State Root
A single cryptographic hash, included in each block, that represents the entire current state of the blockchain at that point.
A state root is a single cryptographic hash, generally built using a Merkle tree (see Kaavon's "Merkle Tree" glossary definition), that represents the entire current state of the blockchain — every account balance and smart contract's data — compressed into one fixed-size value included in each block.
Including the state root in each block lets any node efficiently verify a specific piece of state (such as one account's balance) against the full, agreed-upon state, without needing to download and store the network's entire state directly — a foundational technique behind light clients (see Kaavon's "Light Client" glossary definition) and several Layer 2 verification schemes.
Examples
- A light client can verify a specific account's balance against a block's state root without downloading and storing the network's entire state itself.
- The state root compresses the entire blockchain's current state into a single fixed-size hash, included directly in each new block.