When Bitcoin came up a decade ago it was set to create a revolution but it seems it did in more than one front.
Blockchain, its node based decentralized database, was easily overlooked in the early days, but it is now profiled to be the latest trend in secured and indestructible open source databases in the market.
I actually love the explanation given by Forbes Columnist Mark Zilbert
"" Imagine that you and your best friend Bob are standing on a stage in
an auditorium, and there are 1,000 people in the audience. In front of
these 1,000 people, you hand your car keys to Bob, and Bob hands you his
Rolex. You declare, “Bob, you now own my car.”
Bob declares back to you, “You now own my Rolex.” There are 1,000
witnesses who can each declare, without doubt, that your car now belongs
to Bob, and the Rolex belongs to you. If anyone in the audience later
tells a conflicting account of who owns the car or the Rolex, the other
999 people will refute it. And, if you take a spare set of your keys and
try to give that same car to someone else, the 1,000 audience members
will confirm that Bob owns the car, as each of them witnessed the
“transaction.” This is the essence of how the blockchain works. ""
What are the perks of Blockchain?
Both Etherium and Hyperledger are open source and share the best perks of blockchain which are:- Scalability: The Blockchain architecture creates a "node" which is a server or Virtual Machine where the database is hosted, the trick is, the database can add or remove these nodes without hassle so computing power, authenticity checking, etc. can grow as much as needed
- Indestructibility: This is relatable to the internet itself, as long as a single node is working the database will be available, so let's say the database gets attacked and one of the servers goes down (gets rebooted, stalls or the network goes down on the data-center), the other nodes have everything they need to keep working and when the previously damaged node comes online again they'll update him.
- Confidence: One of the main concerns right now is confidence on the database, What happens if someone defaces my data?, If someone deletes my database? If someone adds false data as real?, Blockchain adds native protection to these concerns by adding security headers to the information blocks which will make it next to impossible for hackers to insert false information, also no information gets deleted from a blockchain database ever, every new change is saved as a new version and every update is digitally signed so every audit will tell you exactly who replaced the information and worst case scenario will give you the opportunity to go back to a previous version.
- Non-Repudiation: I mentioned every record is digitally signed, what it means is if you use Blockchain's native security system you can see the signature of the user which is not replicable as it is a digital certificate unique for each device usable by the user.
Excellent... But what does this mean..
For legal documents it provides a way to record any kind of documents in a way they cannot be changed, deface or repudiated (kind of a bureaucratic task nowadays), it can lower the costs of registering and would bring much needed visibility and transparency to these procedures.
Now don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean everyone will have access to add records but it means that whoever is adding these records will be recorded and digitally monitored by the platform.
As an example South Korea has already started this endeavour, they have stressed it's uses in public safety, finance, tourism and logistics.
In the same way logistics is a prime example of what blockchain is capable as a plethora of companies have started to use and enforce it.
We can see Walmart, Samsung, Fedex, IBM, Microsoft, etc. adopting blockchain as a trusted way to recording and controlling their transactions.
Using blockchain, Walmart employees are tracking shipments from the source to their warehouses. After scanning the lots with the store's app, employees can see which farm the fruit came from and where it's stored in the backroom. The technology could help customers understand where their food comes from and could streamline the restocking process as well as saving time and money in recall processes.
My motto is when the cost is comparable the most secure option is the option to go, blockchain is an affordable, escalable and secure database with a design set to save processing power, it is an amazing technology and must be taken advantage of it, reduce time and cost, raise trust and take out irrelevant controls.
Related Links
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-president-regulatory-innovation-is-question-of-survival
https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/walmart-is-betting-on-the-blockchain-to-improve-food-safety/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-15/samsung-jumps-on-blockchain-bandwagon-to-manage-its-supply-chain
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2018/04/23/the-blockchain-for-real-estate-explained/#1ffdf5d2781e
https://www.blockchain-council.org/blockchain/top-10-companies-that-have-already-adopted-blockchain/
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/5-companies-using-blockchain-to-drive-their-supply-chain/
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