With the rise of Bitcoin, the topic of Blockchain Technology has been brought to the forefront of mainstream media, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. That’s why it’s essential that you learn what Blockchain Technology is and how it works so you can use it to your advantage in business and everyday life. In this article, we’ll teach you all about Blockchain Technology, starting with the basics and moving on to more advanced topics as we go along.
What Is Blockchain Technology?
It’s an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. The ledger itself can also be programmed to trigger transactions automatically. What makes blockchain technology so powerful is that it relies on decentralized platforms as opposed to centralized databases. It’s very hard to change data that has been recorded on a blockchain ledger once it has been completed. Thanks to that feature, data stored using blockchain technology becomes incorruptible. You don’t need banks or governments involved. It’s controlled by nobody and everyone at the same time. Nobody controls your account but you—not even Intuit (the company behind QuickBooks).
Web servers are some of those things we’ve come to take for granted over time; there was a time when we didn’t have them and if we wanted our work seen by others, we needed a publisher or other party with similar means of distribution to get us out there into one of their magazines or newsletters. We couldn’t just slap something up online where anyone could access it regardless of their geographic location or other hurdles which would otherwise prevent them from seeing what we made available publicly.
How Does Blockchain Technology Work?
Blockchain technology has been called the next big thing for several years now, but many people still don’t understand what it is or how it works. The concept is actually fairly simple: blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions chronologically and publicly. Blockchains are decentralized, meaning they do not rely on any one entity to function. Instead, multiple copies of a single shared ledger provide users with access to all information at once.
Since no centralized authority is in charge of data collection and management, hacking attacks are nearly impossible. As blockchains grow more complex with each new transaction added, mathematical encryption ensures that user data remains secure; however, knowing where to start when creating your own blockchain can be intimidating if you aren’t familiar with technical language like encryption. Still confused? We got you covered! Here’s everything you need to know about blockchain technology in plain English.
In order to create a truly trustless database that anyone can edit, we must address two issues: how do we make sure only authorized users have access? And how do we prevent those same authorized users from modifying past entries within their database? In our example above, Alice would want her database entries—particularly her bank statement—to remain private and free from modification by third parties. To keep unauthorized individuals out of her accounts, she could store them behind an encrypted password using an algorithm like AES 256-bit encryption (the same used by most banks). But what about preventing future changes? While many applications exist for securely sharing data over internet connections (HTTPS), these methods are essentially optional; if Bob wants to modify Alice’s bank statement after she uploaded it, he will be able to easily do so because he controls both computers.
A blockchain solves these problems by making all databases distributed among nodes on its network—meaning there is no single point of failure or control over any part of it. You might think of each node as one member in a peer-to-peer file sharing network; when you share a file on BitTorrent, you are simultaneously uploading and downloading information from other people on its network at the same time as they are doing with yours.
Blockchain Technology – Advantages?
Blockchain technology is open-source and accessible to everyone. When you share your information through a traditional database, it’s stored in one place and controlled by one person or organization. You can control who has access to that information if you choose to do so, but if someone gets ahold of it, they have complete access to everything: names, passwords, emails, bank account numbers.
With blockchain technology, all data is encrypted before it’s written onto thousands of computers across a decentralized network (there are no central servers). Decentralization means that there isn’t one point of failure; should any number of nodes on a network go down due to hardware problems or natural disasters like floods or fires, there are plenty more copies still available.
Encryption ensures that only authorized parties with keys can read the contents of your files; once they’re written to a block, no one—not even you—can delete them or rewrite them. Instead, blocks are simply interconnected in ways that make tampering with one block impossible without affecting every other block in existence as well. That makes records fraud-proof and completely unalterable once they’ve been entered into the system. Traditional banking systems work similarly, but unlike blockchain technology, banks rely on middlemen such as payment processors and financial institutions who create artificial barriers to exchange value between people around the world.
Then Why Not Traditional Databases?
Traditional database architectures have a single centralized manager that handles transactions and security. To date, no blockchain has been hacked. Because blockchain is decentralized across a network of computers, if one computer in a blockchain fails or falls offline, there are still thousands of other computers in that network to maintain a ledger of activity. If a company or individual had their data housed in just one location it would be much easier for hackers to access private information.
On top of that, because blockchains use encryption, user privacy is better protected than with traditional databases. With traditional databases your users may need passwords to access your product; on top of that you will also want them to provide credit card information when they make purchases through your app—even if you don’t store it directly with your company.
How Can I Get Started With Blockchains?
If you want to understand blockchain technology but don’t know where to start, we can help. After reading our guide, you’ll be able to identify blockchains and cryptocurrencies at a glance, explain their potential benefits and risks, and understand what kinds of projects might benefit from incorporating them. The blockchain is a groundbreaking technology that will have implications beyond just financial services—any industry or area of business that relies on secure data transmission could be disrupted by blockchains.
Understanding how blockchains work will give you a broad new perspective on internet security and communications. While not all blockchains are created equal, they all work in roughly similar ways. Let’s walk through some fundamental definitions: First, note that when people talk about blockchain technology, they usually mean a network based on one of several variations on distributed ledger technology (DLT). We won’t go into detail about DLT here; there are many good introductions online (see below) if you’re interested in learning more. You can think of DLT as an online append-only logbook called a ledger — basically, each entry represents one event occurring in real time.
Blockchain Technology – FAQs
What is Blockchain? Well, Blockchain can be described as a public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions. It is commonly used to refer to digital currencies like Bitcoin but it’s important to remember that Blockchain can record any transaction between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. At its core, a blockchain is just a distributed database or decentralized database.