Blockchain in this particular era can mean a lot of things based on the industry or the particular place the technology will be applied. Since I want to explain this from a financial point of view; Blockchain in the world of finance can be defined as a decentralized distributed ledger technology(database) that records and store the transactions of digital currencies. In the world of finance, specifically in the crypto world, Blockchain is a decentralized distributed ledger technology cryptographically linked to cryptocurrencies to record and keep transactions in a form of blocks; that is, the transactions are piled up to a certain limit to create the block and at the end of the block creation, the process of hashing will take place and then the block of transactions will be permanently stored on the Blockchain. After all the computer nodes connected to each other reaches consensus to accept that those transactions are valid to be added to the Blockchain as its blocks. Hashing, in this process, means recording the transactions in a string of both alphabet and numeric keys to indicate a specific transaction in sequence, both the previous and the next and the one afterward so basically a transaction stored with the hash function is impossible to alter. In order to alter, tamper, forge, or duplicate transactions stored by this hash function, one needs to change all subsequent transactions to be able to alter, which is absolutely impossible. A hash is then a string of words recorded as a transaction containing alphabets and numeric keys
The red circled mix-up letters in the picture above indicate a hash.
In the cryptocurrency space, cryptocurrencies rely on Blockchain to verify transactions thus going through the hash function to recorded blocks and finally reaching consensus to get verified. For a transaction to get verified permanently on the Blockchain a group of people called miners connected to the nodes will check the transaction validity before it will be recorded no the Blockchain. These miners are awarded some amount on the transaction they validated on the blockchain network. The Blockchain network is decentralized and it an open-source network where everyone on the network sees what is going and come to a consensus on every single transaction. To be able to see transactions on the Blockchain, one needs to visit the particular Blockchain explorer that is where the transactions (subsequent and current transactions) are displayed. The Blockchain database exists on multiple computers at the same time. All value sent through the Blockchain is redistributed without duplication.
Features of the Blockchain Technology
For the first time in history, people can send value on the internet and still avoid double-spending thus the value sent is redistributed instead of the usual way we know where when someone sends you something on the internet the person still has a copy. Also, the blockchain network comes with no central management or organization, a system completely decentralized. Blockchain in my point of view is not just a technology, it is a trust machine to disrupt centralized organizations. It is a culture, yes, and emerging technology, it comes with immutability feature that is, a blockchain network is not mutable, it cannot be tampered with or altered, protects data and user anonymity, proof of work thus everything that happens on the network, so in a case of 100yrs later we can trace and see what exactly happened a long time ago. Its highly encrypted protocols make it impossible to hack, nullify mutual distrust and encourage global collaboration of people who have not seen each other before or met before across the world without any centralized management but computerized codes. It creates transparency and avoids corruptions absolutely. A layman who does not understand the technicalities on the Blockchain will start understanding something from this point. Actually, it is a complicated technology but once you understand it, it becomes pretty simple. Data on the Blockchain is like a synchronized data geographically dispersed across computers whereas each of the computers represents a node so therefore what happens on a single computer is shared throughout the other computers instantaneously.
Actually, Blockchain can mean a lot more than a distributed ledger technology, and now it can be applied in all industry that affects our socio-economic life. To me, it is a tool for reshaping the world to a more decentralized world.
For a developer, Blockchain is a set of protocols for a distributed data encryption
For a finance person, it is a decentralized distributed ledger technology for keeping and recording financial transactions data.
For internet users, it is the driving force for the next generation on the internet. Since it was born on the internet, tested on the internet, applied on the internet as how it works , it can be considered as such.
If you take your time to analyze the implication of this technology in the near future, you will understand how incredible this tech can be a few years to come. Blockchain at this point means more than a technology. It is a culture, a way of life, aspiration and revolution. It is solving almost all the world problems we never hoped could be solved such as double-spending. One of the biggest problem the entire globe was facing was how to let the whole world collaborate; thanks to Blockchain the world can collaborate now through their computers. Soon people will not have a choice than to live the Blockchain life.
I Am Crypto Ras
Featured Photo by Hitesh Choudhary on Unsplash
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