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Building a Blockchain from Scratch in Rust (part 1)

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Ever wondered how Bitcoin works under the hood? Do you have a penchant for Rust? Well, let’s build a blockchain from scratch in Rust!

Project Structure

Before diving into code, let’s lay out the project like a neat Rustacean nest:

rust_blockchain/
├── src/
│ ├── block.rs 
│ ├── blockchain.rs 
│ ├── main.rs 
├── Cargo.toml

With this roadmap, we’re ready to craft our blockchain.

Set Up the Project

Start your Rust project by running:

cargo new rust_blockchain
cd rust_blockchain

Although the aim is to use core Rust code as much as possible (this is a learning exercise as opposed to speed-coding contest), we will add some dependencies for hashing and date handling:

[dependencies]
chrono = “0.4” # For timestamps
sha2 = “0.10” # To hash like a pro

Define the Block

The Block is the heart of the blockchain (though it has no actual pulse). Each block holds data, a timestamp, and a hash of itself and the previous block, plus a nonce (our Proof-of-Work buddy).