Reading Bigeng｜What is blockchain? Five major innovations of blockchain, master it in three minutes!

This is an article excerpted with authorization from the popular blockchain science website " Chainee ". For complete reading, please refer to the article " What is Blockchain? The Origin and Five Major Innovations of Blockchain ". Today we want to introduce to you what is blockchain? Take three minutes to master the five major innovations of blockchain!

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What is blockchain?

 A metaphor: transparent boxes connected together

Blockchain, in a nutshell, is an innovative technology for recording data.

It is called blockchain because the recorded data will be placed in blocks one by one, and each block is connected by a chain, as shown in the figure below.

Let us split the blockchain into two parts: "block" and "chain" for explanation. You will understand it better:

• Block <br class="smart">is like a transparent safe. The recorded information will be placed inside. It is open and transparent. Anyone can view it freely, but cannot modify it at will. This is because the safe is used Cryptographically protected.
  
• The chain <br class="smart"> plays the role of connecting the previous and the next, allowing anyone to understand the time sequence of written data based on the block sequence when reading data.

In the blockchain, people who help verify the data on the block and construct the blockchain are called "miners" or "nodes".

What is innovative about blockchain?

≣ Decentralized

In today's electronic transaction architecture, banks often act as the "middleman" in the transaction process and control all transaction records. In other words, this is a transaction architecture with the bank as the "center" . For example, if A wants to transfer 100 US dollars to B online, then A has to go through the "middleman" of the bank and trust it to complete the transaction, and all transaction records are also stored in the bank.

The "point-to-point" and "decentralized" architecture of the blockchain completely removes the role of the "middleman" and instead lets the miners (nodes) on the blockchain verify and save transaction records while using the concept of cryptography. Ensure the authenticity of transactions.

The revolutionary idea brought about by Bitcoin—or blockchain technology—is to bring about a new type of cash flow. Fund transfers no longer need to go through middlemen, and cash flow becomes freer, ultimately achieving the return of rights. The result for the people.

≣ Immutable

Quoting from the book " Blockchain Sociology " by Mr. Gao Jianshe, the founder of LikeCoin, the blockchain is like the "Lennon Wall" in Prague. Anyone can write words one by one. , paint pictures, record events, express ideas. What’s more useful than the Lenon Wall is that even if the records on the blockchain are overwritten by new ones, the old records and the modification process still exist. This is one of the qualities of blockchain: immutability.

It is worth noting that the records of the blockchain are not unable to be "modified", but cannot be "tampered with", which means that once modified, a clear record will be left, and no one person, organization or regime can do whatever they want. Modification must go through a consensus mechanism.

≣ Trustless

The centralized world we live in is a world based on "trust". For example, when transferring money, you can only trust the bank (middleman) to fulfill its promise and complete the task; in a decentralized world, blockchain technology makes transfers seamless. It can be completed with the foundation of "trust". This is because every transaction is authenticated using cryptography, and the records are placed on the blockchain, which are open, transparent and cannot be tampered with, and can be taken out for verification at any time.

This is another characteristic of blockchain: trustlessness, which allows people to use blockchain technology to create a world that does not need to operate based on "trust."

≣ Consensus

The blockchain is like a highly democratic small society. If we want it to operate normally, we must set up a set of operating rules for all miners participating in the blockchain to abide by to ensure the fairness and fairness of the blockchain system. Consistency, this is the "consensus mechanism".

Currently, the most widespread consensus mechanisms are Proof of Work (PoW) used by Bitcoin, or Proof of Stake (PoS) used by Ethereum. We will analyze the differences between the two in detail in subsequent articles. .

≣ Permissionless

Public blockchains are permissionless and allow everyone to join, regardless of their race, gender, age, class, wealth or political affiliation. Everyone has equal rights to blockchain applications and no one is excluded. It is an open network where all users can participate in the consensus process of the blockchain to verify transactions and data.

In October 2022, the well-known rapper Kayne West had his bank account closed by the financial giant JPMorgan Chase due to his controversial remarks... Later, he appeared wearing a Satoshi Nakamoto hat, which seemed to imply that he would embrace Bitcoin and treat everyone equally. chain world. Blockchain only acts according to logic, has no position, and opens the door to everyone.

Banks serve Wall Street, blockchain serves everyone.

summary

Blockchain is a very novel technology that cleverly uses point-to-point computing resources to remove "centralized" service organizations and cryptographically ensure the accuracy of transaction records. However, because of its anonymity, it is sometimes used by unscrupulous people to do bad things (for example: money laundering, black market trading).

Based on the various characteristics of blockchain—decentralization, non-tamperability, trustlessness, consensus mechanism, and permissionlessness—it is not only an application technology, but also a mode of thinking that liberates the traditional financial flow and information flow. The operating system allows us to have a new choice of "returning power to the people".

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