What is Blockchain?

I am sure that by now you must have come across the word Blockchain and you are probably wondering what that is. Well, Blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publically

Some key characteristics of Blockchain.

• It has increased network capacity. The most outstanding thing about Blockchain technology is how it improves the ability of the whole network. Therefore, several computers have been able to work together which offers excellent power than a few of the devices where the things are centralized.
• Better security. Blockchain technology has better protection since the chances of shutting down the system are quite slim. Bitcoin, an application entirely based on Blockchain technology, for example, has never been hacked. The blockchain is secured by some computers called nodes which are almost impossible to cut.
• it has increased the speed of settlement. Traditional bank systems can be slow due to the settlement time which generally takes days to proceed. Blockchain can settle money transfer at breakneck speeds saving financial institutions a lot of time and money as well provide convenience to customers.
• Decentralized system. It gives you the power to store your assets in a network which further access using the internet; an asset can be anything like a contract a document or so. The blockchain is thus such an essential tool for decentralized the web.

Applications of Blockchain

• Smart contracts. They are digital self-executable agreement that business parties sign in cooperation with each other’s terms and conditions. Smart contracts applications include financial agreement, health insurance, real estate property documents as well as crowdfunding. They are very safe as they are not prone to alteration and hacking.
• It promotes fair government election. Blockchain smart contracts provide a modern system that eradicates fraud. Entry in the smart deals will allow transparency and security while maintaining the privacy of the voters thus enabling fair elections.
• The other application is identity management. The distributed ledger technology users in Blockchain offers you advanced method of public-private encryption using which you can prove your identity and digitize your documents. Hence you can safely conduct online transactions.

Conclusion.

The blockchain is probably one of man’s most superior inventions. Based on its fast speed, its high level of security increased capacity and decentralized system which applies in areas such as business and voting. With all of its extensive uses, it is correct to say that Blockchain technology is here to stay.

Timeline of Blockchain

Introduction

Blockchain technology is one of the most notable innovations of the 21^st century. It is having an immense effect on various sectors such as finance, manufacturing, and education. What do many not know however is that Blockchain dates back to 1990s, insightful right?

History of Blockchain Technology

Stuart Haber and W. Scott Sternotta envisioned the technology in 1991. Later in 1992, the two upgraded their system enabling the collection of more documents on a single block. However, it is in 2008 that the Blockchain story started to gain momentum thanks to the work of one person or group of people that went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto is the brains behind the Blockchain technology. The truth is that very little is known about Nakamoto since all people know about him is that this mysterious person or people conceptualized the first Blockchain in 2008 from where the technology has evolved and found its way into many applications beyond cryptocurrencies.

How has Blockchain technology evolved?

The Blockchain technology has gone through a series of evolution steps which this piece seeks to explain. They are as follows:

• Blockchain emergence (200 – 2013). Nakamoto designed the genesis block from which other blocks were mined, interconnected resulting in one of the largest chains of block carrying different pieces of information and transactions. Ever since then Blockchain has adopted a long list of applications.
• Ethereum Development (2013 – 2015). Ethereum was born out as a different public Blockchain in 2013 with additional functionalities compared to Bitcoin, a development that has turned out to be a crucial moment in Blockchain history. It differs from Bitcoin in that it has a function that allows people to record other assets such as slogans. Officially launched in 2015, Ethereum Blockchain has become one of the leading applications of the Blockchain technology.
• The Future of Blockchain (2018 onwards). Blockchain chronicle and evolution does not stop with Ethereum and Bitcoin. In recent years, some projects have cropped up all leveraging Blockchain technology capacities. New projects have sought to approach some of the deficiencies of Bitcoin and Ethereum in addition to coming up with new features leveraging Blockchain capabilities.

Conclusion

Blockchain technology future looks bright in part because of the way governments and enterprises are investing big as they seek to spur innovations and applications. It is becoming increasingly clear that one day there will be a public Blockchain that anyone can use.

Why is Blockchain Technology Important to Us?

Let’s define Blockchain technology.

It is the technology responsible for the Blockchain, a digital ledger in which transactions made in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly. This incorruptible digital ledger can be programmed no only to record financial transactions but also virtually everything of value it is the invention of Satoshi Nakamoto who may be an individual or a group of people, no one knows.

What are the outstanding characteristics of the technology?

I believe you are probably wondering why people are making such a big deal of technology when people keep inventing new things every day. The truth is that; it has several impressive features hence making it such a sensation. Some of these features include:

1. It’s decentralized thus cannot be controlled by a single entity thus making it impossible to manipulate for selfish intentions.
2. It has not recorded a single point of failure in the past.
3. It is transparent and pretty much incorruptible.
4. It is very secure to use.
5. It is very fast.
6. It has increased Network capacity.

what are some of the popular applications of this technology?

The truth is its applications are rather extensive, and we could not expound them entirely even if we tried every new day; people are discovering some of its new uses. Let’s discuss a few, shall we

• Information storage. Corporations, as well as individuals, can store information ranging from car logs, business transactions to medical records. This information cannot tamper with thanks to the encryption of data thus its users are assured of high-class privacy.
• It is essential in defrauding charities. Blockchain technology when adopted into the charitable organizations’ systems, keeps companies accountable thus eliminating embezzlement of funds and contributions.
• Smart contracts. They are digital self-executable agreement that business parties sign in cooperation with each other’s terms and conditions. They are used like ordinary contracts only that they are safer as they are not prone to alteration and hacking.
• The technology is battling electoral fraud. Recently applications have been created to combine voting with Blockchain technology; this will counter electoral fraud or any other kind of corruption involving voting.
• It encourages ethical business practices. The technology makes possible to track every transaction with complete transparency hence making it easier to observe all its users’ activities. Too bad for illegal businesses as they will have no choice but to engage in more ethical practices and help build the economy.

Conclusion.

I cannot think of any single technology that has provided all the solutions that Blockchain has. Not only is it safe and fast but also it can be used in a whole spectrum of fields. In my opinion, this is a technology worth exploring and based on how effective it is, I can say with a lot of confidence that the future is brighter with Blockchain technology.

Why Blockchain Important?

On January third, 2009, Satoshi Nakomoto hardcoded this message into the Genesis Block of bitcoin:

“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”

That was the day’s headline from The London Times because the government continued to bail out banks from the 2008 financial meltdown. That bailout portrayed a closed system between centralized institutions—banks and governments—that had each failed United States of America.

Bitcoin represented a special blockchain model: a decentralized system, where the people owned the money. over that, Bitcoin was world cash, beyond the reach of any government. Finally, it had been personal money, protected by cryptography.

The roots of Bitcoin go abundant deeper, to the cypherpunk movement of the Nineties, epitomized in an exceedingly Cypherpunk’s declaration by Eric Hughes. in exactly 860 tightly crafted words, Hughes articulated a vision for a world during which privacy was a basic right.

Privacy, he argued, was not secrecy: “A personal matter are some things one does not need the complete world to grasp, however, a secret matter are some things one does not need anybody to grasp.” we have a tendency to all have things we have a tendency told rather keep personal (which is why we wear pants).

The cypherpunk movement, which thrived on mailing lists and message boards, attracted a motley crew of techno-libertarians, WHO typically valued “personal privacy and private liberty particularly alternative issues.”

And the cypherpunk list is where Satoshi Nakamoto initial revealed his white paper for Bitcoin.

The cypherpunk was introduced to the planet by technical school author Steven Levy in an exceedingly 1993 Wired magazine cowl story titled Crypto Rebels:

“[They] hope for a world wherever individual informational footprints — everything from AN opinion on abortion to the medical history of AN actual abortion — are often copied on the condition that the individual concerned chooses to reveal them. There’s only 1 method this vision can happen, which is by the widespread use of cryptography. Is that this technologically possible? Positively.”

Most people don’t need Alexa listening in on each personal oral communication, broadcasting to anyone World Health Organization will decipher a way to hack in.

Most people don’t need the govt. peering into our bedchamber through our digital camera. All this happens, of course, as a result of we’ve not claimed our right to privacy.

In fact, our privacy is under attack currently over ever. Social media sites like Facebook understand everything regarding you—including algorithms to spot your face. Information brokers like Equifax area unit still signboard your money history, while not your permission. And Alexa is listening.

While privacy will actually be accustomed hide evil, it may also be accustomed champion sensible. The Federalist Papers were written by solon, President, and diplomatist to encourage support for the USA Constitution—but printed anonymously.

But the U. S. could be a centralized establishment. The founders of this country sagely tried to balance power by making the manager, legislative, and judicial branches, that function a check on centralized management.

One issue got additional and additional centralized, however: cash.

We’d like an improved national economy, one that lets the U.S.A. send and receive cash as merely as causation email. We’d like to induce cash to the seven billion folks on earth, as well as the one.5 billion that area unit unbanked.

Money is power. Thus once everybody has access to cash, everybody has access to power. Cash for the folks means that power for the folks.

This is why Bitcoin is decentralized: a distributed network that anyone will be part of, creating cash that anyone should buy. The final word check on power could be a distributed network, just like the web. Even as nobody “owns” the net, nobody will “own” a localized currency like Bitcoin. We all do.

Decentralization, like democracy, could be a noble goal. However, within the world, somebody must write the code for Bitcoin. Somebody must solve the issues of Bitcoin: its poor quantifiability, rising fees, and outrageous energy consumption. Somebody must improve to “own” Bitcoin.

Just as the government is that the tough art of managing a democracy, governance is that the tough art of managing localized networks. The net has developed governing bodies, like ICANN (which organizes domain names) and therefore the web Engineering Task Force (a loosely organized body of good people). Blockchain can have to be compelled to do identical.

It’s this spirit of decentralization that we’re once. An open supply software package, consortiums like Hyperledger, and events like Unconferences capture the localized attribute of Blockchain technology. (We ought to look sceptically at “permission” or “private” blockchains; why not simply use a centralized database?)

Bitcoin was unreal as world currency for a worldwide economy. One cash for one world. It appears inevitable, doesn’t it?

We can still use our greenbacks and Euros and rupees, however, these can eventually be subsumed by a based-based world currency. Similarly, we will still be proud members of our tribe, however, we have a tendency to should initial determine with the humankind.

This is a distinct story than we have a tendency to hear in today’s political climate, that is progressively 2nd, progressively black and white: the U.S.A. vs. them, one party vs. the other, isolationists vs. immigrants.

With Blockchain, we’re moving out of 2nd into 3D. Living within the dimension isn’t concerning; it’s about unlocking another dimension of prospects. Politicians area unit taking part in checkers; we’re taking part in chess.

Isn’t it ironic? Here we have a tendency to area unit, the localized Blockchain community, wasting the last year waiting on permission from centralized government establishments just like the SEC. Permission! Did the Yankee colonists assist permission from the King before declaring their independence?

Those early Americans thought in another dimension. They thought of one thing outside the 2nd world of subjects and King. They thought of independence. They thought in 3D.

To assume globally is to have confidence being a vicinity of one thing abundant larger than our country. That’s what’s happening now: a wave of human feeling, certain along by the net, supported by a brand new reasonably world cash.

Humans initial. Earthlings initial.

The paw of Justice

On the duvet is that this illustration of a paw. It’s not a paw of violence; it’s a paw of justice. A paw of commonness, to bring wealth to wherever it’s most required, to open the floodgates of cash around the world — and once the globe prospers, so do we.

Advantages of Blockchain Technology

At the heart of the excitement surrounding cryptocurrency is blockchain technology. Blockchain technology is the foundation that all virtual currencies are built upon. It is the decentralized and digital ledger technology that records all of the transactions without needing a financial intermediary, like a bank. Blockchain technology appears to offer four distinct advantages over existing payment facilitation networks.

Transparency

One of the main reasons why blockchain is so intriguing is that technology is always open source. This means that other users and developers have the opportunity to change it as they see fit. Being open-source makes altering logged data within the chain, complicated, making blockchain technology particularly secure.

Reduced Transaction Costs

Blockchain allows peer-to-peer and business-to-business transactions to be completed without having to work with a third-party. Without the involvement of a middleman, like a bank, tied to the transactions in a blockchain, the costs to the user or business can be significantly reduced over time.

Faster Transaction Settlements

When dealing with traditional banks, it isn’t uncommon for a transaction to take days to become settled completely. This is because of the protocols established in bank transferring software, as well as the fact that most financial institutions are only open during the day. Blockchain technology, on the other hand, works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means transactions made with the blockchain technology can be processed more quickly.

Decentralization

Another reason why blockchain technology is so exciting is its lack of a central data hub. Rather than having to run a massive data centre and verifying the transactions through the centre, blockchain technology allows individual transactions to have their own proof of validity, as well as the authorization to enforce the constraints. Since information on a particular blockchain is piecemealed on individual servers throughout the world, it ensures that if hackers stole the data, they would only gain a small amount of data and not the entire network, keeping it from becoming completely compromised.

Even with these advantages, there is still a significant worry that can’t be overlooked. Throughout history, investors have continued to overestimate how quickly new technology will be adopted. Like most new technologies it will take time to lay the groundwork for blockchain, and it could still be some years before businesses fully embrace this technology as a significant component of their payment systems.

4 Key Features of Blockchain Technology

Even though blockchain technology is in its early stages, there are many things in our society that it is going to change. To start, it has already begun to solve the problem of manipulation and is starting to disrupt multiple industries, making the process of recording transactions more democratic, transparent, secure, and efficient. If you are not as familiar with blockchain technology as you would like, here are the four key features that makeup blockchain technology.

Decentralized Systems

Decentralized technologies, like that of the blockchain, allows us to store assets in a network that anyone can access. The assets can be anything from a token, a chain-of-evidence document, a contract, or property registry documents. Through blockchain technology, the owner of the documents has direct control through their private key, which is directly linked to the asset. Blockchain technology has proven itself and has the potential to bring massive change to the financial industry and the field of banking, allowing people to control their assets without having to rely on third parties.

Distributed Ledger

Blockchain technology is a public ledger that provides information on all the digital transactions that have taken place and allowed all participants in that blockchain to view the information. The technology helps to record each transaction and share that information across multiple networks. Every user within the system can validate the transactions and have an identical copy of the ledger where the transactions are recorded.

Safer and Secure Ecosystem

Thanks to the two above mentioned features, blockchains provide a more reliable and more secure ecosystem. Blockchain networks automatically check itself and update itself every few minutes, which provides a tamper-free environment. The authenticity of the data and documents of a blockchain are essential for an organization that has sensitive documents, assets, and contracts that need to remain protected.

Minting

There are many ways that you can mint coin in blockchain technology. The most common method is through mining. Mining coins require the proof of work concept to be in place so that someone can conclusively prove that they have engaged in a significant amount of computational work. The role of the miner in blockchain technology is to create a new block containing many of the latest transactions, then encrypting the data by a computational process to provide proof of work.

Along with being the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology has many other real-world applications. As technology continues to move toward mainstream acceptance, it is essential to understand the key features of the technology.

Risks of Blockchain Technology

As a new technology, resolving challenges like transaction speed, the verification process, and data limits are standing in the way of making blockchain widely adopted technology. The regulatory status of blockchain projects is also a risk of blockchain technology and is currently uncertain.

If financial institutions and governments don’t buy into the idea of blockchain technology, or if it is pushed away because of a lack of clear guidelines on how the industry should be regulated, blockchain will never gain the widespread adoption that investors and experts are hoping for, leaving it to be a novelty idea and nothing more.

The mining of blocks is highly energy-intensive and is becoming even more expensive with the creation of each new block on the chain. There may end up being a limit to how much miners are willing to continue to spend to solve mathematical puzzles in order to earn a few bitcoins as their reward.

There are also cybersecurity and integration concerns that will have to be addressed before the general public will be willing to entrust their personal data to a blockchain solution. This also goes for getting the go-ahead from any body of users or a Board of Directors in order to make significant changes to or even completely replacing an existing system. 

Finally, there is the problem of social and cultural adoption of blockchain technology. Blockchain represents a complete shift to a decentralized network. This requires a significant buy-in of all users and operators on the network. Also, since it is such a significant development, it is not entirely understood by a majority of the population. Will all of these risks and hurdles, it may be several years before we see widespread adoption of blockchain solutions.