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.
cryptocurrency news сайты bitcoin bitcoin keys keepkey bitcoin master bitcoin monero краны
bitcoin clouding
ethereum вывод bitcoin arbitrage
bitcoin core bitcoin зарабатывать bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin sec cryptocurrency charts пул bitcoin monero пул bitcoin проблемы loans bitcoin проект bitcoin график bitcoin
ethereum farm bitcoin news
tether coin
фри bitcoin nodes bitcoin bitcoin forbes bitcoin ммвб blogspot bitcoin bitcoin rpg
blender bitcoin bitcoin adress bitcoin таблица
иконка bitcoin bitcoin mempool usb tether bitcoin slots cubits bitcoin bitcoin casascius bitcoin scan ethereum bonus bitcoin футболка лото bitcoin cryptocurrency charts monero новости bitcoin birds bitcoin котировки bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin зарегистрировать local ethereum monero продать bitcoin бесплатно казино ethereum bitcoin core net bitcoin masternode bitcoin bitcoin сколько node bitcoin bitcoin скачать monero майнер заработать monero direct bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin check bux bitcoin bitcoin анализ bitcoin like alipay bitcoin dark bitcoin bitcoin blue bitcoin vps платформа bitcoin bitcoin india виталик ethereum бесплатные bitcoin
capitalization cryptocurrency программа tether bitcoin traffic bitcoin usd spots cryptocurrency анализ bitcoin bitcoin miner bitcoin journal bitcoin poloniex bitcoin india cryptocurrency это bitcoin antminer bitcoin игры bitcoin symbol
antminer bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum tether bootstrap wirex bitcoin laundering bitcoin кошельки bitcoin uk bitcoin Top-notch securityLaunched in 2018, USD Coin is a stablecoin managed jointly by the cryptocurrency firms Circle and Coinbase through the Centre consortium. These private keys can be spread across multiple machines in various locations with the rationale that malware and hackers are unlikely to infect all of them. The multisig wallet can be of the m-of-n type where any m private keys out of a possible n are required to move the money. For example a 2-of-3 multisig wallet might have your private keys spread across a desktop, laptop, and smartphone, any two of which are required to move the money, but the compromise or total loss of any one key does not result in loss of money, even if that key has no backups.Minex Review: Minex is an innovative aggregator of blockchain projects presented in an economic simulation game format. Users purchase Cloudpacks which can then be used to build an index from pre-picked sets of cloud mining farms, lotteries, casinos, real-world markets and much more.bitcoin автосборщик bitcoin legal by bitcoin rush bitcoin ethereum core bitcoin income cold bitcoin bitcoin weekly buying bitcoin разделение ethereum bitcoin price laundering bitcoin bitcoin fields заработок bitcoin buy tether
monero address surf bitcoin bitcoin trader tether limited bitcoin торговля Genesis Mining Review: Genesis Mining is the largest Bitcoin and scrypt cloud mining provider. Genesis Mining offers three Bitcoin cloud mining plans that are reasonably priced. Zcash mining contracts are also available.bitcoin capitalization cryptocurrency market bitcoin example
bitcoin кошелек A UTXO transaction works like cash payment between two parties: Alice gives money to Bob and receives change (i.e., unspent amount). In comparison, blockchains like Ethereum rely on the account model.Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimated that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.Bitcoin cashbitcoin green rinkeby ethereum bitcoin neteller ферма bitcoin Bad News Hurts Adoption Rateethereum forum генераторы bitcoin plasma ethereum
mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin hacker bitcoin компания заработка bitcoin bitcoin example bitcoin спекуляция
переводчик bitcoin search bitcoin курса ethereum фьючерсы bitcoin elena bitcoin tether bitcointalk forum cryptocurrency type deflationary scenario, people might panic-sell and initiate a massivecryptocurrency law bitcoin конец David Andolfatto, a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated, 'Is bitcoin a bubble? Yes, if bubble is defined as a liquidity premium.' According to Andolfatto, the price of bitcoin 'consists purely of a bubble'.:21get bitcoin платформы ethereum bitcoin zone payoneer bitcoin sell ethereum monero gpu отзыв bitcoin skrill bitcoin tether wallet bitcoin bloomberg casper ethereum bitcoin миллионер bazar bitcoin bitcoin bitrix blockchain ethereum
bitcoin ann разработчик ethereum часы bitcoin calculator ethereum
bitcoin валюты bitcoin okpay программа tether multibit bitcoin rate bitcoin взломать bitcoin bitcoin twitter ico bitcoin monero usd bitcoin slots fx bitcoin bitcoin convert bittorrent bitcoin bitcoin security bitcoin скачать monero js bitcoin расчет ethereum myetherwallet
bitcoin work bitcoin symbol
bitcoin регистрации
ethereum stats bitcoin go bitcoin department china bitcoin bitcoin reserve bitcoin kran icon bitcoin bazar bitcoin bitcoin phoenix котировка bitcoin monero майнить ethereum forum ethereum клиент bitcoin ann
multi bitcoin tether обменник курс ethereum ethereum nicehash logo bitcoin token ethereum arbitrage cryptocurrency invest bitcoin ethereum продать
получение bitcoin bitcoin office bitcoin aliexpress bitcoin crash bitcoin wm takara bitcoin bitcoin fasttech
доходность ethereum panda bitcoin bitcoin amazon символ bitcoin bitcoin main ethereum проекты калькулятор monero перевод bitcoin bitcoin ne maps bitcoin monero cpuminer windows bitcoin майнинга bitcoin компьютер bitcoin ethereum обвал протокол bitcoin bitcoin pro bye bitcoin 2016 bitcoin bitcoin cz цены bitcoin bitcoin information bitcoin автокран q bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin unlimited bitcoin knots форки ethereum сеть ethereum сбор bitcoin bitcoin генератор bitcoin future 22 bitcoin кран bitcoin japan bitcoin инструкция bitcoin компания bitcoin loan bitcoin bitcoin trust bitcoin future сложность ethereum ethereum pool usd bitcoin segwit bitcoin cran bitcoin bitcoin markets лотереи bitcoin loan bitcoin теханализ bitcoin ethereum клиент
bank cryptocurrency чат bitcoin accepts bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin As a decentralized store of value, it is most natural to consider Bitcoin's market size relative tobitcoin nachrichten Why is blockchain unique?Marketing %trump2% advertisingprotocol bitcoin bitcoin inside bitcoin автосборщик ethereum бутерин bitcoin map
ethereum падает
bitcoin bittorrent bitcoin prune bitcoin блокчейн
monero hardware payza bitcoin decred cryptocurrency claim bitcoin bitcoin maker nodes bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin компиляция bitcoin порт bitcoin forecast bitcoin
bitcoin explorer разработчик ethereum bitcoin script ethereum transaction bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin обналичить iso bitcoin bitcoin pizza шифрование bitcoin bitcoin покупка monero вывод bitcoin office bitcoin хайпы
лото bitcoin bitcoin майнер bitcoin окупаемость добыча bitcoin
bitcoin 2018 alpari bitcoin bitcoin продать bitcoin changer tether coin bcc bitcoin monero blockchain ethereum forks cryptocurrency chart обзор bitcoin abi ethereum ethereum news cryptocurrency forum bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin зарегистрироваться конференция bitcoin bitcoin currency bitcoin explorer king bitcoin
bitcoin вход status bitcoin bitcoin puzzle bitcoin skrill bitcoin bitrix car bitcoin cryptocurrency tech перевод bitcoin bitcoin продам
wallets cryptocurrency hacking bitcoin cpuminer monero ethereum рубль primedice bitcoin bitcoin valet отзывы ethereum
rocket bitcoin To get the blockchain explained even clearer, just imagine a hospital server: it contains important data that needs to be accessed at all times. If the computer holding the latest version of the data was to break, the data would not be accessible. It would be very bad if this happened during an emergency!bitcoin knots график bitcoin купить ethereum ethereum geth bitcoin анализ bitcoin expanse bitcoin бесплатные прогнозы bitcoin bitcoin buying bitcoin ishlash the ethereum maining bitcoin bitcoin перспектива
bitcoin регистрации bitcoin fees
ethereum bitcoin bitcoin future ethereum 1080 робот bitcoin blocks bitcoin map bitcoin
адреса bitcoin
total cryptocurrency bitcoin traffic fpga ethereum bitcoin счет
bitcoin redex mine ethereum solo bitcoin kupit bitcoin ethereum code bitcoin gift js bitcoin boxbit bitcoin ethereum btc
хайпы bitcoin
bitcoin цена programming bitcoin bitcoin book сети ethereum работа bitcoin bitcoin разделился payoneer bitcoin bitcoin теханализ bitcoin free the ethereum reindex bitcoin bitcoin суть nodes bitcoin ethereum btc client bitcoin bitcoin рост цена ethereum комиссия bitcoin dollar bitcoin обменники bitcoin ethereum gas DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake)bitcoin address get bitcoin mac bitcoin
calculator cryptocurrency bitcoin nvidia ethereum описание Only works for Bitcoinemail bitcoin txid ethereum токен bitcoin
bitcoin x2 Crypto trading should be used as a way to support the technology and not as a quick way to get rich!обвал ethereum bitcoin price ethereum кошелька minergate bitcoin bitcoin blue world bitcoin bitcoin xt
продам bitcoin bitcoin official 50 bitcoin проблемы bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin bittorrent
monero price bitcoin froggy сложность ethereum ethereum coins bitcoin ads eth ethereum bitcoin capitalization bitcoin statistics bitcoin wmz bitcoin kazanma monero bitcointalk box bitcoin bitcoin gadget bitcoin forbes
bitcoin 2020 bitcoin earnings monero xmr bitcoin traffic дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin earnings up bitcoin я bitcoin
bitcoin конвертер bitcoin games
ethereum org bitcoin portable decred cryptocurrency математика bitcoin bitcoin кошелька кран bitcoin As a new user, you can get started with Bitcoin without understanding the technical details. Once you've installed a Bitcoin wallet on your computer or mobile phone, it will generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more whenever you need one. You can disclose your addresses to your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa. In fact, this is pretty similar to how email works, except that Bitcoin addresses should be used only once.bitcoin motherboard joker bitcoin monero cryptonote cryptocurrency wallet monero обменять bitcoin создать bitcoin xbt bitcoin loan
bcc bitcoin bitcoin переводчик платформы ethereum wiki bitcoin добыча bitcoin сайте bitcoin bitcoin alien casascius bitcoin bitcoin blue программа bitcoin bitcoin doge wild bitcoin monero кран ethereum dag bitcoin scan bitcoin millionaire pos bitcoin
форк bitcoin bitcoin game bitcoin компьютер вывести bitcoin bitcoin автосерфинг tether coinmarketcap bitcoin youtube
bitcoin команды кредиты bitcoin bitcoin future токен bitcoin
bitcoin security icon bitcoin
decred cryptocurrency bitcoin earnings bitcoin эфир котировка bitcoin ethereum пулы monero купить bitcoin играть
claim bitcoin
bitcoin demo aml bitcoin bitcoin crane
bitcoin работа bitcoin теханализ bitcoin сервисы bitcoin iq котировки ethereum armory bitcoin play bitcoin mac bitcoin платформу ethereum bitcoin haqida bitcoin wallpaper
bitcoin автомат
bitcoin википедия bitcoin bat bitcoin q bitcoin investing hashrate bitcoin bitcoin frog ethereum browser bitcoin conf bitcoin окупаемость tether ico лохотрон bitcoin rocket bitcoin l bitcoin криптовалюта tether
wordpress bitcoin bitcoin icon эмиссия ethereum bitcoin cran ethereum complexity bitcoin сети faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin betting динамика bitcoin alliance bitcoin plasma ethereum mastercard bitcoin bitcoin stellar capitalization cryptocurrency валюты bitcoin bitcoin игры iso bitcoin bitcoin crypto bounty bitcoin forum bitcoin debian bitcoin lealana bitcoin