You may have already heard of blockchain. The subject is vast, technical, and complex, but here is a clear little summary to help you learn more!
The blockchain is a technology for storing and transmitting information, transparent, secure, and operating without a central controlling body (definition of Blockchain France). It is the technology at the heart of the decentralized Web and finance.
There are public blockchains open to everyone and private blockchains, whose access and use are restricted to certain participants. We will only discuss the public blockchain in this article, and another will be dedicated to private blockchains.
The public blockchain is a bit like a giant digital ledger that records all transactions carried out on the network. Furthermore, this ledger is anonymous, tamper-proof, freely accessible, and distributed in thousands of copies. But no one can modify it. This digital tool appeared in 2008, invented by an individual or a group of individuals under the pseudonym «Satoshi Nakamoto».
The great strength of the public blockchain is its secure operation without a central controlling authority.
The decentralized nature of the blockchain, coupled with its security and transparency, enables several types of solutions.
-> Asset transfer applications: blockchain enables the transfer of assets very quickly, without borders anywhere in the world and with very few fees. Here are a few examples of possible assets: currency, stock, bond, vote, token. Of course, all assets on a blockchain are digital.
-> Applications as a registry: This allows for better traceability of products and assets. For example: tracking the production, harvesting, and sales locations of a food product. Another example: recording student diplomas in a blockchain to prove their authenticity.
-> Smart contract applications: These are autonomous computer programs that automatically execute the terms and conditions of a contract without human intervention once the smart contract is activated. For example, insurance products that automatically reimburse customers in the event of a flight delay, or sports betting products that automatically execute the transfer of funds to the winners of the bet.
The fields of blockchain exploitation are immense and allow for the creation of a new decentralized web.
Blockchain is to digital asset transfers what the internet was to information transfers.
The fields of application for public and/or private blockchain are very numerous: banking, insurance, healthcare, the pharmaceutical industry, logistics, supply chain, agri-food, luxury, retail, energy, real estate, voting, etc.
This new technology is revolutionary and represents a disruptive innovation compared to the ones we already knew. It is the logical evolution of the internet. These two technologies coexist because a blockchain needs the internet to function.
As the years go by, the user experience will become increasingly pleasant for the public. For now, the subject is quite complex, much like the Internet was in the 2000s. We are currently only at the very beginning of this technology's potential.
We will clarify the most complex elements of this innovation in more detail; feel free to ask your questions in the comments if needed.
