Blockchain has captured the imagination of many technologists and businessmen alike. Its potential could be far-reaching, but it is not clear how exactly it will be implemented. Because the concept of blockchain is relatively new, many people still have questions. Actually, I had the same questions myself when I started exploring this technology. Today, I am able to help others to answer some of these questions while talking about technology panels or consulting with clients. This Q & amp; A was born of the questions I often get.
What exactly is Blockchain?
Inside, blockchain is a framework for creating business-to-business workflows. From a technical point of view & nbsp; it is essentially a decentralized database. This database & nbsp; automatically synchronizes data between various systems where each system receives a copy of the data. The advantage of this distributed model is that if a node fails, the rest of the blockchain ecosystem still works. Blockchain can also provide transparency. Store a & nbsp; immutable record of transactions that & nbsp; it can not be changed after the fact. The system is powered by cryptography and includes consent mechanisms that minimize fraud.
What could this new technology mean to me?
Blockchain has the potential to create a single source of truth among organizations that usually exchange huge amounts of data (eg, logistical information, invoices, etc.). Can integrate & nbsp; organizations previously disabled or enable simpler integration. For example, it can be used in supply chains to track materials from suppliers evenly. And blockchains have the potential to track financial transactions that automatically impose contracts between the parties.
What are some real examples of blockchain?
Walmart & nbsp;recently announced a requirement for their suppliers of & nbsp; exploit & nbsp; blockchain. Anyone who remembers the 2006 E. coli outbreak in the United States might know that it took some time in the industry to track the source of bacteria found in spinach on a specific farm of & nbsp;. The lack of sales of spinach in the 26 states affected from the epidemic represented a loss of revenue and trust. With the use of blockchain, Walmart can now trace the food source in seconds compared to a week.
What are some other examples of Blockchain use cases?
The cases of use of Blockchain are & nbsp; found in almost every & nbsp; sector & nbsp; sector. For example:
- Kodak is using blockchain for digital rights.
- The sawtooth of Intel the project is monitoring fish products in the supply chain.
- Everledger he is chasing diamonds.
- Etherisc& nbsp; is providing automatic insurance payments based on an event.
- Health companies are you & nbsp; exploring by putting & nbsp; patient records on the blockchain & nbsp;
- Fintech companies they are working on & nbsp; international money transfers, & nbsp; escrow and & nbsp; raise capital.
I need Cryptos& Nbsp;For Blockchain? & Nbsp;
Not at all. Cryptocurrencies and & nbsp; blockchain are related, & nbsp; but they are not the same thing. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are a mechanism for & nbsp; store and & nbsp; exchange value. & Nbsp; Some people consider & nbsp; cryptos as a replacement for legal currencies, while others consider them as a store and & nbsp; the exchange of value. & Nbsp; Blockchain is what fuels cryptocurrencies. For example, the Bitcoin underline protocol is a blockchain. & Nbsp; However, blockchains & nbsp; should not be used only with & nbsp; cryptocurrencies.
What are some& Nbsp;Legal challenges& Nbsp;Blockchain presents?
In & nbsp; United States, the SEC typically treats cryptocurrencies as titles. If you create a blockchain solution & nbsp; which issues cryptos, you may need to & nbsp; evaluate the implications when it comes to SEC registrations. On the other hand, the IRS treats cryptocurrencies as properties. If you negotiate & nbsp; cryptos, you will have to pay income tax on any & nbsp; appreciation of these activities. Finally, if you are creating a consortium & nbsp; blockchain (where competitors compete), make sure you do not create an environment for collusion and pricing.
What are some of the different types of blockchain?
At a high level, & nbsp; there are public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as licensed blockchains, including Hyperledger, Corda and many others. While anyone can participate in public blockchains, the authorized blockchains & nbsp; are intended for a & nbsp; limited number of parts & nbsp; they are typically found in the business settings.
What are some pitfalls of blockchain?
First of all, this technology is very young and evolves very quickly. Starting from 2018, Bitcoin, the original blockchain implementation, is only about 10 years old, while Hyperledger and Ethereum have been around for only three years. In my opinion, & nbsp; the current status of blockchains & nbsp; it is approximately comparable to the state of the Internet in 1994. It is a very promising technology, but to be useful universally, it will need to evolve.
How do you check a Blockchain database and who can see what? & Nbsp;
Much of this depends on the type of & nbsp; blockchain & nbsp; that is used. For example, Ethereum is a public blockchain, which means that & nbsp; all & nbsp; on the network can see all the transactions. For most business use cases, this & nbsp; probably & nbsp; it's not an appropriate implementation. Other frameworks like Hyperledger & nbsp; Fabric & nbsp; they are authorized and allow a & nbsp; much more detailed level of & nbsp; authorization. For example, Fabric creates a notion of channels. Each channel only allows & nbsp; some organizations to access data within the channel. Channels also include & nbsp; notions of private data collections that allow to enable and query private data only some organizations of & nbsp; inside a canal.
Summary
I hope this article will at least partially clarify what the blockchain is and how it can be implemented. As you can see, technology has the potential to have a positive impact not only on companies but on the world at large. However, we are still in the initial phase of its adoption, so only time will tell what will become of the blockchain technology.
Do I qualify?
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Blockchain has captured the imagination of many technologists and businessmen alike. Its potential could be far-reaching, but it is not clear how exactly it will be implemented. Because the concept of blockchain is relatively new, many people still have questions. Actually, I had the same questions myself when I started exploring this technology. Today, I am able to help others to answer some of these questions while talking about technology panels or consulting with clients. This question and answer came from the questions I often receive.
What exactly is Blockchain?
Inside, blockchain is a framework for creating business-to-business workflows. From a technical point of view, it is essentially a decentralized database. This database automatically synchronizes data between various systems where each system receives a copy of the data. The advantage of this distributed model is that if a node fails, the rest of the blockchain ecosystem still works. Blockchain can also provide transparency. It stores an immutable register of transactions that can not be changed after the fact. The system is powered by cryptography and includes consent mechanisms that minimize fraud.
What could this new technology mean to me?
Blockchain has the potential to create a unique source of truth among organizations that typically exchange huge amounts of data (eg, logistical information, invoices, etc.). It can integrate previously disabled organizations or allow easier integration. For example, it can be used in supply chains to track materials from suppliers transparently. And blockchains have the potential to track financial transactions that automatically impose contracts between the parties.
What are some real examples of blockchain?
Walmart recently announced the obligation for its suppliers to exploit the blockchain. Anyone who remembers the E. coli outbreak in 2006 in the United States might know that it took some time for industry to track down the source of the bacteria found in spinach in a particular farm. The lack of spinach sales in the 26 countries affected by the epidemic represented a loss of revenue and trust. With the use of blockchain, Walmart can now trace the food source in seconds compared to a week.
What are some other examples of Blockchain use cases?
Cases of use Blockchain are found in almost all areas. For example:
- Kodak uses the digital rights blockchain.
- The Intel & # 39; s Sawtooth project is monitoring fish products in the supply chain.
- Everledger is monitoring the diamonds.
- Etherisc is providing automatic insurance payments based on an event.
- Healthcare companies are exploring the registration of patients on the blockchain.
- The Fintech companies are working on international transfers of money, commitment and raising of capital.
I need Cryptos For Blockchain?
Not at all. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are related, but they are not the same thing. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are a mechanism for storing and exchanging value. Some people regard cryptos as a replacement for legal currencies, while others consider them a store and an exchange of values. Blockchain is what fuels cryptocurrencies. For example, the Bitcoin underline protocol is a blockchain. However, blockchains should not be exploited only with cryptocurrencies.
What are some Legal challenges Blockchain presents?
In the United States, the SEC typically treats cryptocurrencies as securities. If you create a blockchain solution that emits encrypts, you may need to evaluate the implications when it comes to SEC recordings. On the other hand, IRS treats cryptocurrencies as properties. If you exchange the encrypted, you will have to pay income taxes for any appreciation of these activities. Finally, if you are creating a blockchain of a consortium (in which competitors participate), be sure not to create an environment of collusion and pricing.
What are some of the different types of blockchain?
At a high level, there are public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as licensed blockchains, including Hyperledger, Corda and many others. While anyone can participate in public blockchains, authorized blockchains are intended for a limited number of parts typically found in business settings.
What are some pitfalls of blockchain?
First of all, this technology is very young and evolves very quickly. As of 2018, Bitcoin, the original blockchain implementation, is only about 10 years old, while Hyperledger and Ethereum have been around for only three years. In my opinion, the current state of the blockchain is approximately comparable to the state of the Internet in 1994. It is a very promising technology, but to be universally useful, it will have to evolve.
How do you check a Blockchain database and who can see what?
Much depends on the type of blockchain that is used. For example, Ethereum is a public blockchain, which means that everyone on the network can see all transactions. For most business use cases, it's probably not an appropriate implementation. Other frameworks such as Hyperledger Fabric are authorized and allow a much more detailed level of authorization. For example, Fabric creates a notion of channels. Each channel allows only certain organizations to access data within the channel. Channels also include notions of private data collections that only allow some organizations within a channel to commit and query private data.
Summary
I hope this article will at least partially clarify what the blockchain is and how it can be implemented. As you can see, technology has the potential to have a positive impact not only on companies but on the world at large. However, we are still in the initial phase of its adoption, so only time will tell what will become of the blockchain technology.