If you've come across people talking about blockchain in the wild you'll often hear it in conjunction with crypto coins (bitcoin, Dogecoin, Eth, Sol) more recently you'll hear web 3.0 & NFTs along side it. In this short post we'll take a high level overview of what blockchain technology is and how it's helping making life better

Table of Content

• Why Blockchain ?
• What is Blockchain ?
• Advantages of Blockchain
• Applications of Blockchain

Why Blockchain ?

To understand blockchain we first need to look at what is currently existing or what blockchain is trying to replace, because blockchain is definitely trying to revolutionize something and that is how information/data flows essentially

The way the internet works right now makes use of a system called client-server architecture whereby a company offers you a service where your data is stored and owned by one entity and distributed to many people

Example 1 : Facebook, Twitter & Instagram and most online platforms out there have your data stored in their database (their computer somewhere in the world) it could be your picture, post, chat messages, etc. they have a lot of your data sitting in their computers and if they decide ok we don't like what this fellow posted they could remove the post, If they decide they don't like you for some reason they could block you from using your account

Hope we understand because it's centralized they decide what to do they can bring up new policies at anytime an if you don't follow, they could basically do anything they want with your account because they own everything that you do on their platform so you just have to trust them that they'll do right by you which isn't always the case

What is Blockchain ?

Blockchain in it's simplest form can be described as a ledger or database

It's just a form of storage that keep records of transactions made online, with a slight modification to the existing system. The blockchain technology allows each users the ability to store their own data and everyone's data by themselves. Instead of storing all your data with one company (Facebook, google etc.) you distribute the data to multiple systems in the world

Advantages of Blockchain

• Blockchain technology allows you to have full ownership of your assets online
• It is decentralized and unbiased system so yea both good and bad actor can make use of it
• It is being used in the health care industries to authenticate the validity of medicines
• It is the easiest way to transfer funds to anywhere in the world
• You can literally earn money by playing games built with blockchain technology
• If built right the blockchain can not be controlled by anyone not even the Government

Applications of Blockchain

Blockchain technology is being used in many different industries. The annual blockchain spending will reach $16B by 2023 according to research by CBInsights and the rate of adoption of the technology is increasing.

1. Making Cross-border Transactions Easier

With the use of cryptocurrencies you can easily pay for products all around the world within a couple of minutes with low transaction fees plus you don't need to input your credit card details anywhere

2. Blockchain Technology Allows You To Verify Ownership of Digital Assets

In the Traditional system ownership of a property can be verified through a receipt but how can you verify the ownership of who owns a particular piece of art online? or who the owner of a particular aesthetic piece of image is? or who captured a particular video etc. You ever heard of NFTs? The technology powering NFTs is non other than the blockchain technology

3. Healthcare Industries

Blockchain is being used in the tracking and tracing of prescription drugs throughout supply chains. Using this technology, it is possible to prevent and control the distribution of counterfeit drugs and to recall ineffective and harmful drugs very easily and quickly.

4. Reduces Cyber Theft

This is somewhat counterintuitive since there's been lots of scams and cyber bridges in the crypto world but most of the time your information isn't what's getting stolen with the traditional system you're required to store your name, email, password, ID card, credit card details and a lot of sensitive information that can be used against you since the blockchain technology issues you a private key you're more anonymous online unlike traditional system which limits the things that could be stolen from you online

Summary

This was a quick intro to blockchain giving you a very basic understanding of what it is and how it's been used without to much if any technical jargons I hope you liked the article. I will be posting more in-depth knowledge about this topic from time to time.