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== Description ==
== Description ==
[[File:Blockchain.jpg|thumb|Blockchain data]]
[[File:Blockchain.jpg|thumb|Blockchain data]]
The blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger that records transactions on thousands of computers globally. Blockchains have been described as a [[value (economics)|value]]-exchange [[Cryptographic protocol|protocol]].<ref name="bc2.0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/insights/2015/01/block-chain-2-0/ |title=Block Chain 2.0: The Renaissance of Money |author=Kariappa Bheemaiah |date=January 2015 |accessdate=13 November 2016 |date= |work=[[Wired]] }}</ref> They rely on a "gossip protocol",<ref name="socip">{{cite web |url=https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf |title=The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments |author=Joseph Poon |author2=Thaddeus Dryja |date=4 January 2016 |accessdate=17 November 2016 }}</ref> [[broadband]] internet, computers and [[power supply]]. From cryptographic [[Mechanism (engineering)|mechanism]]s a blockchain creates a discrete [[notation]] system that can be relied upon for [[logic]] and [[Orderliness|order]].<ref name="polcry">{{cite web |url=http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-4-value-and-currency/peer-reviewed-articles/the-politics-of-cryptography-bitcoin-and-the-ordering-machines/ |title=The Politics of Cryptography: Bitcoin and The Ordering Machines |author=Quinn DuPont |work=Journal of Peer Production |accessdate=17 November 2016 }}</ref> The transactions cannot be altered retrospectively.<ref name=wired20161107>{{cite news |last=Armstrong|first=Stephen |url=http://www.wired.co.uk/article/unlock-the-blockchain |title=Move over Bitcoin, the blockchain is only just getting started |work=[[Wired (magazine)]] |date=2016-11-07 |accessdate=2016-11-09 }}</ref>{{R|te20151031}} [[Tampering (crime)|Tampering]] with a blockchain is impossible.<ref name="defor">{{Cite news |url=http://www.techbullion.com/blockchain-definition-origin-history/ |title=Blockchain – Definition, Origin, and History |author=Lee Grant |accessdate=16 November 2016 |date=6 September 2016 |work=TechBullion }}</ref> In this way blockchains are described as an [[immutable object]]. Blockchains have been described as a [[trust (emotion)|trust]] machine because they provide a medium on which a [[counterparty]]'s trust may be automatically assessed.<ref name="isthemes">{{Cite news |url=http://www.techbullion.com/blockchain-is-the-message/ |title=Blockchain is the message |author=Stefano Nicoletti |accessdate=18 November 2016 |date=16 November 2016 |work=TechBullion }}</ref>
Blockchains have been described as a [[value (economics)|value]]-exchange [[Cryptographic protocol|protocol]].<ref name="bc2.0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/insights/2015/01/block-chain-2-0/ |title=Block Chain 2.0: The Renaissance of Money |author=Kariappa Bheemaiah |date=January 2015 |accessdate=13 November 2016 |date= |work=[[Wired]] }}</ref> The blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger that records transactions on thousands of computers globally, and the transactions cannot be altered retrospectively.<ref name=wired20161107>

{{cite news |last=Armstrong|first=Stephen |url=http://www.wired.co.uk/article/unlock-the-blockchain |title=Move over Bitcoin, the blockchain is only just getting started |work=[[Wired (magazine)]] |date=2016-11-07 |accessdate=2016-11-09 }}</ref>{{R|te20151031}}
A blockchain consists of ''blocks'' that hold batches of valid [[Transaction processing|transactions]]. Each block includes the [[Hash function|hash]] of the prior block in the blockchain, linking the two. The linked blocks form a chain.<ref name=te20151031 /> Variants of this format were used previously, for example in [[Git]], and it is not by itself sufficient to qualify as a blockchain.<ref name="linusGoogleTalk">{{cite video |people=Linus Torvalds |date=2007-05-03 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8 |title=Google tech talk: Linus Torvalds on git |time=02:30 |accessdate=2007-05-16}}</ref>
A blockchain consists of ''blocks'' that hold batches of valid [[Transaction processing|transactions]]. Each block includes the [[Hash function|hash]] of the prior block in the blockchain, linking the two. The linked blocks form a chain.<ref name=te20151031 /> Variants of this format were used previously, for example in [[Git]], and it is not by itself sufficient to qualify as a blockchain.<ref name="linusGoogleTalk">{{cite video |people=Linus Torvalds |date=2007-05-03 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8 |title=Google tech talk: Linus Torvalds on git |time=02:30 |accessdate=2007-05-16}}</ref>
The blockchain is [[Parsing|parsed]] by software to [[data extraction|extract]] relevant information.<ref name="undbit">{{cite book |title=Understanding Bitcoin: Cryptography, Engineering and Economics |last=Franco |first=Pedro |year=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781119019145 |page=95 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=erMQBQAAQBAJ |accessdate=6 November 2016}}</ref> A blockchain implementation consists of two kinds of records: transactions and blocks.{{R|te20151031}}
The blockchain is [[Parsing|parsed]] by software to [[data extraction|extract]] relevant information.<ref name="undbit">{{cite book |title=Understanding Bitcoin: Cryptography, Engineering and Economics |last=Franco |first=Pedro |year=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781119019145 |page=95 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=erMQBQAAQBAJ |accessdate=6 November 2016}}</ref> A blockchain implementation consists of two kinds of records: transactions and blocks.{{R|te20151031}}

Revision as of 23:56, 17 November 2016

A blockchain[1][2][3] — originally block chain[4][5] — is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of records called blocks.[1] Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block.[6]: 6  The data in a block cannot be altered retrospectively.

The first blockchain was conceptualised by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and implemented the following year as a core component of the digital currency bitcoin, where it serves as the public ledger for all transactions.[1] Through the use of a peer-to-peer network a blockchain database is managed autonomously. Blockchains are a successful example of a distributed computing system with high byzantine fault tolerance. The invention of the blockchain for bitcoin made it the first digital currency to solve the double spending problem. The bitcoin design has been the inspiration for other applications.[1][3]

By design blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data. Decentralised consensus can therefore be achieved for the first time with a blockchain.[7] This offers the potential of mass disintermediation and vast repercussions for how global trade is conducted. Financial technology, in particular blockchains have the potential to restructure the cost of transacting in a financial system.[8] Side chains and blockchain based smart contracts are not currently used[citation needed] but an effort to develop those concepts is taking place.[9]

History

Bitcoin transactions (January 2009 - September 2015)

The blockchain format was first used for bitcoin, as a solution to the problem of making a database both secure and not requiring a trusted administrator.[4] The words block and chain were used separately in Satoshi Nakamoto's original paper, and when the term moved into wider use it was originally block chain,[4][5] before becoming a single word, blockchain, by 2016. In August 2014, the bitcoin blockchain file size reached 20 gigabytes in size.[10]

As of 2014, "Blockchain 2.0" was a term referring to new applications of the distributed blockchain database.[11] The Economist described one implementation of this second-generation programmable blockchain as coming with "a programming language that allows users to write more sophisticated smart contracts, thus creating invoices that pay themselves when a shipment arrives or share certificates which automatically send their owners dividends if profits reach a certain level."[1]

In 2016, the central securities depository of the Russian Federation (NSD) announced a pilot project based on blockchain technology.[12] Various regulatory bodies in the music industry have started testing models that use blockchain technology for royalty collection and management of copyrights around the world.[13][better source needed] IBM opened a blockchain innovation research centre in Singapore in July 2016.[14] A working group for the World Economic Forum met in November 2016 to discuss the development of governance models related to blockchain.[15]

Description

Blockchain data

The blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger that records transactions on thousands of computers globally. Blockchains have been described as a value-exchange protocol.[11] They rely on a "gossip protocol",[16] broadband internet, computers and power supply. From cryptographic mechanisms a blockchain creates a discrete notation system that can be relied upon for logic and order.[17] The transactions cannot be altered retrospectively.[18][1] Tampering with a blockchain is impossible.[19] In this way blockchains are described as an immutable object. Blockchains have been described as a trust machine because they provide a medium on which a counterparty's trust may be automatically assessed.[20]

A blockchain consists of blocks that hold batches of valid transactions. Each block includes the hash of the prior block in the blockchain, linking the two. The linked blocks form a chain.[1] Variants of this format were used previously, for example in Git, and it is not by itself sufficient to qualify as a blockchain.[21] The blockchain is parsed by software to extract relevant information.[22] A blockchain implementation consists of two kinds of records: transactions and blocks.[1]

In a blockchain the chain with the most cumulative proof-of-work[clarification needed] is always considered the valid one by the network. In addition to a secure hash based history, any blockchain database has a specified algorithm for scoring different versions of the history so that one with a higher value can be selected over others. Peers supporting the database don't have exactly the same version of the history at all times, rather they keep the highest scoring version of the database that they currently know of. Whenever a peer receives a higher scoring version (usually the old version with a single new block added) they extend or overwrite their own database and retransmit the improvement to their peers. There is never an absolute guarantee that any particular entry will remain in the best version of the history forever, but because blockchains are typically built to add the score of new blocks onto old blocks and there are incentives to only work on extending with new blocks rather than overwriting old blocks, the probability of an entry becoming superseded goes down as more blocks are built on top of it, eventually becoming very low.[1][23]: ch. 08 [24]

It is possible to rollback a blockchain. The Nxt cryptocurrency community considered a blockchain rollback in 2014 after a theft at a major exchange.[25]

Decentralization

By storing data across its network, the blockchain eliminates the risks that come with data being held centrally.[1] Its network lacks centralized points of vulnerability that computer hackers can exploit. Today’s Internet has security problems that are familiar to everyone. We all rely on the "username/password" system to protect our identity and assets online. Blockchain security methods use cryptographic technology.[4]: 5 

The basis for decentralization is the use of public and private keys. A public key (a long, randomly-generated string of numbers) is a user’s address on the blockchain. Bitcoins

sent across the network are recorded as belonging to that address. A private key is like a password that gives its owner access to their digital assets or otherwise interact with the various capabilities that blockchains now support. Data stored on the blockchain is generally considered incorruptible.[1]

Every node in a decentralized system has a copy of the blockchain. Data quality is maintained by massive database replication[7] and computational trust. No centralized "official" copy exists and no user is "trusted" more than any other.[4] Transactions are broadcast to the network using software. Messages are delivered on a best effort basis. Mining nodes validate transactions, add them to the block they’re creating, and then broadcast the completed block to other nodes.[23]: ch. 08  Blockchains use various time-stamping schemes, such as proof-of-work to serialize changes.[26]

Blockchain workflow

Blockchain is secured way of online transaction. It typically follows following workflow[27]

Step 1: Digitally signed transaction initiation

Step 2: Transaction is sent to miner. Miner is technically verifier of all transactions

Step 3: Transaction is broadcast to all connected nodes as block

Step 4: Network accepts transaction if data is valid

Step 5: Receiver receives the transaction

Openness

Since all early blockchains were permissionless, controversy has arisen over whether permissioned databases of chained blocks of data should even be considered blockchains. An issue in this ongoing debate is whether a private system with verifiers tasked and authorized (permissioned) by a central authority should be considered a blockchain.[28][29][30][31][32]

Proponents of permissioned or private chains argue that the term "blockchain" may be applied to any data structure that batches data into time-stamped blocks. These blockchains serve as a distributed version of multiversion concurrency control (MVCC) in databases.[33] Just as MVCC prevents two transactions from concurrently modifying a single object in a database, blockchains prevent two transactions from spending the same single output in a blockchain.[34]: 30–31 

Opponents say that permissioned systems resemble traditional corporate databases, not supporting decentralized data verification, and that such systems are not hardened against operator tampering and revision.[28][30] The Harvard Business Review defines blockchain as a distributed ledger or database open to anyone,[35] and Computerworld claims that "much of [blockchain hype] is nothing more than snake oil and spin".[36]

Permissionless

Both bitcoin and Ethereum are open (public) blockchains. As of September 2016, bitcoin has the highest market capitalization while Ethereum is second.[37] Both of them currently secure their blockchain by requiring new entries including a proof of work. Ethereum plans to switch to a proof-of-stake system in the future.[38]

Permissioned

The New York Times notes that many corporations are using blockchain networks "with private blockchains, independent of the public system."[3]

Disadvantages

Nikolai Hampton pointed out in Computerworld that:

  • "There is also no need for a ‘51 percent’ attack on a private blockchain, as the private blockchain (most likely) already controls 100 percent of all block creation resources. If you could attack or damage the blockchain creation tools on a private corporate server, you could effectively control 100 percent of their network and alter transactions however you wished."[36] This has a set of particularly profound adverse implications during a financial crises or debt crises like the financial crisis of 2007–08, where politically powerful actors may make decisions that favor some groups at the expense of others.[citation needed]
  • "The bitcoin blockchain is protected by the massive group mining effort. It's unlikely that any private blockchain will try to protect records using gigawatts of computing power — it's time consuming and expensive."[36]
  • "Within a private blockchain there is also no ‘race’; there's no incentive to use more power or discover blocks faster than competitors. This means that many in-house blockchain solutions will be nothing more than cumbersome databases."[36]

Applications

Andreas Antonopoulos speaking in March 2016

The use of blockchains promises to be able to bring significant efficiencies to global supply chains although many observers remain skeptical. Some analysts, such as Steve Wilson from Constellation Research believe the technology has been hyped with unrealistic claims.[39] In order to mitigate risk businesses are reluctant to place blockchain at the core of the business structure.[40] Blockchains are a technology that may be integrated into multiple areas. It is a disruptive innovation because it allows businesses to use to new methods of processing digital transactions.[41] Examples include a payment system and digital currency, facilitating crowdsales, or implementing prediction markets and generic governance tools.[citation needed] Blockchains are expected to disrupt the cloud computing industry although practical technical issues remain as obstacles.[42]

Major applications of blockchain include cryptocurrencies—including bitcoin, BlackCoin, Dash, and Nxt—and blockchain platforms—Factom as a distributed registry, Gems for decentralized messaging, MaidSafe for decentralized applications, Storj for a distributed cloud, and Tezos for decentralized voting.[34]: 94  Frameworks and trials such as the one at the Sweden Land Registry aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of the blockchain at speeding land sale deals.[43] The Republic of Georgia is piloting a blockchain-based property registry.[44]

New distribution methods for the insurance industry such as peer-to-peer insurance, parametric insurance and microinsurance following the adoption of blockchain.[41] Banks are interested in this technology because it has potential to speed up back office settlement systems.[45] The sharing economy and IoT are also set to benefit from blockchains because they involve many collaborating peers.[46]

Smart contracts

Blockchain based smart contracts are currently in development. One of the main objectives of a smart contract is automated escrow. The IMF believes blockchains could reduce moral hazards and optimize the use of contracts in general.[47] Due to the lack of widespread use their legal status is unclear.[47]

Some blockchain implementations could enable the coding of contracts that will execute when specified conditions are met. A blockchain smart contract would be enabled by extensible programming instructions which both define and execute an agreement.[48] For example, Ethereum is an open source blockchain project that was built specifically to realize this possibility by implementing a Turing-complete programming language capability to implement such contracts.[34]: ch. 11  As of January 2016, smart contract systems are not being used for ether.[49]

Applications

The Harvard Business Review conducted a two-year research project exploring how blockchain technology can securely move and store host "money, titles, deeds, music, art, scientific discoveries, intellectual property, and even votes".[35] Furthermore, major portions of the financial industry are implementing distributed ledgers for use in banking[50][51], and according to a September 2016 IBM study, this is occurring faster than expected.[52] The credit and debits payments company MasterCard has added three blockchain-based APIs for programmers to use in developing both P2P and B2B payment systems.[53]

CLS Group is using blockchain technology to expand the number of currency trade deals it can settle.[40]

Alternative blockchains

Alternative blockchains, known as altchains, are based on bitcoin technology in concept and/or code.[6] These designs generally add functionality to the blockchain design. Altchains can provide solutions including other digital currencies, although tokens used in these designs are not always considered to be such. Altchains target performance, anonymity, storage and applications such as smart contracts.[54] Starting with a strong focus on financial applications, blockchain technology is extending to activities including decentralized applications and collaborative organizations that eliminate a middleman.[55][non-primary source needed] Notable designs include:

Other uses

Blockchain technology can be used to create a permanent, public, transparent ledger system for compiling data on sales, storing rights data by authenticating copyright registration,[59] and tracking digital use and payments to content creators, such as musicians.[60] Imogen Heap's Mycelia[61] service allowing managers to use a blockchain for tracking high-value parts moving through a supply chain was launched as a concept in July 2016. Everledger, "building systems to record the movement of diamonds from mines to jewelry stores", is one of the inaugural clients of IBM's blockchain-based tracking service.[62]

Commercial offerings

Distributed ledgers and other blockchain inspired software are being developed by commercial organizations for various applications:

See also

References

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  2. ^ Morris, David Z. (2016-05-15). "Leaderless, Blockchain-Based Venture Capital Fund Raises $100 Million, And Counting". Fortune (magazine). Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  3. ^ a b c Popper, Nathan (2016-05-21). "A Venture Fund With Plenty of Virtual Capital, but No Capitalist". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers" (PDF). Fairfax, VA: Mercatus Center, George Mason University. 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Trottier, Leo (2016-06-18). "original-bitcoin" (self-published code collection). github. Retrieved 2016-06-18. This is a historical repository of Satoshi Nakamoto's original bit coin sourcecode.
  6. ^ a b "Blockchain". Investopedia. Retrieved 19 March 2016. Based on the Bitcoin protocol, the blockchain database is shared by all nodes participating in a system.
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  8. ^ Tasca, Paolo; Tomaso Aste; Loriana Pelizzon; Nicolas Perony (2016). Banking Beyond Banks and Money: A Guide to Banking Services in the Twenty-First Century. Springer. p. 215. ISBN 9783319424484. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  9. ^ https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2016/sdn1603.pdf Retrieved November-13-2016
  10. ^ Chuen, David Lee Kuo (2015). Handbook of Digital Currency: Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data. Academic Press. p. 319. ISBN 9780128023518. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  11. ^ a b Kariappa Bheemaiah. "Block Chain 2.0: The Renaissance of Money". Wired. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  12. ^ "НРД проголосовал за блокчейн" [NSD blockchain vote]. Bankir.ru (in Russian). 2016-04-15. Retrieved 18 June 2016. "Национальный расчетный депозитарий запустил пилотный проект на основе технологии распределенного реестра. Создание прототипа системы электронного голосования владельцев облигаций на блокчейне анонсировал на Биржевом форуме председатель правления НРД Эдди Астанин [The National Settlement Depository started the pilot project based on the technology of the distributed register. Creation of the prototype system of electronic voting for owners of bonds based on blockchain was announced at the Exchange forum by the chairman of the board of NSD, Eddie Astanin.] {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
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Further reading