Of late I've been reading a lot about blockchain technology and its benefits. As per a news report on The Guardian, nearly $1billion was invested into blockchain in 2016. However, being in its nascent phase, not many are aware about this disruptive innovation. If you’re scratching your head wondering what blockchain is, let me share some basic information about this invisible technology.
Are bitcoin and blockchain same? They’re essentially different but are closely related. Blockchain technology enables the existence of crypto currency, and it’s the heart of bitcoin; whereas bitcoin is the best known crypto currency. Bitcoin was created in 2008 by a cryptographer with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It’s is a digital currency and helps perform peer-to-peer transactions without using third parties like banks. But the application of blockchain extends beyond bitcoin and crypto currency.
Blockchain is a shared, immutable, verifiable online ledger to make and record transactions, agreements, contracts, and so on. It can be equated to a long excel spreadsheet where timestamped data is permanently recorded as files named blocks. Each block in this open-source distributed digital ledger is linked to its predecessor and is arranged in linear, sequential order. So it’s virtually impossible to go back and edit or delete any previously recorded data. It's encrypted and decentralized, or no one gets exclusive control, making it difficult to alter data, take-down the network, or corrupt it in the blink of an eye. A hacker has to gain access to all computers at the same time to hack or tamper data. Blockchain runs on specialized software.
If online news reports are anything to go by, many banks have started using blockchain technology for money transactions, record keeping, and other related backend functions. Use of blockchain is not limited to financial sector alone. It enables seamless innovations in real estate, health care, supply chain, insurance, and so on. It might take years for blockchain to become a low cost and more efficient option, but rest assured that blockchain is to tomorrow what open-source software did a quarter of a century ago. This is the reason why the hype and buzz around this electronic innovation is real and is here to stay.
Here is a video to help you know more about blockchain technology:
Have I left out any important information on blockchain?
Are bitcoin and blockchain same? They’re essentially different but are closely related. Blockchain technology enables the existence of crypto currency, and it’s the heart of bitcoin; whereas bitcoin is the best known crypto currency. Bitcoin was created in 2008 by a cryptographer with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It’s is a digital currency and helps perform peer-to-peer transactions without using third parties like banks. But the application of blockchain extends beyond bitcoin and crypto currency.
Blockchain is a shared, immutable, verifiable online ledger to make and record transactions, agreements, contracts, and so on. It can be equated to a long excel spreadsheet where timestamped data is permanently recorded as files named blocks. Each block in this open-source distributed digital ledger is linked to its predecessor and is arranged in linear, sequential order. So it’s virtually impossible to go back and edit or delete any previously recorded data. It's encrypted and decentralized, or no one gets exclusive control, making it difficult to alter data, take-down the network, or corrupt it in the blink of an eye. A hacker has to gain access to all computers at the same time to hack or tamper data. Blockchain runs on specialized software.
If online news reports are anything to go by, many banks have started using blockchain technology for money transactions, record keeping, and other related backend functions. Use of blockchain is not limited to financial sector alone. It enables seamless innovations in real estate, health care, supply chain, insurance, and so on. It might take years for blockchain to become a low cost and more efficient option, but rest assured that blockchain is to tomorrow what open-source software did a quarter of a century ago. This is the reason why the hype and buzz around this electronic innovation is real and is here to stay.
Here is a video to help you know more about blockchain technology:
Have I left out any important information on blockchain?