An In Depth Look Into Blockchain Technology
Blockchain, a brainchild of the of the mysterious pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, is an indisputably ingenious innovation.
The technology allows digital information to be distributed to users without being copied, thus creating the spine of a new kind of internet. The Blockchain technology was originally invented for the sole purpose of governance of the digital currency, Bitcoin, however, tech pioneers have devised and continually devise other potential uses for arguably the most disruptive technology.
Bitcoin (BTC), tagged – quite appropriately the “digital gold”, currently has a total currency value of close to $9 billion (USD) with Blockchain technology being central to its development as well as other emerging altcoins.
Similar to the internet, understanding how the Blockchain works is not a strict requirement for utilizing the technology. However, having a basic knowledge of the Blockchain technology would help you get a grasp of why the technology is revolutionary.
Essentially, Blockchain works like a spreadsheet which is duplicated thousands of times across a network of nodes. This spreadsheet, by design, gets regularly updated with trade transactions.
This is essentially how the Blockchain functions i.e. information on a Blockchain exists as a shared database that is continually updated and reconciled. One of the amazing benefits of the Blockchain technology is the fact that this database of information and trade transactions is not stored in any single location and not governed by one central node or computer. Records kept on a Blockchain is indeed public and easily verifiable by anybody.
The fact that the Blockchain is not governed by any central node – instead, it is hosted by millions of nodes/computers concurrently over the internet – means it cannot be hacked.
Blockchain technology, similar to the internet, has a built-in robustness. The Blockchain stores blocks of records that are the exact same across its network and as such, this stored information cannot:
Since the invention of the first Blockchain based digital currency (Bitcoin) back in 2008 to this recent date, there has been no significant disintegration of the Bitcoin Blockchain (problems recorded with Bitcoin to date have been as a result of hacking or mismanagement). These issues are not attributed to the underlying concept of the Bitcoin Blockchain but to bad intentions (hacks) and human error.
As with the case of the internet’s (which has been around for about thirty years) durability, the Blockchain technology is revolutionary and it is set to stay as it gets developed further.
The Blockchain technology network functions in a state of consensus whereby it automatically checks-in with itself on a ten-minute loop. Essentially, the Blockchain technology functions as a self-auditing ecosystem of digital assets’ value, it reconciles all transactions that occur in ten-minute intermissions.
Each group of these reconciled transactions is called a “block”. As a result of the Blockchain automatically reconciling transactions, there are two resultants properties yr.
While there is a possibility of this occurring theoretically, it is not practically feasible.
