Blockchain — Is really this technology the future?

Ok, now I am getting more personal in this topic because (as I think) the principles behind are very close to my heart…

Blockchain, the famous concept, crypto, bitcoin, NFT, Ethereum, and surely more other words that in the time you are reading this will be related to this topic. If you are here, that means that you're still holding doubts in your heart about what is going to happen with this technology.

Well, sadly, I can’t say that I am going to solve your doubts because I can’t see the future, but, I do believe in the impressions that we as human beings sometimes have about on how things are going to evolve, and this is what I want to talk about here.

First, simple and concise, what is blockchain? What is all this world related to technology, or cryptography, and why the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum are among the news we read across the internet?

Blockchain, it’s a technology that differentiate itself from the rest because of the following promises:

1. Security
2. Transparency
3. Integrity
4. Freedom

What are this promises and what do they mean?, Why are these things of freedom and transparency a real issue? (Now that I am writing, I can see that I can spend hours in each item only… but I’ll try to do my best to explain this) Well, it can be both simple and complicated to explain at the same time, and this always depend on who is reading it, I had people who got it at the first time and others that need some more runs to catch it, but the truth is that, these four promises, come from the human nature itself.

The trick is that today, we are used to a lot of things that seems normal, but we don’t really know the amount of work that is behind it.

Let’s go then, one by one, in simple and practical terms for us, the normal user…

1. Security — is the bones of each individual the necessity to feel protected, we ALL want to be secure and want to have the best protection for us, and for our loved ones.
2. Transparency — No one wants to be lied, we can feel and tell when someone is not telling us the truth, and we know, that for sure that is not a path we want to follow, because we don’t really know what to expect from it. Being transparent is being honest, and where we have honesty, we have trust.
3. Integrity — This is similar to the one before, but if transparency is believing in your word, integrity will be keeping your word, this means that what you said, is not only true, but it will remain in the time, and it will not change.
4. Freedom — Last but not least (and actually, the most important, I think) the three principles before allows us to create tools that allow us, the user, to be in control, therefore, we are responsible for our actions, and we decide for ourselves, without depending on others. Since the beginning of the times, we as humans are always pursuing freedom.

Ok, this took me more time than I thought it was going to be, but I really think it is worth it. Let's now move to a more specific and technical side of the conversation…

Some specifications before we move on.

A great advice an old teacher gave to me some time ago, is that to fully understand something, you must be able to answer the following three question: The “what”, the “how”, and the “why”. I have started on the “what” is the blockchain, and now I am trying to explain the “why” is important, I am not going to cover the “how”, but in a near future I’ll try to show it to you, because it’s large and technical, and it will be easier if we start here….

So, now we are more familiar with the four principles that drive this field, now let’s see how they apply, and we have the perfect example, in the main use we are giving it… currencies.

Yes sir, we all have at least heard of the word bitcoin, and whether we understand it or not, we know it's out there and is being used. And it does not matter if you are using bitcoin or other currency like ethers or Cardano or any other new famous project at the moment, we can buy and sell things using this.

And I will try no to be really passionate about it, but let me use capital letters, THIS IS GREAT.

We can trade and live our lives trusting better, thanks to the principles listed before. Let me explain.

Thanks to blockchain, and the use of it on crypto, like Bitcoin or Ether, we can buy something, and…

1. Be sure, that the transactions are going to go where they are supposed to go when they are supposed to go, and that the information of the transaction, will be safe and saved, and no one will have the power to delete it.
2. Be clear, on who is doing the transaction, and know that any third party organization will be able to control it or be in the middle, this is a contract between two parties, and two parties only, and everybody can validate it.
3. Be calm, in knowing that nobody will ever have the ability to change the information that was saved, what is done, is done and recorded, and history will remain true. So if we need to go back in time to check and get information, we know that what is on the records, was what actually happened.
4. Be free, because now, thanks to the mentioned above, no one, no government, public or private institution (Like banks or universities) will have the power to get in the middle of our decisions (Besides, they need time to focus more in better security or better services instead of tracking what we do, don’t they?)

This is why, blockchain is changing the world, and if we give it a chance, it will certainly do more for us. Imagine a world where you vote, and you know that nobody will be able to change the statistics. Or imagine a world where the creators of art can publish their products and no one will be able to steal it (Which this was actually close to happen with NFTs, but let’s skip it for now)

This technology, give us the power to own, to decide, to validate our voices and to help others.

Of course, it has his cons too, like, the rumors of transactions with bitcoin in the black market, and how we use it. Yes, this does indeed exist, but I believe that mankind is in nature good, and we tend to do more good than evil, and with every new tool we create, the dark side will hunt us from the horizon, this is the history of humanity, and that history has shown that the good will also come.

So to finish and wrap this out… Yes, I certainly think Blockchain will become part of our lives, with more and more acceptance from the people. It is till very young and there’s still fear surrounding it, but the truth is (And again, I think) It must take over, because we, as good human beings, want freedom and truth.