What is blockchain technology?
Hey guys!
Market's been kind of shaky recently because of COVID-19 and the on-going war between Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions here and there, people dying, losing their jobs, migrating away. Time's tough.
Who would expect a war to happen in this modern day of society?
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Let's begin, i do not want to bore you with news you probably already knew.
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What is blockchain technology, really?
Blockchain technology is most simply defined as a decentralized, distributed ledger that records the provenance of a digital asset. By inherent design, the data on a blockchain is unable to be modified, which makes it a legitimate disruptor for industries like payments, cybersecurity and healthcare.
Blockchain makes the history of any digital asset unalterable and transparent through the use of decentralization and cryptographic hashing. A blockchain is a database that stores encrypted blocks of data then chains them together to form a chronological single-source-of-truth for the data
Digital assets are distributed instead of copied or transferred, creating an immutable record of an asset. The asset is decentralized, allowing full real-time access and transparency to the public. A transparent ledger of changes preserves integrity of the document, which creates trust in the asset.
Blockchain’s inherent security measures and public ledger make it a prime technology for almost every single sector
But is blockchain technology really that useful?
Blockchain is an especially promising and revolutionary technology because it helps reduce risk, stamps out fraud and brings transparency in a scalable way for myriad uses.
How Does Blockchain Work?
"The whole point of using a blockchain is to let people — in particular, people who don't trust one another — share valuable data in a secure, tamperproof way."
— MIT Technology Review
Blockchain consists of three important concepts: blocks, nodes and miners.
Blocks
Every chain consists of multiple blocks and each block has three basic elements:
- The data in the block.
- A 32-bit whole number called a nonce. The nonce is randomly generated when a block is created, which then generates a block header hash.
- The hash is a 256-bit number wedded to the nonce. It must start with a huge number of zeroes (i.e., be extremely small).
When the first block of a chain is created, a nonce generates the cryptographic hash. The data in the block is considered signed and forever tied to the nonce and hash unless it is mined.
Miners
Miners create new blocks on the chain through a process called mining.
In a blockchain every block has its own unique nonce and hash, but also references the hash of the previous block in the chain, so mining a block isn't easy, especially on large chains.
Miners use special software to solve the incredibly complex math problem of finding a nonce that generates an accepted hash. Because the nonce is only 32 bits and the hash is 256, there are roughly four billion possible nonce-hash combinations that must be mined before the right one is found. When that happens miners are said to have found the "golden nonce" and their block is added to the chain.
Making a change to any block earlier in the chain requires re-mining not just the block with the change, but all of the blocks that come after. This is why it's extremely difficult to manipulate blockchain technology. Think of it as "safety in math" since finding golden nonces requires an enormous amount of time and computing power.
When a block is successfully mined, the change is accepted by all of the nodes on the network and the miner is rewarded financially.
Nodes
One of the most important concepts in blockchain technology is decentralization.
No one computer or organization can own the chain. Instead, it is a distributed ledger via the nodes connected to the chain. Nodes can be any kind of electronic device that maintains copies of the blockchain and keeps the network functioning.
Every node has its own copy of the blockchain and the network must algorithmically approve any newly mined block for the chain to be updated, trusted and verified. Since blockchains are transparent, every action in the ledger can be easily checked and viewed. Each participant is given a unique alphanumeric identification number that shows their transactions.
Combining public information with a system of checks-and-balances helps the blockchain maintain integrity and creates trust among users. Essentially, blockchains can be thought of as the scalability of trust via technology.
BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS
Blockchain has a nearly endless amount of applications across almost every industry. The ledger technology can be applied to track fraud in finance, securely share patient medical records between healthcare professionals and even acts as a better way to track intellectual property in business and music rights for artists.
History of Blockchain
Although blockchain is a new technology, it already boasts a rich and interesting history. The following is a brief timeline of some of the most important and notable events in the development of blockchain.
2008
- Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a person or group, publishes “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System."
2009
- The first successful Bitcoin (BTC) transaction occurs between computer scientist Hal Finney and the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto.
2010
- Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanycez completes the first ever purchase using Bitcoin — two Papa John’s pizzas. Hanycez transferred 10,000 BTC’s, worth about $60 at the time. Today it's worth $80 million.
- The market cap of Bitcoin officially exceeds $1 million.
2011
- 1 BTC = $1USD, giving the cryptocurrency parity with the US dollar.
- Electronic Frontier Foundation, Wikileaks and other organizations start accepting Bitcoin as donations.
2012
- Blockchain and cryptocurrency are mentioned in popular television shows like The Good Wife, injecting blockchain into pop culture.
- Bitcoin Magazine launched by early Bitcoin developer Vitalik Buterin.
2013
- BTC market cap surpassed $1 billion.
- Bitcoin reached $100/BTC for the first time.
- Buterin publishes “Ethereum Project" paper suggesting that blockchain has other possibilities besides Bitcoin (e.g., smart contracts).
2014
- Gaming company Zynga, The D Las Vegas Hotel and Overstock.com all start accepting Bitcoin as payment.
- Buterin’s Ethereum Project is crowdfunded via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) raising over $18 million in BTC and opening up new avenues for blockchain.
- R3, a group of over 200 blockchain firms, is formed to discover new ways blockchain can be implemented in technology.
- PayPal announces Bitcoin integration.
2015
- Number of merchants accepting BTC exceeds 100,000.
- NASDAQ and San-Francisco blockchain company Chain team up to test the technology for trading shares in private companies.
2016
- Tech giant IBM announces a blockchain strategy for cloud-based business solutions.
- The government of Japan recognizes the legitimacy of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
2017
- Bitcoin reaches $1,000/BTC for the first time.
- Cryptocurrency market cap reaches $150 billion.
- JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he believes in blockchain as a future technology, giving the ledger system a vote-of-confidence from Wall Street.
- Bitcoin reaches its all-time high at $19,783.21/BTC.
- Dubai announces its government will be blockchain-powered by 2020.
2018
- Facebook commits to starting a blockchain group and also hints at the possibility of creating its own cryptocurrency.
- IBM develops a blockchain-based banking platform with large banks like Citi and Barclays signing on.
2019
- China’s President Ji Xinping publicly embraces blockchain as China’s central bank announces it is working on its own cryptocurrency
- Twitter & Square CEO Jack Dorsey announces that Square will be hiring blockchain engineers to work on the company’s future crypto plans
- The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announces the creation of Bakkt - a digital wallet company that includes crypto trading
2020
- Bitcoin almost reaches $30,000 by the end of 2020
- PayPal announces it will allow users to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies
- The Bahamas becomes the world’s first country to launch its central bank digital currency, fittingly known as the “Sand Dollar”
- Blockchain becomes a key player in the fight against COVID-19, mainly for securely storing medical research data and patient information
2021
- Bitcoin reached a peak of over $67,000
- Institutions now hold a total of $90B of Bitcoin
- Bitcoin ETFs started launching
- Crypto infrastructure grew significantly in 2021, increasing total market cap by 187.5%
That's all for now! Till next time! :)
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Disclaimer:
One should always have a minimum of 6 months worth of emergency savings set aside before investing in the stock market for any sudden emergency like medical urgency or the sudden loss of a job.
This should only be used for emergencies and not be touched for any luxury purposes.
One should always have enough insurance coverage also before investing in case of any accidents or big medical expenses like cancer treatments etc.
Like they say, health is wealth.
--
Disclaimer:
One should always have a minimum of 6 months worth of emergency savings set aside before investing in the stock market for any sudden emergency like medical urgency or the sudden loss of a job.
This should only be used for emergencies and not be touched for any luxury purposes.
One should always have enough insurance coverage also before investing in case of any accidents or big medical expenses like cancer treatments etc.
Like they say, health is wealth.
--
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