What is the main purpose of blockchain?
Many people in the blockchain industry have a huge misconception of what it’s all about. We see numerous individuals associating the blockchain with making money, which in a sense, isn’t entirely wrong, but that’s not its true purpose.
The blockchain can be described differently according to many different people, but, all the blockchain is, is a fancy database. One that stores information and data. The amazing aspect though is that it’s immutable and decentralized.
This means, the stored information is not stored in one location but is instead stored across thousands of different locations. It’s immutable because once something is added to the blockchain, nothing can be altered or changed.
In essence, the blockchain has actually been around for numerous years, dating back to the 1990s, it is only now that it has become so popular as it is the perfect solution to initiate peer-to-peer transactions, without the need of an intermediary.
But it can be used for more than this, in this article we will go through some of the real purposes of the blockchain, and explain how it can be applied to all walks of business.
Building on top of its function
If we look at the way the internet is currently structured, we will uncover that it is comprised of a lot of information and data stored in central locations. For example, all the information we see on Facebook is stored on Facebook’s servers, and any data we (users) generate while using Facebook becomes the ownership of Facebook.
This is a centralized architecture and is also referred to as web 2.0. But, imagine if we could access similar services, but have our data stored in a decentralized/distributed network, and all the data we generate is owned by us.
Well, that exists, and this is due to the blockchain. If the entire internet is run on servers, and databases, then the blockchain can become a substitute for the current internet, with the advantage that users have ownership over everything they do.
Yes, cryptocurrencies are another great example of how blockchain is being used, and one that we can all use today. As any money we transfer over the blockchain is completely peer-to-peer, and any money we receive is owned and viewed by us.
The applications that can be applied to the blockchain are slowly becoming more than just a novelty, as we could eventually integrate blockchain into the public service sectors such as government, medical, transportation, etc…
The blockchain is a technology and is a solution, that will solve many issues that have plagued us online. Many people are still unaware of what the blockchain is actually used for, but, its technology is only just beginning.
Eventually, the world will be capable of seeing integration between our offline lives with our online ones, with zero data issues. By applying this analogy to the future, we are certainly entering the next level of our digital evolution.
