What is Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain consists of two words, namely “block” which means group, and “chain” which means chain. This reflects the way blockchain works by utilizing computer resources to link blocks to simplify the execution process of transactions.
Quoted from a book entitled Blockchain for Dummies written by Manav Gupta, it is explained that initially, blockchain was formed and developed to meet a great need for a system that works more effectively, efficiently, cost-effectively, is more secure, and is proven safer to perform. task in the form of recapitulating various financial transactions that occur in the future.
The idea of ??using blockchain itself was formed in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-one, at which time, there were two authors, namely Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta, who published a journal entitled Journal of Cryptography: How to Time Stamp a Digital documents.
The figure behind the blockchain technology created with bitcoin is known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. In the year two thousand and nine, Nakamoto, a mysterious figure wanted a decentralized, permanent and publicly accessible means of recording the creation and distribution of every bitcoin. Unlike the money produced by a central bank, which is still in the form of traditional money, the existence of bitcoin is slightly different, in that bitcoin does not have a central authority, and does not have a party working to control it.
Even though Nakamoto designed blockchain as a public ledger, it wasn’t long before permission-backed blockchains controlled by specific companies or groups emerged. This legal blockchain was initiated by Nicholas Weaver, a senior researcher at The International Computer Science Institute.
The company also uses blockchain to do various things, such as manage pharmaceutical information, track shipments of goods, and trace the origin of food.
Additionally, Catherine Tucker, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, sees tremendous potential in blockchain technology. He sees blockchain as most useful for managing digital currencies and tracking health data, as well as insurance.
Citing Entrepreneur magazine, so far people have mined more than eighteen million out of a total of twenty one million bitcoins in existence, and every transaction in Bitcoin has been recorded on the blockchain.
Without relying entirely on a central authority in terms of supervision, obtaining verification, approving transaction requests, and processing money income, bitcoin actually prefers to do all of this using a network with a peer to peer connection.
Blockchain has three main properties:
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Decentralization
What is meant by decentralization is not centralized, which means that all decision-making is left to system users without one individual being able to impose his will on other individuals, without the approval of the majority of system users.
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Transparency
Most people think that blockchain provides privacy, but others say that it provides transparency. I wonder why?
So, this is because a person’s identity will be automatically hidden by the blockchain using a very complex cryptographic method. In addition, the data contained is only in the form of public address data owned by that person.
Or in other words, even though you can see the history of transactions made by that person, you still can’t find out the real identity of that person!
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Immutability
In the context of blockchain, immutability or immutability means that if there is already data that has been inputted or entered into the database, then that data can no longer be destroyed, destroyed, or even deleted. That way, you certainly have to pay more attention to what data you will enter into the blockchain!