Imagine a world where you can send money directly to someone without going through a bank – in seconds instead of days, and without paying exorbitant bank fees. Or a world where you store money in a digital wallet not tied to a traditional bank, which means you are your own bank and have total control over your money. You don’t need a bank’s permission to access or move it, and you never have to worry about someone else confiscating it or a government’s economic policy manipulating it. The real risk is losing your password associated with your digital wallet. Let’s take a closer look at what Blockchain technology is.
Who invented the Blockchain?
The first blockchain-like protocol was proposed by cryptographer David Chaum in 1982. But it was Satoshi Nakamoto (an assumed pseudonym for a person or group of people) who invented and implemented the first blockchain network after deploying the world’s first digital currency, the famous Bitcoin.
Blockchain in a few words:
You have most likely already heard of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. However, there is a big confusion of confusing crypto-currencies with Blockchain. Indeed, Bitcoin and all other crypto-currencies are based on the so-called Blockchain technology. It is important to understand this concept that underpins cryptocurrency technology. Blockchain is undoubtedly the most important invention of the 21st century so far and is already revolutionising the whole world in all sectors (finance, logistics, sports, virtual reality, video games…).
As mathematician Jean-Paul Delahaye writes to simply describe the Blockchain, imagine “a very large notebook, which everyone can read freely, for free, on which everyone can write, which is impossible to erase and indestructible.
” Blockchain was actually democratised and used for Bitcoin and re-emerged strongly in 2008 following the famous subprime financial crisis. Blockchain can be seen as the foundation, infrastructure or engine of Bitcoin, in the same way as the TCP/IP protocol for the Internet for example. Blockchain is a technology based on decentralisation, i.e. it does not rely on any controlling body (bank, government, company, third-party institution, etc.). All transactions are peer-to-peer and this is also what makes it unique.
Moreover, the Blockchain is fully public (can be consulted at any time and by anyone), open (open source code and accessible to everyone) but also very secure (through the SHA256 protocol) contains all the transactions since its creation, accessible 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. In addition, each transaction is fully secured using advanced cryptographic algorithms. In short, the entire blockchain mechanism is used to leverage trust, immutability and transparency. The idea is therefore the exact opposite of centralisation, the founding principle of the contemporary financial system.
Finally, the Blockchain is also called the accounting ledger and it is growing every day. The information is written only once, and is ineffaceable. A transaction is also irreversible. The main objective of the blockchain is therefore to create a technology based on trust between individuals without relying on a third party institution. Let’s take a concrete example of how the Blockchain works through a transaction: