Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
There are four types of blockchain structures:
- Public Blockchains. Public blockchains are permissionless, allow anyone to join & are completely decentralized.
- Private Blockchains.
- Consortium Blockchains.
- Hybrid blockchains.
Public blockchains are open networks that allow anyone to participate in the network i.e. public blockchain is permissionless. In this type of blockchain, anyone can join the network and read, write, or participate in the blockchain.
A private blockchain has a centralised network that quickens the transaction process. Having a centralised network also raises the issue of trust, which is resolved in a public blockchain. A transaction’s validity cannot be verified on private networks and relies on the authorised nodes’ credibility.
A consortium blockchain is a type of semi-decentralized network in which members are not granted to a single entity. Instead, it is granted to a group of individuals or ‘nodes’. It offers network security that public chains don’t.
A hybrid blockchain is a unique type of blockchain technology that amalgamates components of a both public and private blockchain or tries to utilise the ideal part of both public and private blockchain solutions.
Many Big Companies use BlockChain for storage purposes like Publicly Traded Companies Using Blockchain
- IBM (IBM)
- Microsoft (MSFT)
- Oracle (ORCL)
- Intel (INTC)
- Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
- Daimler (DAI)
- Walmart (WMT)
- Goldman Sachs (GS)
The goal of blockchain is to allow digital information to be recorded and distributed, but not edited. In this way, a blockchain is a foundation for immutable ledgers, or records of transactions that cannot be altered, deleted, or destroyed.
A Blockchain Block is a chain of blocks that contain information. The data which is stored inside a block depends on the type of blockchain. For Example, A Bitcoin Block contains information about the Sender, Receiver, and the number of bitcoins to be transferred.
Blockchain is a foundational technology: It has the potential to create new foundations for our economic and social systems. But while the impact will be enormous, it will take decades for blockchain to seep into our economic and social infrastructure.
What is the difference between cryptocurrency and blockchain?
Blockchain is a storage technology used for saving data on decentralized networks. Cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange like the US dollar. A blockchain can be used for storing different types of information beyond cryptocurrency transaction records. All cryptocurrencies have a monetary value.
Many Businesses use Blockchain for data storage & Cryptocurrency is one of their major users since 2011.
A cryptocurrency public ledger is a record-keeping system. The ledger maintains participants’ identities anonymously, their respective cryptocurrency balances, and a record of all the genuine transactions executed between network participants.
Security Token Offering (STO) is a better and improved form of platform for earning and trading in investments. STO is more like an ‘investment contract’. It is a great way to raise funds in a very secure manner without facing any challenges.
Smart contracts are simply programs stored on a blockchain that run when predetermined conditions are met. They typically are used to automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be immediately certain of the outcome, without any intermediary’s involvement or time loss.
Cryptocurrency trading means taking a financial position on the price direction of individual cryptocurrencies against the dollar (in crypto/dollar pairs) or against another crypto, via crypto-to-crypto pairs.
Types of cryptocurrency exchanges
- Centralized exchanges.
- Decentralized exchanges.
- Hybrid cryptocurrency exchanges.
When you buy cryptocurrencies via an exchange, you purchase the coins themselves. You’ll need to create an exchange account, put up the full value of the asset to open a position and store the cryptocurrency tokens in your wallet until you’re ready to sell.
Cryptocurrencies are legal in the US. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Bitcoin is a convertible currency with an equivalent value to real currency or one that can act as a substitute for real currency
A major benefit of Bitcoin is that it’s a very accessible and versatile currency. Since it only takes a few minutes to transfer bitcoins to another user, it can be used to purchase goods and services from the ever-growing list of places accepting it.
Bitcoin technology is pretty safe, but there are some risks to consider before you invest. Bitcoin isn’t anonymous, the price of cryptocurrencies can be extremely volatile, Bitcoin relies on passwords, and cryptocurrency wallets are not immune to theft.
Currently, there are at least 1,000 blockchains with at least four types of blockchain networks. While the idea of blockchain is a singular data transfer type, there are multiple platforms provided in this industry.
The Top 5 Enterprise Blockchain Platforms You Need to Know About
- Ethereum. Mature Smart Contracting Cross-Industry Platform.
- Hyperledger Fabric. B2B-focused Modular Blockchain Platform.
- R3 Corda. New Operating System for Financial Services.
- Ripple
- Quorum
Out of all these Ethereum is the best secure blockchain-based secure cryptocurrency platform.
The Fastest of all these is Tech-pay Coin’s Blockchain Features 300,000 TPS (Transactions per Second) Along with mere 15 Second Time-To-Finality/Transaction Finality, Making it the Fastest Blockchain ever to exist.
Among cryptocurrencies, Stellar (XLM) has been recorded as having the most transactions per second, about 7,193,933 per day, or 83.26 per second. Bitcoin (BTC), which is the top-rung cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, stands in fourth place with 222,930 transactions per day or 2.58 transactions per second.
Solana. In terms of scalability, one of the most-promising cryptocurrencies is Solana (SOL 1.63%). According to its development team, Solana is capable of up to 50,000 TPS. That’s a more-than-7,100-fold improvement over Bitcoin.
The worldwide blockchain market was valued at 1.57 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 and is forecast to grow more than a hundred times to 163 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.
Blockchain Industry Applications
- Banking and financial services.
- Government.
- Healthcare and life sciences.
- Insurance.
- Automotive.
- Media and entertainment.
- Retail and consumer goods.
- Telecommunications.
Blockchain technologies have recently come to the forefront of the research and industrial communities as they bring potential benefits to many industries.
This is due to their practical capabilities in solving many issues currently inhibiting further advances in various industrial domains. Securely recording and sharing transactional data, establishing automated and efficient supply chain processes, and enhancing transparency across the whole value chain are some examples of these issues.
Blockchain offers an effective way to tackle these issues using distributed, shared, secure, and permission transactional ledgers. The employment of blockchain technologies and the possibility of applying them in different situations enables many industrial applications through increased efficiency and security; enhanced traceability and transparency; and reduced costs.
In this paper, different industrial application domains where the use of blockchain technologies has been proposed are reviewed. This explores the opportunities, benefits, and challenges of incorporating blockchain in different industrial applications.
Furthermore, the attempts to identify the requirements that support the implementation of blockchain for different industrial applications. The review reveals that several opportunities are available for utilizing blockchain in various industrial sectors; however, there are still some challenges to be addressed to achieve better utilization of this technology.
Banking and Payments
Banking and payment companies have already demonstrated a major interest in blockchain technology. With blockchain, users around the globe could gain access to banking opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. Particularly, individuals in developing nations and without standard banks readily accessible can make use of blockchain to access these services. Partnering with digital currencies, blockchain could allow for instant transfers of money between countries without major fees and delay times.
Insurance
Insurance as an industry is primed for the integration of blockchain technology. Using the distributed ledger’s unique verification ability, insurance companies could independently verify data within contracts to facilitate a smoother process at every stage of the game.
Voting
Around the world, ensuring that voting processes are fair and accountable is a major concern. Some have posited that blockchain could help to enhance this process and increase reliability and security. Using blockchain technology, voting processes could potentially improve everything from voter registration to voting to count. The blockchain’s distributed ledgers are publicly accessible and immutable means that it would increase transparency in the process.
Forecasting
Some companies have already made use of blockchain technology to develop global decentralized prediction markets. Aside from these types of wager systems, there are other forecasting applications for blockchain technology besides these types of wager systems, though. Indeed, blockchain could help streamline data organization in forecasting ranging from traffic models to the weather.
Government
For many, the word “government” is synonymous with bureaucratic slowdowns and red tape. Beyond that, many aspects of government are neither efficient nor transparent, meaning that they are also susceptible to corruption. With blockchain, various aspects of governmental procedure could be streamlined, thereby decreasing bureaucratic holdups and improving information security and transparency.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has risen to prominence in the past several years to become one of the most popular ways for individuals to raise funds for all kinds of projects and goals. At the source of crowdfunding is a relationship of trust between those seeking to fund a project and others willing to contribute donations in support of those goals.
Crowdfunding sites typically sustain themselves by charging fees for their services, acting as a middleman between project developers and givers. Blockchain could help reduce the need for a middleman, better-connecting project managers to those willing to give in an efficient way.
Retail
Individual shoppers, either at a brick-and-mortar store or online, place their trust in retail systems. With blockchain, buyers and sellers could potentially come together directly, eliminating the middleman and keeping prices competitive. Smart contracts could also be developed to enhance this process and increase security as well.
Real Estate
Real estate as an industry is susceptible to both bureaucracy and fraud because of a lack of transparency. It’s common for there to be mistakes in the public record, too. Blockchains could help to speed up the real estate industry and keep the record honest. By reducing the use of paper and assisting in the process of tracking and verifying ownership, blockchain systems could improve real estate in numerous ways.
Conclusion
Of course, there are countless other industries that could stand to benefit from blockchain integration. As more and more companies open up their doors to blockchain and its possibilities, it’s almost certain that the above list will grow even longer. One thing is for certain: blockchain technology is here to stay, and its impact on the world will continue to grow as the technology also grows.
