Blockchain technology has recently become more prevalent than ever, and even if you’re not familiar with blockchain, you’ve most likely heard about it - even if you’re not that interested in technology or finance.
A blockchain is a public LEDGER comprised of every transaction ever made using a cryptocurrency. By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain creates the backbone in this new wave of the Internet.
Although first designed by a person, or a group of people under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakomoto” in 2008 with the creation of Bitcoin (BTC), the tech community has found other new potential uses for blockchain technology since the advent of BTC.
In this article, we’ll take a look at blockchain technology, and what makes it not only valuable, but innovative.
What Is Blockchain?
In layman’s terms, a blockchain is a time-stamped series of digital records managed by a cluster of computers, as opposed to a centralized entity. Each block of data is secured and bound to the last using cryptographic security.
Blockchain has no central authority – it is truly the first genuine democratic system. Because it is public and immutable, the data stored on the blockchain is available for anyone to see. Anything built on a blockchain is by nature, open and transparent – making every participant accountable for their actions.
How Does Blockchain Work?
Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network. This network regularly updates the spreadsheet, providing the user with a basic understanding of events recorded by the blockchain.
Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared database. Hosted by millions of computers simultaneously, its data is accessible to anybody with Internet access. Because the blockchain database does not exist in a single location, the records it keeps are truly public and easily verifiable, by anyone.
No centralized version of this information exists for a hacker to corrupt, making it far more secure than traditional means of digital data storage.
Blockchain & Mainstream Adoption
As for web infrastructure, you need not know about the blockchain for it to impact your everyday life.
The impact of blockchain technology has far more use-cases than being a facilitator for transactions. Mainstream adoption of this technology has far-reaching implications with its industry-disrupting capabilities. Supply chain management and traditional finance are examples of industries which this technology will likely have the most noticeable impact.
Currently, the world of finance offers the strongest use-case for this technology, and at the moment, there is a high demand for blockchain developers.
What Makes Blockchain Great?
There are several reasons why blockchain technology has gained so much admiration:
- Decentralization
- Immutability, making it tamper-proof.
- Transparency
- Removing the need to rely on middle-men.
Because data stored on a blockchain is cryptographically secured, this makes blockchain ledgers tamper-proof. Using blockchain technology, people can now securely make transactions from across the globe.
Conclusion
The exponential increase of cryptocurrency users in recent years is proof there is a thirst for this technology – globalization through the adoption of technologies such as blockchain has converted the digital world into something akin to a small village.
When cryptocurrencies become mainstream, this “village” will continue to shrink, and the disruption of traditional finance will be in effect.
