Blockchain — The Road Ahead
The belief in people-powered future has enabled aggressive research and developments in Blockchain Technology. The whole ‘gung ho’ about this new age tech being the next revolutionary technology has sprung a whole new breed of entrepreneurs and investors. The future as we, the blockchain community members, envision should be in alignment with the realistic developments of current times.
Blockchain is undeniably an ingenious invention and has come a far way in these few years. The progressive developments have carved a road to a world fueled by blockchain powered d-apps. Let’s look at some of the confusions and roadblocks in present blockchain technology and how the community is responding to the same.
1. The confusion between blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology(DLT).
You are not the only one to be confused between the two. Google, the tech giant, shows most hits on blockchain technology when searched for DLT.
Business Insider offers a helpful tip: “Think of blockchain and distributed ledger in the same way you might think of Kleenex and facial tissues. The former is a type of the latter, but it has become so popular that it becomes ingrained in people’s minds as what the product actually is.”
2. The inconclusiveness regarding Regulations.
The confusion prevails at the apex governing bodies over the legalities of cryptocurrency. But, the Technology and the the efficiency that comes with it has been embraced with open arms. Some governing bodies have already incorporated blockchain and many are conducting pilot runs to test the efficiency of this new age technology in day to day operations.
Yes, the definiteness with regards to the overall industry functions will further boost investor sentiments and give heads up to all worrisome investors waiting to deploy cash in the development of blockchain enabled future.
3. The complexities of hard forks.
The core characteristic of blockchain technology is its immutability creating a transparent eco-system. This core feature makes correcting information in the existing block an uphill task.
In the opinion piece,Yao Qian,director PBoC writes that since the “public chain cannot be ‘shut down,’ it’s error repair is also extremely tricky”:
“Once a problem occurs, especially a security hole, it will be very deadly.”
“For example, in a multi-center system such as a coalition chain, upgrading the bottom of the blockchain by shutting down the system, or emergency intervention, rolling back data, etc., are available means when necessary. These methods help to control risks and correct mistakes. For regular code upgrades, controllable intelligent contract replacement is achieved by separating code and data, and combining multi-layer smart contract structures.” The lack of centralized governance mechanisms also means that “problems can only be resolved through soft forks or hard forks, which will eventually lead to confusion and division.” To address the problems, blockchain experts are conducting critical research with the best available resources.
4. The Mainstream Adoption of Blockchain Technology.
The optimism around this new age technology is not going unnoticed but we have not yet reached the mark where this new age technology is ready for mainstream enterprise adoption.
Auxledger, a product by Auxesis Group — world’s leading blockchain company, envisions to realise this dream by enabling Customizability of networks as per the organisation requirements, over its infrastructure. Furthermore, Auxledger also supports cross-chain communication and is working towards creating a high performance infrastructure.
The road ahead for Blockchain technology is a roller coaster packed with thrilling advancement and adoption on one end, and the realistic retracement on the other. Blockchain as the legend says, has the potential to be as revolutionary as the internet and the ever expanding Blockchain community is marching forward to realise the same.