What is a Blockchain Technology? | A Beginner Guide

Almost everyone has heard of blockchain, but not everyone understands blockchain technology what it is and how it works? Blockchain technology is an undeniably simple invention. Blockchain technology also allows distributed digital information.

In simple words, blockchain technology is a type to DBMS (DataBase Management System). This provides a public ledger with complete transparency where all the members can track any transactions. Therefore, all the data are fully encrypted and secured with the help of public and private keys.

Here, this guide is for newbies and cryptocurrency enthusiasts to gain knowledge about blockchain technology.

What is Blockchain Technology?

Blockchain technology is a distributed and decentralized public ledger. Which records transactions across the worldwide network of computers, therefore, the information is highly secure. It also eliminates the mediators and works independently.

Although blockchain technology is an essential element of cryptocurrency, without it digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum would not exist.

Let’s take the example of Wikipedia to understand more clearly. We know that Wikipedia entries are not the product of a single publisher and that no one controls it. Wikipedia operates around the world using a client-server network model.

A client is able to change the information stored on a centralized server with associated permissions. But access and permissions by a central authority.

Although blockchain technology is unique, there is a separate digital backbone. The distributed database is built by blockchain technology with Wikipedia. The master copy is edited on a server and all users see the new version while in the blockchain, with each node in the network updating the record independently. This is what makes blockchain technology so useful.

Blockchain technology is based on three technologies – the internet network, private key cryptography and a protocol governing incentivization, that made Satoshi Nakamoto’s idea so useful for Bitcoin creation.

How Does Blockchain Technology Work?

The information recorded on a blockchain exists as a shared and continually reconciled database. The database of blockchain isn’t stored in any particular location instead the records it keeps are transparent to the public and easily verifiable.

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Each data exchange is a transaction and a record is to as a ledger in the cryptocurrency world. After verification, the transaction is added to the block. For the verification of each transaction, it uses a distributed system — a peer-to-peer network of nodes.

Once this transaction is verified, the new transaction is now added to the blockchain and cannot be changed. In the cryptocurrency world, you will find a unique identity with a set of cryptographic keys. These keys are known as digital signatures private keys and public keys, and it uniquely identifies the particular user. The public key is how other people can find you while the private key provides you with a digital sign and authorization.

Blockchain Technology as Google Docs

The conventional way of sharing documents with collaboration is to send a Microsoft Word document to another recipient and ask them to make updates to it. The problem with that situation is that you need to wait until receiving an acknowledgment before you can see or make other changes.

That’s how databases work today. Two users can’t be disarray with the same record at a time. That’s how banks maintain money balances and transfers; they temporarily lock access (or decrease the balance) while they make a transfer, then update the other side, then re-open access (or update again).

With Google Docs both people have access to the same document at the same time, and the single version of that document is always visible to both of them as a shared ledger. But it is a shared google doc and the distributed part comes into action when sharing includes a number of people. A blockchain is not necessary to share documents, but the shared documents analogy is a powerful one.

Blockchain Technology Durability and robustness

Blockchain technology has robustness like the internet. It can’t be controlled by any single person and has no single point of failure by storing identical blocks of information across the network.

Bitcoin invents in 2008 and since that time it has operates without significant interruption. Moreover, any of the difficulties with Bitcoin have been due to hacking or miss management. In other words, these problems come from malevolence and human error, not imperfections in the underlying concepts.

As the internet is developing continues, it’s a track record that bodes well for blockchain

“As insurgent as it sounds, Blockchain truly is a procedure to bring everyone to the highest degree of accountability. No more failure transactions, human or machine errors, or even an exchange that was not done with the consent of the parties involved. Above anything else, the most significant area where Blockchain helps is to guarantee the validity of a transaction by recording it not only on the main register but a connected shared system of registers, all of which are connected through a secure validation mechanism.”

–Ian Khan, TEDx Speaker | Author | Technology Futurist

Transparent and incorruptible:

The blockchain network lives in a state of concord and automatically checks in with itself every ten minutes. You can say a kind of self-auditing ecosystem of digital value. Each transaction is like a “block”. These two important properties result from this (below):

• According to the definition, it is public and has data transparency within the network.
• It cannot be corrupt and altering any unit of record on the blockchain. Which mean, it using a huge amount of computing power to revoke the entire network.

“Blockchain solves the difficulty of manipulation. When I talk about it in the West, people say they have trust in Google, Facebook, or their banks. But the rest of the world doesn’t trust corporations and organizations that much — I mean Africa, India, Eastern Europe, or Russia. It’s not about the places where people are very rich. Blockchain’s opportunities are the largest in the countries that haven’t reached that level yet.”

   –Vitalik Buterin, inventor of Ethereum

A network of nodes

A network of computing nodes makes up the blockchain.

Node:   

Using a client, a computer connected to the blockchain network that performs the task of verifying and transferring transactions gets a copy of the blockchain, which is automatically downloaded when the blockchain joins the network.

A powerful second-level network is created by them and a completely different vision for how the internet can function.

Every node acts as an “administrator” of the blockchain and joins the network by its own volition (in this scenario, the network is decentralized). However, each one has a chance for participating in the network: the chance of winning Bitcoins.

Nodes are referred to as “mining” Bitcoin, but the term is something of a misstatement. In fact, each one is competing to win Bitcoins by solving encrypted queries.

Bitcoin is now recognized to be only the first of many potential applications of the technology. As well, a scale of other potential adaptations of the original blockchain concept is currently active, or in development.

The idea of decentralization

The blockchain is a decentralized technology by design and whatever happens on it is a function of the network.

Some important connections arise from this and stock market trades become almost synchronous on the blockchain, for example — or it could make types of record keeping, like a home registry, completely public. And decentralization is now a reality.

A worldwide network of computers uses blockchain technology to simultaneously control the database that records Bitcoin transactions. That is, Bitcoin is handled by its network and not any one central authority. Decentralization means the network runs on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis.

Who will use the blockchain?

As web infrastructure, there is no need to know about the blockchain to use in your life.

Currently, finance allows effective use cases for the technology. International payments, for example. The World Bank expects that over $613 billion US in money transfers were sent in 2017. And at the same time, there is a high demand for blockchain developers.

The blockchain probably cuts out the third parties for these types of transactions. Personal computing became accessible to the common public with the invention of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which took the form of a “desktop”.

Similarly, the most common GUI ready for blockchain is use to mine cryptocurrency and wallet applications. Moreover, Online transactions are similar to identity verification processes.

The Blockchain & Enhanced security

Blockchain eliminates the risks that come through data by storing data across the network. Today’s Internet has security issues that are common to all. Due to the lack of centralized points of vulnerability, computer hackers can exploit it.

We all rely on the username & password system to shield our identity and assets online. Blockchain security methods use end to end encryption technology. Which offers public and private keys, a public key is a user’s address on the blockchain. And the private key is like a password that gives access only to the owner.

So, storing your data on the blockchain is incorruptible, although protecting your digital assets will also require safeguarding of your private key by printing it out, and creating a paper wallet.

A second-level network

blockchain technology enables the new layer of functionality- the web gains.
Already, users can negotiate directly with one another — Bitcoin transactions in 2017 averaged around $2 billion per day. new internet business is on track to unbundle the traditional institutions of finance with the added security by blockchain.

Goldman Sachs believes that blockchain technology holds huge potential especially to optimize clearing and settlements and could represent global savings of up to $6bn per year.

The Blockchain a New Web 3.0

Today, we noticed that Indeed.com, one of the biggest job portals in the world, published some interesting statistics regarding the rise of Blockchain jobs. It looks like the number of blockchain jobs increased from December 2016 to December 2018.

But that’s not the end of it. According to the stats, this number has increased by, barely credible since November 2015. The blockchain technology gives internet users the capability to create value and authenticates digital information.

Blockchain Technology Application

Finally, Blockchain technology enhance the new business applications results such as-

• Blockchain Stock trading
• Smart contracts
• The sharing economy
• Crowdfunding
• Governance
• Supply chain and auditing
• File storage
• Prediction markets
• Protection of intellectual property
• Internet of Things(IoT)
• Identity management
• AML and KYC
• Data management

Conclusion

Apart from these few examples, the revolutionary technology of blockchain has a high potential for applications in many different industries and sectors. While some industries have already started adopting blockchain in their businesses, many are still searching for the best ways to start.

Blockchain is a new name in the world of technologies, but it is definitely one. Even in its early stages, the technology has gained enormous popularity with its first application of cryptocurrency. More areas of applications are being discoveries and testes with each passing day. Once a technology is adopted and accepted globally, it will change the way we live today.

Hope! This guide helped you to understand the blockchain technology. Furthermore, if you run into any issue related to this guide, please comment below. We’ll try to help you.