State Machine
A computational model where the blockchain maintains and updates a global state based on transactions.
What is State Machine?
In blockchain systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, a state machine is a model where the network maintains a global state—representing account balances, smart contract data, or other variables—that evolves through validated transactions. Bitcoin’s state machine tracks unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) to manage balances, while Ethereum’s tracks account balances and smart contract states via the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Each valid transaction triggers a state transition, ensuring all nodes agree on the updated state, enforced by consensus mechanisms like proof-of-stake (Ethereum) or proof-of-work (Bitcoin).
Related Terms
Oracle
A mechanism that provides real-world data to blockchains for use in smart contracts.
Raydium
An automated market maker (AMM) and decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Solana blockchain, enabling fast, low-cost trading and liquidity provision for digital assets with integrated order book functionality.
Maintenance Margin
The minimum collateral required to keep a leveraged position open.
Solana Smart Contract / Onchain Program
Executable code deployed on the Solana blockchain that processes transaction instructions to read from and modify controlled accounts, equivalent to smart contracts on other blockchains.
Solana Account
A digital wallet address on the Solana blockchain used to hold, send, and receive SOL and other SPL tokens, secured by a private key.
ZK-Rollup
A ZK-Rollup is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that processes transactions off-chain and uses zero-knowledge proofs to validate them, posting compact data to the main chain for security and finality.