What role do peers play in a Blockchain network?

In a Blockchain network, peers play a crucial role by storing identical replicas of the ledger, which is the core mechanism that underpins the decentralization and integrity of the system. Each peer in the network has a complete copy of the blockchain, ensuring that the data is consistently available across all participating nodes. This redundancy is key to maintaining a tamper-resistant record of transactions, as all peers can verify and validate the correctness of the data.

This duplication helps in achieving consensus among the participants; if a transaction or block is altered in one copy of the ledger, it would not match the copies held by the other peers, thus allowing them to identify discrepancies and reject invalid transactions. The stored identical replicas also contribute to the resilience of the network, as the failure of one or several nodes does not jeopardize the integrity or availability of the blockchain.

In contrast, while some peers may be involved in creating new currencies, this is typically linked to specific actions like mining or staking rather than the fundamental role of all peers. The control of data access rights may vary depending on the blockchain's permissions, and maintaining a single version of records is an outcome of the consensus but not the direct role of peers in maintaining the distribution and replication of data.