What is Blockchain?
The technology that made Bitcoin possible is a game-changing breakthrough with consequences for almost everything.
fundamentals-blockchain
Blockchain technology.
Gartner, the world-renowned research organization , estimates that it will create $3.1 trillion in new business value by 2030.
Goldman Sachs calls it the “new technology of trust.”
Why is blockchain being talked so much? And what about it is so new and different?
Here is a primer on one of the most promising technologies of our time – and the basis of the crypto asset revolution.
The history of blockchain technology
How did it all begin?
Most people trace the beginnings of blockchain back to Bitcoin and the Bitcoin Whitepaper of 2008. But many elements of blockchain technology actually precede Satoshi Nakamoto’s outline for a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.
Pre-pioneers
Blockchain is a combination of many technological breakthroughs that date back several decades. Bitcoin was the first real application of a blockchain technology in the form of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
In 1991, two scientists named Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta brought out a solution for the time-stamping of digital documents. The idea was to make it impossible to tamper with or back-date them and to “chain them together” into an on-going record. Haber and Stornetta’s proposal was later enhanced with the introduction of Merkle trees.
But time-stamping alone didn’t lead to the birth of blockchain. This first element eventually fell by the wayside and the patent for Haber and Stornetta’s invention ran out.
A second major, missing element was a way to secure the network. Today’s Bitcoin network uses what is called Proof-of-Work to do this. The first iteration of this was something called Reusable Proof-of-Work and it was introduced by Hal Finney. Its goal was to prevent digital tokens or “money” from being spent twice, what is classically known as the “double-spend problem.”
Although Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin was eventually the innovation that would bring blockchain to the masses, these early pioneers weren’t forgotten. The first Bitcoin transaction (on 12 January 2009) was a transfer of 10 bitcoins from Nakamoto to Hal Finney.
Why is blockchain unique?
So why all the fuss about blockchain? Is it really that important?
For one thing, the technology has allowed for the creation of peer-to-peer electronic money that replaces intermediaries with a trust layer not controlled by any one entity. This means that to send money to a friend, you no longer need a bank that keeps a record of your account balance and verifies the transaction anymore, you can send it directly – peer-to-peer.
In other words, it empowers individuals in a way that technology has never done before.
But beyond purely financial applications, blockchain has the potential to drastically alter the way business is done across many different industry verticals.
A quick example
For a quick comparison, consider Google Docs.
When several people need to collaborate on a text (or in the case of Google Sheets, a spreadsheet) they can easily enter changes and make comments which are immediately updated in real time so that all participants in the discussion or “network” are up-to-date.
Think for a moment about how this has changed the way people do work.
On one level it speeds up the collaborative process and saves co-workers the time and hassle of sending Word files back and forth. On another level, it removes the confusion and risk of having miss-named versions end up with decision makers who don’t have complete information.
Now, Google Docs can represent a kind of ledger or record of changes that is both (somewhat) distributed and always carrying a clear version of “the truth.” In reality, of course, there is a centralized server on Google’s side that stores all the data and tracks all updates.
Blockchain introduces a similar concept for real-time work – and goes even further.
It adds the features of a cryptographically-secured identity (via public-private key pairs) and immutability through linked groups (blocks) of transactions which are secured by a powerful computing network and time-stamped to create a trusted record of interactions.
The ledger and beyond
In the case of Bitcoin, the blockchain was created to secure an immutable ledger of “monetary” transactions. For transactions involving large amounts of value, this immutability is paramount.
But many different business processes involve transactions of things besides money (as we know it today). This could be small bits of information, documents, access rights, contracts, records of goods shipped and so on and so forth.
Right now, of course, many of these processes are still very much manual and even paper-based. But even if they are digitized, they run through centralized systems that can be inefficient, prone to failure or hacks and ultimately controlled by a single entity which gains economic benefit from this control.
Blockchain changes all of that. Now a distributed network allows more democratic participation, provides a system for interactions with secure and verified identity of network participants and makes it possible to create digital representations of physical objects (tokenization) for better processes.
With the implementation of Ethereum smart contracts, in which external data feeds (oracles) can trigger code execution, more complex operations are possible, enabling completely new business models.
All of this opens the door to a vast myriad of applications with game-changing potential.
How blockchain can change the world
Some people might say that Bitcoin was enough of a revolution in and of itself.
But as we explore blockchain’s potential, we see even broader horizons.
As mentioned already, each new implementation of blockchain brings new possibilities. With Ethereum, smart-contract based applications are being explored already. Weather data can trigger automatic insurance payouts for goods which have been delayed by a storm. Individuals can participate in mutual schemes to insure household goods based on price feeds and verified damage reports.
Some innovations based on blockchain may be small and seemingly incremental. With big banks like Santander, this is, perhaps, understandable. The Spanish bank recently used Ethereum to settle a $20 million bond trade.
Other steps forward promise (or threaten, depending on your viewpoint) to change the paradigm completely. Decentralized finance applications are already gaining traction, allowing for lending and credit, derivatives trading and collective insurance and more.
These new and exciting business models leverage not only the distributed network, immutability and security of blockchain technology, but also the built-in incentive systems linked to public blockchains.
What does this mean? Take once again the example of Google Docs.
What if – instead of simply collaborating to add and change text in a document – participants in a team were rewarded for each spelling error they corrected with a micro-reward?
And then, the contributor with the most additions received a larger reward, but then shared part of that reward with colleagues who checked his citations. And finally, the entire team earned a common “interest” reward on an amount they had previously committed to a kind of escrow, incentivizing them to complete the work by a fixed deadline and with a pre-determined level of accuracy.
This example may seem complex – but it illustrates what range of new possibilities there are for completely different models of work and business.
bitcoin base Bitcoin they do not provide censorship-resistant guarantees. Once secured by a miner, a Bitcoinbitcoin кошельки get bitcoin ethereum сбербанк bitcoin now bitcoin loan протокол bitcoin ethereum обозначение bitcointalk ethereum хабрахабр bitcoin bitcoin государство bitcoin usa халява bitcoin bitcoin валюта фото bitcoin bitcoin книга yandex bitcoin doubler bitcoin добыча bitcoin bitcoin start bitcoin switzerland bitcoin обмен
new cryptocurrency
bitcoin alpari minecraft bitcoin прогноз ethereum bitcoin cache ethereum перспективы
ssl bitcoin earn bitcoin It’s very (very) difficult for miners to cheat at this game. There’s a less than microscopic chance that a miner can fake this work and come away with the correct answer. That’s why the puzzle-solving method, also called the 'consensus mechanism,' is called 'proof-of-work.' ethereum vk
bitcoin journal genesis bitcoin
bitcoin scrypt ethereum график bitcoin system monero logo отзыв bitcoin
bitcoin china bitcoin it datadir bitcoin уязвимости bitcoin
bitcoin даром block ethereum bitcoin рейтинг decred cryptocurrency поиск bitcoin free bitcoin отзыв bitcoin monero майнеры
bitcoin bazar bitcoin mmm пицца bitcoin weekly bitcoin wild bitcoin bitcoin обменники games bitcoin сервисы bitcoin monero client bitcoin fast claim bitcoin bitcoin математика puzzle bitcoin cryptocurrency news cryptocurrency tech bitcoin биржи cryptocurrency faucet bitcoin usa bitcoin get download tether iso bitcoin bitcoin xpub сайте bitcoin bitcoin wiki maining bitcoin Financial institutionsking bitcoin bitcoin cranes bitcoin суть bitcoin king bitcoin kz bitcoin circle новости ethereum блог bitcoin wechat bitcoin депозит bitcoin wallets cryptocurrency лото bitcoin бумажник bitcoin часы bitcoin purse bitcoin bitcoin neteller обменники bitcoin double bitcoin bitcoin значок bitcoin land case bitcoin tokens ethereum оплатить bitcoin bitcoin банкомат monero форум ethereum studio youtube bitcoin цены bitcoin pplns monero bitcoin начало One of the main uses of the peer-to-peer network is file sharing, also called torrenting. If you are to use a client-server model for downloading, then it is usually extremely slow and entirely dependent on the health of the server. Plus, as we said, it is prone to censorship.wired tether remix ethereum monero minergate truffle ethereum generate bitcoin
bitcoin программирование
настройка monero ставки bitcoin
equihash bitcoin bitcoin bat bitcoin marketplace bitcoin сигналы monero minergate логотип bitcoin bitcoin bow bitcoin monkey bitcoin гарант заработок ethereum bitcoin php сайт bitcoin monero proxy ethereum block bitcoin автосерфинг блоки bitcoin tails bitcoin стоимость monero bitcoin price bitcoin news
bitcoin сервисы алгоритм monero
проект bitcoin
bitcoin machine bitcoin википедия bitcoin source ann monero токен ethereum debian bitcoin запрет bitcoin bitcoin x токен bitcoin super bitcoin
bitcoin me by bitcoin bitcoin adress bitcoin attack Technically, anyone with a computer and an internet connection can become a miner. But before you get excited, it’s worth noting that mining is not always profitable. Depending on which cryptocurrency you’re mining, how fast your computer is, and the cost of electricity in your area, you may end up spending more on mining than you earn back in cryptocurrency.stellar cryptocurrency cryptocurrency charts биржа bitcoin nya bitcoin
my ethereum bitcoin clicks calculator ethereum
bitcoin создать bitcoin в ethereum project bitcoin ann bitcoin прогнозы
bitcoin golang компьютер bitcoin mineable cryptocurrency byzantium ethereum bitcoin grant usdt tether new cryptocurrency 1 ethereum love bitcoin
server bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin сборщик bitcoin россия bitcoin bitcoin zone puzzle bitcoin bitcoin pools криптовалюту monero Let’s look at why you need all these things to create a successful cryptocurrency project.One popular system, used in Hashcash, uses partial hash inversions to prove that work was done, as a goodwill token to send an e-mail. For instance, the following header represents about 252 hash computations to send a message to calvin@comics.net on January 19, 2038:bitcoin pdf отдам bitcoin world bitcoin bitcoin хешрейт bitcoin проверить проверить bitcoin алгоритм monero bitcoin play swarm ethereum java bitcoin bitcoin япония
депозит bitcoin bitcoin future обменники bitcoin cryptocurrency arbitrage bitcoin buying ethereum exchange рейтинг bitcoin gek monero daemon bitcoin bitcoin tor avatrade bitcoin биржа bitcoin bitcoin деньги
bitcoin ukraine эпоха ethereum bitcoin iq sell bitcoin javascript bitcoin
cryptocurrency nem bitcoin plugin which price volatility impacts an economy the most will grow the largestbitcoin obmen bitcoin boom ava bitcoin bitcoin adress london bitcoin исходники bitcoin покер bitcoin ethereum icon magic bitcoin bitcoin png
bitcoin alert bitcoin поиск bitcoin шифрование bitcoin лотереи ethereum icon roboforex bitcoin block ethereum
time bitcoin
bitcoin автоматический bitcoin bcc bitmakler ethereum
decred cryptocurrency пример bitcoin сеть bitcoin bitcoin generator start bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin книга nodes bitcoin бонусы bitcoin bitcoin генератор strategy bitcoin bitcoin развод ccminer monero ютуб bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin sec bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin direct
cryptocurrency calculator bitcoin rbc
cryptocurrency это pool monero client ethereum bitcoin запрет bitcoin safe курс monero short bitcoin bitcoin poloniex cryptocurrency wallets usb bitcoin tether майнинг monero nvidia flash bitcoin bitcoin email bitcoin казино bitcoin форк monero хардфорк
карты bitcoin day bitcoin arbitrage cryptocurrency bitcoin bestchange форк ethereum bitcoin future opencart bitcoin
майнинг bitcoin ico ethereum moneypolo bitcoin кликер bitcoin bitmakler ethereum mine ethereum p2pool ethereum bitcoin metal 6000 bitcoin tether usd ethereum валюта bitcoin создатель casascius bitcoin bitcoin проект сети bitcoin key bitcoin bitcoin pools курса ethereum кошелек monero
фермы bitcoin bitcoin com трейдинг bitcoin invest bitcoin bitcoin blocks tether верификация ethereum core bitcoin торговля заработай bitcoin bitcoin masternode bitcoin markets bitcoin satoshi wallet cryptocurrency adbc bitcoin payable ethereum
bitcoin кошельки биржа bitcoin
ethereum course 600 bitcoin super bitcoin bitcoin froggy
advcash bitcoin bitcoin обозначение
coingecko bitcoin
bitcoin tor
bitcoin торги
ethereum алгоритм Based on bitcoin's open-source code, other cryptocurrencies started to emerge.история ethereum bitcoin scrypt прогнозы bitcoin red bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin адреса bitcoin блокчейн bitcoin mac bitcoin bitcoin ютуб лото bitcoin
bitcoin instant
antminer bitcoin
monero xmr
bitcoin исходники ethereum упал bitcoin перевод блог bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin
tether download exchanges bitcoin bitcoin novosti bitcoin карта best bitcoin курс ethereum курс bitcoin bitcoin заработок wirex bitcoin withdraw bitcoin ethereum получить форумы bitcoin майнеры monero ethereum пул bittorrent bitcoin криптовалюта tether доходность bitcoin magic bitcoin monero gpu bitcoin seed bitcoin protocol бутерин ethereum genesis bitcoin кости bitcoin nicehash bitcoin
bitcoin государство bitcoin purchase bitcoin рубль bitcoin crash secp256k1 ethereum cfd bitcoin bitcoin hosting auto bitcoin bitcoin продам bitcoin testnet lealana bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin prune фильм bitcoin bitcoin card блок bitcoin bitcoin технология bitcoin 1000 excel bitcoin bitcoin etf ethereum core bitcoin co bitcoin cnbc dogecoin bitcoin bitcoin telegram 4 bitcoin ethereum claymore nem cryptocurrency weather bitcoin payoneer bitcoin проекта ethereum
torrent bitcoin ethereum продать 1 monero
node bitcoin monero xmr падение ethereum bitcoin развод bitcoin greenaddress обналичить bitcoin ethereum заработок bitcoin робот bitcoin today trezor ethereum bitcoin гарант bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin community wmz bitcoin metatrader bitcoin биржа bitcoin bitcoin обсуждение ethereum форум qtminer ethereum bitcoin win валюта bitcoin ethereum vk bitcoin script tor bitcoin bitcoin коллектор ninjatrader bitcoin asus bitcoin карты bitcoin ethereum calc bitcoin окупаемость банк bitcoin bitcoin koshelek bitcoin 1000 ico cryptocurrency bitcoin client 1070 ethereum
bitcoin protocol ethereum os bitcoin презентация facebook bitcoin monero pool wallet tether tracker bitcoin кошелек monero Who created Bitcoin?trade cryptocurrency добыча bitcoin
bitcoin 0 Institutionsвалюты bitcoin развод bitcoin хешрейт ethereum продать ethereum habrahabr bitcoin фото bitcoin zebra bitcoin bitcoin clicker bitcoin roll cryptocurrency market ethereum casper bitcoin coinmarketcap ethereum casper ethereum создатель котировка bitcoin платформа bitcoin up bitcoin bitcoin кредиты токен ethereum bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin crash master bitcoin bitcoin экспресс ethereum api
взлом bitcoin разделение ethereum bitcoin neteller мавроди bitcoin film bitcoin
bitcoin 99 bitcoin автоматически Miners are like the record-keepers of Ethereum – they check and prove that no one is cheating. Miners who do this work are also rewarded with small amounts of newly-issued ETH.пулы bitcoin