Think about a blockchain as a distributed database that maintains a shared list of records. These records are called blocks, and each encrypted block of code contains the history of every block that came before it with timestamped transaction data down to the second. In effect, you know, chaining those blocks together. Hence blockchain
Blockchain is the data structure that allows Bitcoin (BTC) and other up-and-coming cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH) to thrive through a combination of decentralized encryption, anonymity, immutability, and global scale. It’s the not-so-secret weapon behind the cryptocurrency’s rise, and to explain how blockchain came to be, we have to begin briefly with the legacy of Bitcoin.
Welcome to our Blockchain future
In the future, viewers will forego paying subscriptions to platforms and can instead give directly to the content providers they love. Creators will therefore receive a larger share of the pie. By allowing the blockchain to use their computer to support the network, the costs that YouTube incurs from hosting billions of videos and a global audience are distributed evenly, and all will be happy to pay the price.
As this type of cooperative system is adopted, the benefits of cutting out the middlemen will become more apparent. A producer who was once hesitant to brand herself as a “YouTube star” will be able to be famous in her own right. Consumers, in turn, can pay less for what they want to watch, and not a single cent for irrelevant content. It may not happen overnight, but those who watch closely already see a revolution in the making.
The Web 1.0 was a read-only Internet of static web pages. Web 2.0, where we are now, added dynamic user-generated content and the rise of social media. Web 3.0 has many definitions, but one of the most popular is that of connective intelligence: where the next generation of applications, data, concepts, and people are connected by an unmediated fabric where you don’t need a trust broker like a bank or tech company in the middle to ensure privacy and security. In blockchain, we finally have the technology to power Web 3.0.
“The first four decades of the Internet brought us email, the World Wide Web, dot-coms, social media, the mobile web, Big Data, cloud computing, and the early days of the Internet of Things,” the Tapscotts write in Blockchain Revolution. Through that lens, MIT’s Brian Forde said, we can understand where blockchain fits into our lives.”
“People have forgotten how powerful it is not to have to worry about what email app you use. When I email you, it doesn’t matter if you’re using Gmail or Outlook or Yahoo — you just give me your email address and go. Now think about sending money today. If I want to send you $20, we’re going to play a game of 20 questions. Do you have Paytm,Gpay?”
“With medical records, we’re all asked that question: Is there any family history of this? The answer is usually ‘I don’t know,’” said Forde. “What’s interesting here, as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we now have this mandate for electronic health records, and the government subsidizes doctors to get those records. But that data is still siloed. There needs to be a technology or protocol allowing all that data to be shared, regardless of provider. MedRec helps facilitate that. It’s not just about the interoperability of your data; it’s also about the protection of your data from fraud.”
One of the futures envisioned in Blockchain Revolution is a “second era of democracy”: one in which blockchain technology can create the conditions for fair, secure, and convenient digital voting that galvanizes the citizenry by removing so many of the systemic voting roadblocks plaguing our current system. Putting democracy on a blockchain is complicated, but startups including Follow My Vote and Settlemint are already laying out frameworks centered around blockchain-based tokens serving as votes, dropped in digital wallets for each candidate.
Leaders could come to power with a smart contract where they’re accountable to citizens and have to abide by the terms of the contract. There are opportunities everywhere. Look at the different hats we all wear every day. You’re a parent, a consumer, a listener of music, an employee, a voter, a citizen. Blockchain affects you in every way.”
10 Blockchain Startups to Watch
Tons of innovative startups are pushing the envelope of what’s possible with blockchain technology. Here are other 10 exciting companies to keep an eye on as the space evolves:
Abra: A blockchain-based digital wallet that lives on your smartphone. Abra allows you to send or receive funds from any source in the world, without requiring bank accounts or transfer fees, using its own community of “tellers.”
Augur: Through Augur’s decentralized prediction market, you can bet on events in the real world. Using blockchain-based tokens, you can make wagers on pretty much anything, from the score of a game or winning lottery numbers to whether or not an Antarctic ice shelf will collapse (that’s a real betting market on the site).
BlockCypher: This company is a cloud-based Web services platform for blockchain apps. What Amazon Web Services (AWS) is to cloud infrastructure, BlockCypher wants to be for blockchain.
Bluzelle: Between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and all the other blockchains out there, the industry already has interoperability issues. Bluzelle is middleware that supports all blockchain protocols and smooths out banking and payments transactions in what CEO Pavel Bains describes as the “Red Hat of blockchain.”
Brave: Founded by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, Brave is a new kind of browser that automatically blocks ads and trackers and instead helps drive publisher revenue through blockchain-based micropayments. As ad revenues for the digital media industry continue to decline, Brave’s micropayments model could be an answer.
Credit Dream: Access to credit can be difficult to come by in developing nations, and carry enormous interest if you’re lucky enough to get it. Currently active in Brazil, Credit Dream is a mobile-based blockchain platform for connecting investors in any country to loan borrowers in any country for affordable, verified loans.
Enigma: A stealth startup from MIT Media Lab, Enigma takes the blockchain’s privacy and security advantages and rolls them into a decentralized cloud platform that guarantees privacy. Enigma encrypts and protects data even when you share it with others, allowing data to be stored, shared, and analyzed without ever being fully revealed to any party.
Slock.it: Slock.it is the manifestation of how blockchain and the IoT fit together. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, the startup is embedding smart contracts in connected cars, homes, and other IoT devices with the goal of enabling anyone to rent, sell, or share their connected property without a middleman. Think about renting your apartment on Airbnb with Slock.it automatically opening and locking your door.
Plex: Plex uses the Ethereum blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to give insurance companies real-time remote diagnostics on cars and drivers.
Zcash: As cryptocurrencies go, Zcash is the most exciting one this side of Bitcoin. Zcash uses something called zero-knowledge proofs to create truly anonymous digital transactions. While it’s mined on a public blockchain just like Bitcoin, Zcash provides a fully anonymous cryptographic key in which no private information needs to be exchanged. Next to Bitcoin, it currently has the highest price of any cryptocurrency.
I hope this article helps you to get an understanding of blockchain.
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