Merkle tree hashing technoques

 Yes, the original content or data blocks are hashed at the very bottom of a Merkle Tree to create the leaf nodes. [1, 2]

How Content is Hashed in a Merkle Tree

• Leaf Nodes (Bottom Level): The actual content—such as files, data chunks, or blockchain transactions—is divided and run through a cryptographic hash function. The resulting outputs become the leaf nodes of the tree.
• Parent Nodes (Upper Levels): Once the content is converted into hashes at the base, the actual content is no longer hashed higher up. Instead, adjacent pairs of these child hashes are combined (concatenated) and hashed together to form the parent nodes.
• The Root Hash (Top Level): This pairing and hashing process repeats upward until a single top hash—the Merkle root—summarizes the entire set of underlying content. [1, 6]

Would you like to know how a Merkle proof uses these hashes to verify that a specific piece of content belongs in the tree without checking everything else?

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lz6NRDgndU

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree

[3] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/na_omeubyYo

[4] https://medium.com/coinmonks/merkle-tree-a-simple-explanation-and-implementation-48903442bc08

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AcQyTs_Es4

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjoPRuVbhCg