A while ago, like many, I had no clue what blockchain and crypto was. And then one day I became an “accidental crypto owner” and started my journey down the rabbit hole.
My research started with the obvious classic — Google.
Typing “what is a blockchain” into Google I ended up with over 70 million results (70,700,000 to be precise).
Another classic — Wikipedia — stated “A blockchain facilitates secure online transactions. A blockchain is a decentralised and distributed digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.”
Hmm. Maybe I didn’t want to learn more. Maybe you need to have deep tech knowledge and background to be able to wrap your head around this. Maybe this was not for me.
Or maybe we simply need someone explain what a blockchain is in human language, using less terminology and more stories from everyday life.
So instead of reading complex texts I decided to take it to the human level. I reached out to Julian Hosp — the co-founder of TenX.
The way he explained blockchain technology to me was so clear that I thought it would be a shame not share it here with you too.
Here is what Julian said:
“I look at the blockchain as a technology. I am not fan per se of Bitcoin or Ethereum or Dash. I like all these cryptocurrencies. But for me it’s more about the underlying technology.
“Blockchain is the same kind of revolution when it comes to ownership, when it comes to money, when it comes to any kind of assets, as the Internet was to communication and information.
“And what I mean is the following: prior to the Internet we could have not done what we are doing right now [online face to face video interview] because we would have relied on large centralised stations that controlled whether you would be allowed to do this video or not. If they wanted you to do this video, you could do it. If they didn’t want you to do the video, there was no chance to get your radio show out, your television show out, your newspaper out — everything was completely controlled by centralised institutions.
“And then the Internet popped up. The internet itself is a concept, it’s nothing more than an idea of decentralisation meaning not one ruling it all — it’s interconnection of things. And once it happened, it allowed the telecommunication done over the internet, it allowed for things like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all these kind of live and not live mediums.
“The blockchain is doing exactly the same thing to ownership. It’s ownership of anything you can imagine.
“It’s the ownership of money, ownership of real estate, it’s the ownership of stocks, of diamond, off gold, whatever you want to own — the blockchain takes this responsibility away from one central institution — the easiest one is the bank because it is a concept that we all understand — If the bank says — yesterday you had a money today you don’t have a money because I don’t like you or because you did something then like this [Julian clicked his finger] the money is gone there is nothing you can do about it.”
Let me stop here for a second.
Julian did not know it back then, but his example with the bank is how the idea of BABB was born.
If you have been following us here on Medium you probably recall that it’s exactly what happened to BABB founder and CEO Rushd (we have written the whole story for you to read here).
And it’s true, as Julian said, once the money is gone you can’t do anything about it. Either that, or you can come up with a big, awesome and exciting concept as BABB just like Rushd did.
Anyway — back to the blockchain.
Julian continues…
“If you are part of the government and that government doesn’t like you and they want to take your ID away, your passport away — they slip a finger and there’s no way to verify that you are who you are.
“The blockchain allows us to decentralise that. Taking the power away from one institution, one individual, one organisation and distributing it over every participant, just like the Internet did. And the more participants that are part of it the stronger this entire ecosystem gets.”
After my talk with Julian I concluded that the blockchain is much more than the technology. And it is not only exciting to those who have technology background and are at ease with all the terms and complexity.
Blockchain to me is about the endless possibilities of empowerment, independence, and having things transparently under our own control.
And who can fail to be excited by that?
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