Blockchain is one the most popular and exciting technologies right now. Even though most people are familiar with the term they don’t completely understand the technology. It is the underlying concept that cryptocurrencies work upon but it is also so much more. In this article, we will learn about blockchain and its features. Let’s start!!1
Introduction to blockchain
Blockchain is a list of records called blocks that store data publicly and in chronological order. The information is encrypted using cryptography to ensure that the privacy of the user is not compromised and data cannot be altered. The information is stored and managed in a decentralised manner hence no central authority is the sole decision maker. Instead, most decisions are based on a consensus of all the participating nodes of the network spread all over the world.
Features of Blockchain
Now that we have some basic understanding of blockchain technology let us review its primary features.
1. Increased Capacity
This is the first and an important feature of Blockchain. The most remarkable thing about this Blockchain technology is that it increases the capacity of the whole network. Because of the reason that there are a lot of computers working together which in total offers a great power then few of the devices where the things are centralised.
A perfect example of this increased capacity is a project started by Stanford University which created a supercomputer that simulates protein folding for medical research.
2. Better Security
Blockchain technology is considered more secure than its contemporaries because of lack of a single point of failure. Blockchain operates on a well-distributed network of nodes, hence data at all times is circulated through not one but multiple nodes, which makes sure that even if one node is hacked or faulty in any way the integrity of the original data will not be compromised.
3. Immutability
Creating immutable ledgers is one of the main values of Blockchain. Any database that is centralised is destined for hacks and frauds since it requires trust in some third party intermediary to keep the database secure.
Blockchain like Bitcoin keeps its ledgers in a never-ending state of forwarding momentum. Every node on the system has a copy of the digital ledger. To add a transaction every node needs to check its validity. If the majority thinks it’s valid, then it’s added to the ledger. This promotes transparency and makes it corruption-proof.
Another fact is that, once the transaction blocks get added on the ledger, no one can just go back and change it. Thus, any user on the network won’t be able to edit, delete or update it.
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