Blockchain technology is going to bring in the revolutionary change to this generation (and subsequent generations) what the internet did in the late 1990s. Cryptocurrencies are not just going to change the way we buy and sell things, but our whole perspective on how we conduct our lives, and how we analyze and manage operational tasks. And, of course, make payments.
Understanding what blockchain is and how it works has become more important than ever now. So, what is blockchain anyway? Without going down the labyrinth of heavy jargon to explain the technological genius behind the concept, let’s break it down plain and simple.
Blockchain basically allows us to send and receive money from anybody in the world without depending on banks, credit companies, or any central financial agency.
Bitcoin, which is the flagship blockchain product is basically a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that utilizes a powerful protocol defined by specific rules to send and receive unique highly encrypted data between computers directly. This subtle experiment was a success and spawned a wide range of blockchain applications over the past several years.
What’s interesting is that the concept is already being used by a number of major multinational companies, banks, and government agencies. Although payments are not made through cryptocurrencies, adopting blockchain modules in the form of shared ledgers has provided documented results of enhanced security, radically lower costs, lesser errors, and most importantly the absence of a central point of failure or attack.
Put simply, the implementation of blockchain has reformatted the manner in which crucial transactions are executed and information is stored.
With cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the news so much lately – especially Bitcoin, it has sort of started becoming a household name for cryptocurrencies – more and more people are waking up to the concept of blockchain.
Although not enough people actually understand how it works, how it is applied in an industrial or financial system, and the potential it has to make dramatic improvements in the quality of our lives on a global scale, it does have great potential to become mainstream. It will be interesting to see how it pans out as we keep getting more and more technologically advanced.
“To pin the future of blockchain on any one currency, let alone the initial one, means limiting blockchain potential; a potential that once scaled promises to have an unequaled impact on our day-to-day lives. And that really is the stuff of stars.” – Olawale Daniel