About Blockchain
Blockchain can be separated into two words: “block” and “chain”. It is more easier to understand it this way, as the process is exactly how the two words are combined. A block is produced by a source, and that block can be transferred amongst other people, causing a chain to form along with that particular block. This process is majorly used within many well-known cryptocurrency brands, with the most popular being Bitcoin.
As Paul Armstrong states:
“Blockchain is like a public ledger of transactions and is the basic element that underpins (or powers) virtual currency technologies like Bitcoin.”
(Armstrong, Paul. Disruptive Technologies : Understand, Evaluate, Respond, Kogan Page, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/deakin/detail.action?docID=4850488)
The purpose for Blockchain is to create a backbone where people can securely make transactions online, with the help of the online “public ledger”. In terms of the implementation of Blockchain in Bitcoin, it is merely another public ledger in which each transaction is being recorded on.
(What is Blockchain Technology? A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners, 2015)
Since the inheritance of Bitcoin, it has been a bit of a issue, as this cryptocurrency is allowed to be used in the real world for various goods around the world, whether it be virtually or physically.
A Brief History of Blockchain
Grant Thornton (2017) has made this fantastic timeline of the history of blockchain:
(The blockchain timeline, 2017)
As described on this timeline, the first instances blockchain being implemented for the first time was when it was implemented with bitcoin on the 31st of October, 2008 when “Satoshi Nakamoto” introduced it on paper. It is not truly known who/what “Satoshi Nakamoto” is, whether it could be a single person, or a whole group of people working on this project. It then drastically rose in popularity when March 2013 came, as bitcoin reached $1 billion on the market. As blockchain became more popular as an emerging technology, new companies started picking up on this new innovative system, such as Ethereum, which started as crowd funding on July 2014, which added an even brought new feature to the table, smart contracts. By 2017, Blockchain finally became a worldwide phenomenon, with even more banks around the world accepting this new form of currency, cryptocurrency.
Popular cryptocurrencies that were established:
| Name of company | Creator | Date of release |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | Satoshi Nakamoto | 2009 |
| Ethereum | Vitalik Buterin | 2014 |
| Ripple | Chris Larsen | 2012 |
| EOS | Dan Larimer | 2018 |
| Verge | “Sunerok” | 2014 |
Technicality of Blockchain
Blockchain is solely a P2P (Peer to Peer) Protocol.
As “Bitcoin Uncensored” states: “Bitcoin is a protocol for managing scarcity, so in the same way HTTP is a protocol for managing information, Bitcoin is a protocol for managing scarce resources.” (Whats the difference between Bitcoin and Paypal?, 2015). This allows us to be able to add and alter the different blocks in the blockchain, and to speed up the process of transferring bitcoin depending on whoever has the highest performing CPU to help decode the hash of a block to successfully reach to its reciever.
Since Blockchain is P2P, the technology used is only the users electronic device, whatever it may be. It just needs to have the usual components of a functional electronic device: A motherboard, a CPU, a Power supply unit, RAM, internal storage (HDD/SSD) and – preferably – a graphics card to take some load off the CPU when solving different blocks.
Impacts of Blockchain nowdays
This technology disrupts many fields and areas including technology and finance being the two major fields of disruption.
This technology majorly disrupts the financial area, with the implementation of blockchain as cryptocurrency. This cryptocurrency is slowly taking over the market industry, with this new currency competing against the already existing share markets and local currencies such as the British Euros and the American dollar.
It also disrupts many other fields of course, as “Future Thinkers” (19 Industries The Blockchain Will Disrupt, 2017) states, other industries that are being disrupted are networking, transport & ride sharing, cloud storage, and healthcare are just a few of the other areas Blockchain, specifically Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are interrupting, along with the emergement of some of these new technologies.
References:
Paul Armstrong, 2017, Disruptive Technologies : Understand, Evaluate, Respond, Publisher, 17/04/18, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/lib/deakin/reader.action?docID=4850488&query=
Grant Thorton, 2017, The blockchain timeline, From inception to maturity, grantthorton.com, 25/04/18, <URL>.https://www.grantthornton.global/globalassets/1.-member-firms/global/insights/blockchain-hub/blockchain-timeline_final.pdf
Bernard Marr, 2018, A Very Brief History Of Blockchain Technology Everyone Should Read, Forbes.com, retrieved 27/04/18, https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/02/16/a-very-brief-history-of-blockchain-technology-everyone-should-read/&refURL=https://www.google.com.au/&referrer=https://www.google.com.au/
https://bitcoin.org/en/
Narayanan V, 2018, A brief history in the evolution of blockchain technology platforms, hackernoon.com, retrieved 27/04/18, https://hackernoon.com/a-brief-history-in-the-evolution-of-blockchain-technology-platforms-1bb2bad8960a
Ameer Rosic, 2015,
What is Blockchain Technology? A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners, blockgeeks.com, retrieved 27/04/18, https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
Bitcoin Project, 2018, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Project, 27/04/18, https://www.blockchain.com/
Whats the difference between Bitcoin and Paypal?, YouTube, Bitcoin Uncensored, 19th February, retrieved 27/04/18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7aWSJEBUIs
CoinMarketCap, 2018, Cryptocurrency Market Capitalizations, retrieved 27/04/18, https://coinmarketcap.com/