Educational Post

What is a Snapshot?

Traditionally, the term snapshot refers to the ability to record the state of a computer system or storage device at a specific point in time. In cryptocurrencies, a snapshot is often describing the act of recording the state of a blockchain on a particular block height.

In this case, the snapshot records the contents of the entire blockchain ledger, which includes all existing addresses and their associated data (transactions, fees, balance, metadata, and so on).

Snapshots are commonly used during airdrops events before each round takes place. During an airdrop, tokens are distributed based on the balance of each blockchain address.

In this case, snapshots are taken to record the balance of each token holder, at a specific point in time (i.e., block height). In most cases, users can move their funds after the snapshot is taken, without compromising their eligibility to participate in that round of distribution.

Snapshots are also important during blockchain hard forks, as they mark the block height in which the main chain will be recorded before giving birth to the new chain.