Blockchain forging the future of digital trust
It might be difficult to secure your valuables in the age of technology , where everyone depends on information technology to make their lives easier.
One of the most incredible technologies for our security that has been introduced to us is blockchain.
The Blockchain: What Is It? Why is it necessary?
A database is undoubtedly necessary for those involved in underhanded corruption and black money activities. Because we cannot access it and the database administrator can change it at any time, we as a people do not think this database is trustworthy.
The database is unreliable for this reason. Blockchain was introduced to us for this reason.
Everybody has access to the decentralized system, which they can modify and exercise authority over. It could be near-impossible so that it would be reliable and people could trust that type of database. This type of database is a blockchain.
Its research was conducted in the 1990s but was implemented in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous developer, due to which the hype of cryptocurrency started to rise in the world.
How Blockchain works?
A blockchain is like a ledger, and every single record is stored in a block.
As the word describes itself, it is a record of interconnected blocks, just like a chain, which is why it is called a blockchain.
In a single block, data and information are stored.
The first thing that is stored in a block is relevant information. Just like for bitcoin, the transaction information is stored from where the bitcoin is coming and where it is going. So for different uses, different data is stored.
The second thing that is stored in a block is a hash.
A hash is just like a unique fingerprint; for every item stored in a block, we are given a unique code. The third important item stored in a block is the previous hash.
The hash of the first block is stored in a second block; the hash of the second block is stored in a third block; and so on, just like an interconnected chain of blocks.
The first block, which has no record of previous hashes, is called the Genesis block so that we can track the history of the blocks.
What convenience has blockchain brought for us?
Because of blockchain, the tracking of information and making it unique is so easy.
Changing information and having unauthorized access to the information is impossible, which is why blockchain is secure.
What if we try to change the data on the blockchain?
This question annoys everyone. If we try to change the data of the block, the hash of the block will be changed.
It means the irreverent and invalid information is stored in the second block of the chain as well, which results in the wrong hash.
Because of the change in the data of the first block, the whole hash of the chain becomes invalid.
Now you would be thinking that we would then try to change the hash of every block. If we try to change the hash of every block, it will be too time-consuming, which would be unimaginable for us.
In Bitcoin, changing the hash of one bitcoin would take 10 minutes, which means that if there are 10 million bitcoins, it would take 200 years to change the hash of all blocks, which seems funny to me to do so.
Every person in the network of this chain has a copy of the record of all the blocks, so changing a block would be impossible.
Because of this, there is a concept called the consensus rule, in which if you want to change the data in your block, the interconnected people in the chain will vote on whether the change you are making is valid or not.
If the majority of the vote indicates that you are doing something against data, your vote will be rejected, and it will be impossible for you to bring about change.
That means to change the data of the block, first, you have to change the hash of your block, which will take 10 minutes, and then you will get approval for your change from the people in your network.
If the majority of the people agreed only to that condition, it would be possible for you to change the date of your block.
It seems impossible for the person trying to have unauthorized access, right?
Yeah, it is. The person trying to have unauthorized access has to invest a lot of time and should own 50 percent of the majority of the network; that would be impossible.
Implementation of Blockchain
Blockchain is implemented on cryptocurrency in the form of Bitcoin.It has eliminated the use of banks when transferring money.
Before, when people needed to send money from Pakistan to the US, they used to give their money in rupees to banks, which were then converted into dollars and then sent to the US, where banks also charged their fees.
But now, because of blockchain, people use bitcoin, which is directly transferred to another person in the form of bitcoin, just like gold is transferred from asset to asset, where the fees that are charged are very few as compared to banks eliminating the need for currency conversion.
In real estate transactions, people are using blockchain to store their records, because of which we can easily track the history of a particular real estate property.
Blockchain is also implemented in hospital management systems, in which the records of the patients are stored so that doctors can access the relevant information, and the data of the patients is also secured.
We could use blockchain in start-ups, businesses, and projects as well. We could use the blockchain from the start of our business or project; other blockchains exist that we could use with the help of code.
In blockchains, a smart contract is just like a real contract, which is in digital form. It is just like a code that will define how the data will be received and transferred. By entering the code, the data will be transferred through that algorithm.
Ethereum is the most popular blockchain, which we could use for social contracts. For this, we have a language called Solidity, which we could learn and implement on Ethereum to use for our applications using blockchain.
In this way, blockchain makes sure that your transactions and data are secured and protected from unauthorized access.
