What Is a ‘Merkle Root’ and Its Function in a Block?

A Merkle root, or hash root, is the single hash at the top of a Merkle tree, which is a data structure used in blockchain technology. This root is included in the block header and is a cryptographic summary of all the transactions within that block.

Its function is to allow for efficient and secure verification that a specific transaction is included in a block without needing to download the entire block's transaction data.