enough time it gets arbitrary large.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 what is the size limit on blocks? I would like to read more about it.  
> **username_3**: @MikeC For example here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Funding_network_security#The_Blocksize_Limit  
> **username_4**: The genome clocks in around [700 MB] (https://medium.com/precision-medicine/how-big-is-the-human-genome-e90caa3409b0)  

---

