If so, what would happen? And if not, what are some limitations to it? The reason I am asking is because I just started getting into the cryptocurrency and am very interested in the cybersecurity aspect of it. Also, it's important to mention I don't have much experience in either but am willing to learn. Could someone advise some books/articles/guides? Greatly appreciated!
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$\begingroup$ What do you mean with "is changed"? Hashes are deterministic calculations, using a specific algorithm over data. They are in that sense not subject to change at all. $\endgroup$– Maarten Bodewes ♦Commented Oct 16, 2019 at 2:01
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$\begingroup$ @MaartenBodewes, right, and that's what I have figured out upon further researching. As I understand, you can't exactly change the "hash", however it will change based on the data embedded in the block. So, let's say, the ledger of the first block is changed, then the hash of the genesis block is recomputed. This will consequentially affect the following blocks, as they include the previous hash, and they will all have to be recomputed? But since block chain follows a decentralized structure newly computed block chain will be disregarded, because it is shorter than the original, right? $\endgroup$– kiyanuDevsCommented Oct 16, 2019 at 19:17
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The genesis block is embedded in the chainblock (the hash of all the transactions since the bitcoin network was powered on). Now, from your question I deduce that you know little about cryptography and in particular hash functions and the blockchain protocol so I will try to explain myself in the simplest (and obviously incomplete) way possible:
Blockchain can be corrupted only if the majority of the network work to corrupt it, this is the (in)famous 51% attack. If I modify the hash on my client, this change does not involve anything on the network as 99.999% of clients have a different version of the hash (the correct one) and the majority is the authentic. This is one of the main strenghts of the blockchain: the fact that it is decentralized and that transactions must necessarily be accepted and registered by multiple clients (at least 51%) to be verified. Very democratic isn't it?
In any case, I believe it is a good thing that you want to inform yourself about how the protocol works before throwing into trading. Many (too many) people invest in bitcoins or other crypto without even knowing what they are ... after all, when you invest in a cryptocurrency, you should do it because you believe in the potential of the protocol that supports it and not just for fashion or to make (or lose) money.
If you want to know more about bitcoin, the starting point could be to learn some basic cryptography, especially Hash: Section 8 for Hashing functions. Once you have become familiar with these concepts, I suggest you read the original publication in which Satoshi Nakamoto (we dont know who he/she/them is/are) illustrates the bitcoin protocol: a milestone of our time.
