Understanding Blockchain: Beyond Cryptocurrencies And NFTs

Amidst all the news and hype around cryptocurrencies, Metaverse, and NFTs, there’s one technology that people talk little about. And incidentally, it happens to be the very same technology that backs the above three products.

If you guessed it right, it’s the blockchain. A robust, immutable, decentralized database that makes the entire crypto world work. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on it and see its uses in ways other than what we are already seeing.

What is a blockchain?

The blockchain is a revolutionary technology that allows digital information to be distributed but not copied. It’s the technology behind bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.

The best way to think about the blockchain is as a public ledger for anything that needs to be verified and secured. It is a decentralized public ledger system that stores information about transactions and uses cryptographic protocols to allow people to make and record transactions without the need for any intermediary.

Since a blockchain is a record of all transactions. It keeps growing in size. This technology was originally developed as the system underpinning bitcoin—the most popular cryptocurrency in the market. And today we can buy different things with bitcoin. The blockchain database isn’t stored on one centralized computer but on many computers in ledgers called blocks.

It has been around since 2008, and its evolution has been dramatic. As it enters the mainstream of business, there are several ways that it can change how we do things in every industry.

How does the blockchain work?

To understand how the blockchain works, you first need to know what a “block” is. In most blockchain networks, the addition of blocks is in chronological order. A block is a store of memory in a blockchain that stores a transaction that takes place in the network.

Each time someone wants to make a transaction on the blockchain, they need to announce it first. This process includes information about the sender, receiver, and amount of currency. The transaction is then posted to a public ledger where it’s verified by miners before it can be added to the blockchain.

There are two types of blocks

The “longest chain”—after transactions have been validated and added to this block, no one can change it again.
The “chain with the most work”—after validating transactions, this block has more power and security than others, as more computational power was used in its creation.

A list of all transactions that happened in the past is usually known as “the ledger”. Every node (or computer) connected to the blockchain has access to this ledger. This means everyone knows about every transaction taking place on it at any given time.

There’s no way for anyone to change any details on this ledger because each time a new block is created. It contains not the latest transaction but also all previous ones. That’s why we say that once something is confirmed or mined into one of these blocks, it becomes unchangeable or immutable.

What Does the Future of Blockchain Look Like?

Here are some of the ways blockchain will transform the future.

Healthcare: The open yet secure nature of the blockchain makes it a natural solution for improving healthcare. For example, we can store patient information in an undamageable, decentralized, transparent database that is secure yet accessible to both patients and healthcare professionals.

Real Estate: Real estate transactions tend to be expensive and require the help of brokers. Through tokenization, blockchain has the potential to simplify the process of searching for and purchasing properties through tokenization by using digital property tokens to represent physical assets.

The law system: We can also use blockchain technology to create smart contracts and validate property documents such as ownership certificates. We can also use it in courts to verify, certify, and protect evidence. Blockchain has the potential to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system.

Conclusion !!

By now, you must have a pretty clear idea of what a blockchain is and how it is a revolutionary technology with the potential to change the world.

With the blockchain, the internet as we know it today is never going to be the same. It is going to help us to create a fair, decentralized, and transparent world. In the next article, we’ll discuss the benefits and types of blockchain.

About Post Author

Laxman Singh

Blockchain Evangelist, Founder, Engineer | Helping brands build secure Web3 Apps !!

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