While many know about what Bitcoin is, the technology
behind Bitcoin is relatively unknown to most people. The technology behind
Bitcoin may shape the modern business climate in the near future. Bitcoin wasthe pioneer of blockchain technology back when it first came out in 2008.Blockchain technology is essentially, a decentralized database structure that
does not have a central authority managing transaction data and everyone who is
a part of the network, can look at transaction records and validate their
accuracy. I will go into more detail on the specifics of blockchain technology and
why it will be important in the near future.
Blockchains operate on a peer-to-peer network, meaning
that files and other data are shared with everyone that is on the network. This
means that you can essentially see the transactions taking place. When a
transaction is complete, a new block with the data is added to a long chain of
other blocks. Hence why it is called a “blockchain”. Each block within the
blockchain, is encrypted using cryptography. Each block is secure and the other
computers in the chain must approve each exchange. Another concept related to
Blockchains is the idea of a distributed ledger. This is where, data is
replicated and shared across all of the members of a network in the form of a
ledger. Each node has the same information. This makes a cyberattack more
difficult to because every node in the network, would need to be attacked all
at once in order for it to be successful.This
Diagram gives a Basic description some network designs.
While blockchain is typically associated with
cryptocurrencies, I see the technology expanding into other industries such as
financial services and the government. An example I can think of with financial
services is transferring money. With Blockchain technology, you have the
ability to transfer money anywhere in the world, with pin-point accuracy, efficiency
and security. Using traditional means of transferring money such as Western
Union, has the potential to be inaccurate and it takes forever for money to be transferred
from the sender to the receiver. Blockchains would minimize or eliminate these
threats.
Ballot counting accuracy is always an issue that comes
up in our state/federal elections that. Blockchain technologies can be used in
voter registration, verifying one’s identity, and in counting the number of
ballots for each candidate. The whole entire process is more transparent then
what is currently in place. Foreign governments have already started to
incorporate blockchain technology in their current systems. It will be
interesting to see if the US government will adopt blockchain technology.
I believe that blockchain technology is here to stay
and will lead to innovation in how we transfer and store data. It seems like
the best solution, given our continuously evolving society and more data being
created each and every day.
If you are interested, here is a pretty interesting video about blockchain technology. It also relates to the trust economy that we discussed in class.
Discussion
1. How do you think Blockchain Technology will affect
a specific industry?
2. Have you heard of companies besides
cryptocurrencies, using blockchain?
3. Do you think the US Government will start to us
Blockchain technology during elections?
Very interesting topic and after reading your article, I get to know blockchain more. In my opinion, I think in the future many central banks will adopt blockchain but there's a problem, blockchain technology consumes a large amount of energy. No doubt blockchain will have great influence on many industries while at the same time, it generates waste. Following your question, I'm wondering if there's a way to solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that blockchain technology requires a lot of energy to operate. I did some research and there were several news articles that cited cryptocurrenies like Bitcoin, requiring a ton of power in order to mine the bitcoins. Disposing of this technology is another issue. On a daily basis, technology is improperly disposed and threatens every living thing around us. This will be an interesting dilemma that we will face in the near future, do the benefits that blockchain provides outweigh the environmental externalities of blockchain.
DeleteIt was nice to see you break down the technology behind blockchain in easy-to-understand terms. I believe blockchain is already being developed in specific industries. In fact, Deloitte just opened up their very own blockchain department in NYC. I think the USA should start incorporating blockchain into their businesses and elections. Though I do not believe this will happen in the near future, I do believe it will eventually happen. The government tends to like controlling things like money, so any hint of decentralization scares them. That, to me, is the reason they haven't adopted blockchain already. Though blockchain and bitcoin are two vastly different ideas, they are intimately connected.
ReplyDeleteNice comment Matt. That's interesting that Deliotte has a Blockchain department in New York. I know that Blockchain is a hot topic that other Big 4 accounting firms are pursuing as well. I see the other 3 following suit in the near future. I agree with you on your reasoning behind the government not adopting Blockchain technology yet. It'll be interesting to see if any movements for Blockchain gain momentum in the near future.
DeleteIt is a new topic for me, and Blockchain technology is an undeniably ingenious invention that be able to allow digital information distributed without copied; which is a powerful technology and will make a great impact on a specific industry, because it will change the structure of an industry tremulously. However, I don't think that US government will apply block chain technology to election, because it truly depends on the network size, it will not be able to benefit without large network users. It also relate many other issues such as human error, network speed, and politics. Therefore, the government is really hard to implement this technology to election.
ReplyDeleteNice points Haibo. The issues that you mentioned are valid reasons to be skeptical of blockchain technology on a larger scale. I think that blockchain technology will need to evolve further in order to be used in such a large environment, such as in federal elections. Maybe in the future, we will have a solution that can handle that much traffic. It is my belief that they would try this technology in smaller state elections where there is thousands of votes before trying it in say a presidential election, where there is millions of votes.
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