Global State

Definition ∞ Global State refers to the complete and current record of all information on a blockchain at any given moment. This comprehensive data set encompasses all account balances, smart contract code, contract storage, and other pertinent data points existing across the entire distributed ledger. Every participating node within the network maintains an identical copy of this state, which updates with each new block validated. The global state ensures a consistent and shared understanding of the blockchain’s reality.
Context ∞ Managing and efficiently updating the global state remains a fundamental challenge for blockchain scalability, especially for networks with high transaction throughput. Innovations in sharding, stateless clients, and state expiry mechanisms aim to reduce the computational burden associated with maintaining and verifying this extensive data. Discussions frequently concern the trade-offs between full node participation and state bloat.