- Blockchain technology was first developed in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Since its inception, it has been used as the basis for several cryptocurrencies from around the world, including Bitcoin and Bitshares.
- Blockchain is a sort of distributed ledger or decentralized database that keeps records of digital transactions.
- The ledger can record many transactions such as monetary transactions, property transfer, and even ballot storage.
- When a digital transaction is carried out, it is grouped together in a cryptographically protected block with other transactions
- Each transaction is recorded and stored in the ledger that is out on a public bulletin board. Every transaction adds a block to the chain of transactions and each one is assessed by every user based on algorithms agreed upon.
- All transactions that occur on a standard Blockchain are verified and signed with cryptography to ensure security and anonymity
- Rather than being kept in one location, a copy of the blockchain is stored on every user’s server so that a user cannot alter it without other users finding out.
Blockchain technology, the distributed ledger system that underpins the
digital currency Bitcoin, is getting a lot of attention from Wall Street
lately. While bitcoin is the most widely used and well known use case of
blockchain, Ethereum may be the killer app that allows for this
disruption to finally take place.