Can blockchain change the world?
Blockchain is a technology for open storage of any information, which many have learned about thanks to bitcoins – the most famous digital currency. But its capabilities are not limited. Now they are trying to use the blockchain everywhere – from financial transactions to historical archives, and even called the «new Google.» We explain what it is and how blockchain ideologues are trying to change the world.
From phone to blockchain
The idea behind this technology is a vast database that is spread across many computers. The name refers to the device of the system: a database is a set of records about all operations that are stored in a single document and are related to each other, which makes it difficult to edit or delete information about them.
A clear example
Let’s imagine that Kirill sells a pen to his colleague Denis. In the existing commodity-money system, the fact of this transfer must be fixed. A certifying person usually does this. For example, if we are talking about a transfer from account to account, a bank is a notary, if about property, a payment system when you pay with non-cash money.
How do you relate this example to blockchain? Let’s imagine that Kirill sells a pen to Denis during the working day, and his colleagues see it. It is now easier to find out what the transfer of the pen was if most people would confirm it. In such a system, other colleagues must record what happened, and this can be rechecked. It turns out that if there are many people in the office, it is pointless to bribe and deceive them – it is long, complex, and costly. This is how the bitcoin network is formed – a set of interconnected computers via the Internet and a particular program. Its offline analog in the example is an office.
Many people learned about blockchains through bitcoin – the first and most famous cryptocurrency that works on the blockchain system. Bitcoin emerged in late 2008 and quickly ceased to be just entertainment for geeks. Its developer, who calls himself Satoshi Nakamoto (actually Craig Wright), talked about creating a payment system in which all transactions take place without intermediaries.
«Blockchain has the potential to change the way people and businesses interact.»
There are four main areas in which blockchain can potentially develop. For example, in the transfer of property rights, for which it was invented. However, we are talking not only about the transfer of cryptocurrencies but about any property in general.
The second function is a reliable database that can store unchanged information – for example, for historical archives. This list also includes «smart» programs that could take over part of the routine work of people using a set of operations. With reliable information, machines will be able to conduct big deals without human intervention. The last point is the most fantastic and radical. Blockchains can potentially collect any information – for example, elections, referendums, and the data on the results cannot be falsified.
For example, in a post from The Economist magazine, it is argued that «blockchain has the potential to change the way people and businesses interact. Bitcoin buffs are in awe of libertarian ideals, a digital currency beyond the reach of any central bank. The real innovation is not just digital coins themselves, but the mechanism that produces them and promises so much more. «
The ideologists and supporters of blockchain implementation are optimistic and believe that this is the future.