Blockchain 101: What is Blockchain?

INTRODUCTION

How many of you ever cast a vote? So, if you are casting a vote how can you make sure that the person or the purpose you voted for gets the vote. Do you have any proof of that? Have you ever heard the same story from the U.S. to India to World’s largest democracies, people always have insecurities after casting a vote? Then, there is reelection or re-counting. But is not funny that after that reelection or recounting most of them do not feel insecure I would say It is just a waste of time and money again because that reelection and recounting is happening under the same governance. Why would you believe second time the same system if you already have allegations against it in the first place? This is one of the perfect examples where Blockchain Technology could be the solution but what is Blockchain Technology the incredibly popular but at the same time difficult.

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack or cheat the system. It is a chain of blocks as the name suggests.

What is Blockchain ?

 If you see this topic and you go on google and search the blockchain you will get approx. two hundred and forty-four million results and by summing up those result it is a technology which is trustworthy, you do not need any central authority and its transparent sounds pretty good, right? But then comes the statements like it is an incorruptible immutable and distributed system. What does that mean? Well I have also heard people saying Blockchain is Bitcoin and the only application of blockchain is Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain can be only used in the financial sector which is not true, it’s like saying Switzerland is the whole world and the whole world is Switzerland, which does not make sense until we go to war with every other country and take control on them then we can say that but I don’t think that the government is planning to do that at least not in near future. But I do not blame people who have this concept because that is, they have been known with so many myths interpretations of a technology that can solve a lot of problems we have in this society. Well, to keep it simple it is just an online distribution system that can store information that is all you need to know by now. When you finish this article, you will know the basics of Blockchain, How it can change your future and make the world a better place to live for everyone. 

Blockchain is NOT same as Bitcoin.

BACKSTORY

This technology was described in 1991 by a group of researchers but it has never been so important until 2009 when Bitcoin came in and it was based was the blockchain-based cryptocurrency. So, wait what is our previous knowledge about it. It is just an online distribution system that can store information and it is based upon interconnected blocks that are open to everyone like it is clear from its name blockchain is a chain of connected blocks that can store information There are three things on every blockchain, the first is data which is the information stored that depends on the type of blockchain. 

Interconnected Blocks (Blockchain)

For example, cryptocurrencies that store information about the sender-receiver and all the transactions going on. The second thing every block contain is the hash of the block and it is like the fingerprint of the block, always unique and we can use that hash to Identify that block. And the third thing every block contains is the hash of the previous block which connect the remaining block with the blockchain these things made the blockchain so much secure. This is the fundamental property of Blockchain. The second fundamental property of blockchain which makes it more secure is its peer-to-peer nature of work like instead of having a central authority that normal banks have Which contains all the information About every other block in joins the blockchain. Blockchain allows everybody to join and whoever joins gets Information about every other block in the blockchain. By using that mechanism, we can identify and prove that everything in the blockchain is in order and nothing is cheated.

Secured Data with the help of Blockchain

Let us take some real-world examples, suppose there are two persons Monalisa and Leonardo. Monalisa has $40 and Leonardo has $100, they both know that how much everybody owns, right? Now, Tyler has $80, and he wants to join Monalisa and Leonardo. So, he must give proof to them that he has $80 and after given the proof, He may get rejected or accepted by others. Suppose he gets accepted then he becomes part of that chain. And now he is a part of the chain, he gets a copy of all the information they have. Now, they know how many $ everybody owns, that’s how blockchain works. Suppose if Leonardo wants to cheat, he wants to give $200 to Monalisa. But Tyler and Monalisa know that Leonardo has only $100, he cannot make a transaction of more than $100. This is how no one can cheat in the blockchain. Whatever I said before was summarized but why do we need this technology, there are several reasons behind every technological change. Suppose if I ordered medicine what is the proof that it is coming from the same manufacturer that was written in the box or the date the medicine is manufactured is correct just by seeing its stamp or the label on the box? Do you also do shopping from an E-Commerce website? So, what is the proof that the ratings, reviews, and feedback that is showing is correct? Maybe they are paid, maybe they are incorrect. What if I paid money to the seller online and never received that product and there is much more need of this technology. If Blockchain comes into the game We can receive all the information of the product the manufacturer and the date of manufacturing etc., Now we know that the blockchain is immutable so the information we are getting cannot be incorrect. So, Blockchain can build up trust among humanity, where everything is transparent and all the information you are getting are thousand percent correct.

That is all for now, if you liked the article comment your views and share this article to your friends.

Thanks.

Karan Jadaun,

The Tech-Freak