Blockchain - it's the future!

So, I've never really looked too deeply into the world of crypto currencies before i.e. Bitcoin, Etheruem etc. The only real basic knowledge I had was of BitCoin and it always seemed to be linked to the Dark Web! So I have never really had a reason to look much further into it.

However, that was until a couple of weeks ago when our Head of Tech sent a YouTube video link around the office on Slack with a comment “...everyone who works in web should watch this video, and understand its implications for the future.“

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDNN0uH2Z3o

And so I watched…!!!

OMG...WOW...WTF...!?!

So, the crux of the video is ‘The Blockchain’. This is a pretty new concept to me to be honest, but having done a fair amount of reading and investigation over the past couple of weeks, I can only say...WOW, where have I been!

So what is The Blockchain?

Caveat

One caveat here...I am very new to this subject, and I'm not proposing that I am an expert in any way shape or form. I am writing this article (and probably some more in the future) as a means of research and learning, so forgive me if I miss represent some of the concepts, and feel free to correct where you feel necessary!

So, the Blockchain is basically the technology that BitCoin was created on. It has the ability to store data (in a distributed manner) across multiple ‘nodes’ in an encrypted, non-tamperable, transparent and verifiable way. In the case of BitCoin (and other crypto currencies), no 2 people can own the same coin at the same time and/or duplicate the coin, and everyone can see the full transaction history of that coin.

Each transaction is verified by multiple miners. So this makes it almost impossible to create fake transactions or create ‘counterfeit ‘money’ as can be done in the real world.

A decentralised ledger of transactions

You can consider the concept of the blockchain as a decentralised ledger that has the ability to store copies of the same data in multiple-locations. Think about a database that is shared across multiple servers and is continually reconciled against all the other copies to make sure they are all in ‘sync’ at all times.

The database isn’t stored in any single location, meaning the records it keeps are truly public and easily verifiable. No centralised version of this information exists for a hacker to corrupt. The blockchain (the “database”) is hosted by many computers simultaneously, and its data is accessible to anyone on the internet. From what I can tell, it’s an advancement of the peer-to-peer networks that run applications like BitTorrent and the previous incarnations of Napster.

So why is this important?

The possibilities are endless

The key thing and why this has got me so excited, is the full transparency of transactions and the ability for everyone in the 'chain' to see what's going on.

So whilst crypto currencies use the blockchain for financial purposes and storing transactions around the 'coins', it does't have to be money that is stored. It could be anything!

You could store contracts, licences and other records that stay with an item while it exists. All in an open and easy to trace manner. There’s even a startup who is using blockchain technology to expose the supply chain between farmers and supermarkets. As the ‘chain’ is fully visible, everyone can see the transactions along the chain and who is taking what ‘cut’.

Instead of there being a central hidden application, or number of applications owned by individuals (people or companies) who are a part of the chain, each behind their own firewalls, everything in the chain is visible to everyone else in the chain.

This is truly a game changing situation and opens up a whole world of opportunities, most of which haven't even been considered yet.

Real World Example

As an example of a really good use case, outside of the fintech and cryptocurrency world, a collaboration between IBM, Microsoft and EY shows the power of the blockchain and the possibilities it opens up. If you read this article and case study you will see what I mean!

Imagine a world where middle men are squeezed out of the chain, or made to become a hell of a lot more efficient and transparent.

Imagine a world where farmers and other smaller producers can sell direct to consumers without having to rely on supermarkets trading in their own crypto currencies and not beholdant to the $ or €!

The whole concept is still in it’s infancy, and to be honest I am still getting my head around it, but you can be sure that if companies like IBM and Microsoft are on-board, then this is not a technology that is going anywhere any time soon.

What now!

As far as I am concerned it is the future and is web 3.0! I would go as far as saying, if we were starting the web from scratch, it may have been designed this way!

Anyway, I’ll be doing a lot more research on this and I'll write some more articles as I investigate, mainly for my own curiosity and to help me learn, also there are too many concepts to jot down in one blog post :)

Watch this space!!