Blockchain Technology
An undeniably ingenious invention, the Blockchain, is the innovation by Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym used by the creators behind Blockchain. Soon after the innovation of Blockchain technology, it began to continuously evolve itself into something greater. This article appraises us about the meaning and the usefulness of Blockchain technology.
Blockchain formed the backbone for a completely new type of internet, by allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied. It was originally developed for digital currency Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the tech community which is still working on finding other potential uses for the technology.
Bitcoin has now being called “digital gold” for all the good reasons since the total value of the currency is close to USD 9 billion. And Blockchains can contribute to other types of digital value.
A Divergent Distributed Database
Imagine a spreadsheet that is replicated thousands of times through a network of computers. Then visualize that this network is formed to frequently update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the Blockchain.
Information seized on Blockchain Technology exists as a shared and repeatedly reconciled database. This is a method of using the network that has obvious benefits. The Blockchain database isn’t stored at any single site, meaning the records it saves are truly public and easily verifiable. No centralized version of this information is available for a hacker to corrupt. Its data is accessible to anyone on the Internet since it is hosted by millions of computers simultaneously.
Durability and Robustness of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is similar to the internet with additional built-in robustness. By storing blocks of information that are indistinguishable across its network, one cannot:
- Control Blockchain at any single entity.
- Have only one single point of failure in the system.
Since its invention in 2008, the Bitcoin blockchain has operated without any significant disruption. (Until now, any of the glitches associated with Bitcoin have been due to hacking or unprofessional conduct. In other words, these glitches come from evil intent and human error, not because of flaws in the fundamental concepts.)
The Internet itself has been proven to be durable for almost 30 years. It’s a track record that augurs well for Blockchain technology as it continues to be developed.
A Transparent and Incorruptible System
The Blockchain technology network lives in a state-of-agreement, one that it automatically checks in with itself every ten minutes. A kind of self-auditing network of a digital value, the network settles every transaction that happens in a ten-minute interval. Each group of these transactions is referred to as a “block”. Two main properties results from this:
- Transparency
Data is embedded inside the network as a whole, while in the description it is said to be public. - It cannot be corrupted
Alteration of any unit of information on Blockchain technology would require a hacker to use a huge amount of computing power to override the entire network.
Theoretically, this could be possible. Practically, it’s unlikely to happen. For example, taking control of the system to capture Bitcoins would also have the effect of destroying their value.
The Decentralization Impression
By design, the blockchain is a decentralized technology.
Whatever happens on it is a function of the network altogether. Some important implications could shoot from this. Aspects of traditional commerce could become unnecessary if a new way to verify transactions is created. Stock market trades could become nearly simultaneous on the Blockchain, for instance — it could make varieties of record keeping, like a land registry, fully public. And decentralization is a genuine formed concept already.
A global chain of computer networks uses blockchain technology to mutually manage the database that archives Bitcoin transactions. That is, Bitcoin is managed by its network, and not by any single principal authority. Decentralization means the network operates on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis.
What kind of users uses Blockchain?
Since Blockchain is a web infrastructure, you don’t need to know about the technology for it to be useful in your life.
Currently, finance bids are the strongest use cases for the technology. International remittances are one such instance. The World Bank estimates that over USD 430 billion in money transfers were sent in the last year. And at the moment there is a high demand for Blockchain developers.
The Blockchain can actually cut out the middleman for these types of transactions. Private computing became available to the general public with the origination of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which formed into a “desktop”. Similarly, the most common GUI planned for the Blockchain is the “wallet” applications, used by individuals to buy things with Bitcoin, and stock it along with other cryptocurrencies.
Transactions online are strictly connected to the processes of identity authentication. It is easy to visualize that wallet apps will change in the coming years to include other types of identity management.
“As revolutionary as it sounds, Blockchain truly is a mechanism to bring everybody to the highest degree of accountability. No more missed transactions, human or machine errors, or even an exchange that was not done with the permission of the parties involved. Above anything else, the most serious area where Blockchain helps is the assurance of the validity of a transaction by recording it not only on the main register but a connected distributed system of registers, all of which are linked through a protected validation mechanism,” as stated by the author of Technology Futurist Ian Khan.
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– Poonam Yadav
