Snapshots

What Are Snapshots?

The capacity to capture a snapshot of a computer system or storage device at a certain point in time is what the term "snapshot" refers to. The act of taking a picture of a blockchain at a specific block height is commonly referred to as a "snapshot" in the cryptocurrency world. An whole blockchain ledger can be captured in a single snapshot, which contains all of its existing addresses and their related information (transactions, fees, balance, metadata, and so on).

Airdrops events are often preceded by a series of pre-event snapshots. At the time of an airdrop, a certain number of tokens are issued to all addresses on the blockchain. The balance of each token holder at a certain point in time is recorded in this scenario by taking a series of photos (i.e., block height). After the snapshot is taken, most users will be able to shift their funds without losing their eligibility to participate in that distribution round.

To designate the block height in which the main chain will be recorded before giving birth to a new chain, snapshots are especially critical during blockchain hard forks When the Bitcoin Cash hard fork occurred on August 1st, 2017, any blockchain address that possessed Bitcoins at block 478,558 had their balance copied to the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. To explain why, consider the fact that before the fork, both blockchains had access to the identical historical data. One day, each blockchain network will be able to run on its own.

Taking a picture of a user's Token balance before they engage in an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) on the desired Launchpad is another way to use snapshots. Nevertheless, the photos must adhere to a specific set of standards, which are dictated by the specifics of each project. Sometimes, photos are taken at random times of the week or at predetermined times and averaged over a predetermined period.