What Blockchain is not?

The blockchain is one among the hotcake in the latest technology that can disrupt entire industries and change the way business is done. It is an ingenious invention everyone is talking about! Maybe You, your friends, colleagues very eager to utilize its potential to the fullest.

Well, as per definition, this cool technology can be defined as

“a system in which a record of transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency is maintained across several computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network.”

Folks exist who have not understood it completely or have misunderstood this stunning cool technology. Actually, blockchain is in the nascent stage so chances are likely that it could be misunderstood.

But take it easy. This article will explain the fallacies and myths associated with blockchain.

1. Bitcoin — Blockchain is not Bitcoin. This has been a matter of intense confusion because whenever we hear the buzzword “Blockchain” we think in terms of bitcoin. In reality, Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that is used to make payments and blockchain is the underlying technology made using combining principles of networking, cryptography and business philosophy. Various cryptocurrencies including bitcoin flow on top of blockchain technology.
2. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are made for each other — It is a matter of fact that the first use case of blockchain was Bitcoin. Again, it is a popular assumption that blockchain is leveraged by cryptocurrencies and finance industry. This technology is so powerful that it has utility in each and every industry from healthcare to politics and is soon gonna be ubiquitous.
3. It is a network with no transparency- All the activities of blockchain are traceable since an exact copy of data is replicated across nodes with the help of distributed ledger technology. It, of course, doesn’t imply that data is easy to tamper with. The blockchainAnonymous — Bitcoin is pseudonymous since it uses a public key to secure transactions. That doesn’t mean that all blockchains maintain anonymity. These days the government is trying for mapping of public address with the owner of Bitcoin so that crimes do not rise by using Blockchain. is world famous for its transparency along with security?
4. Anonymous — Bitcoin is pseudonymous since it uses a public key to secure transactions. That doesn’t mean that all blockchains maintain anonymity. These days the government is trying for mapping of public address with the owner of Bitcoin so that crimes do not rise by using Blockchain.
5. Replacement for the traditional database — Blockchain certainly secures database but it isn’t always required for all kinds of databases. The key area where trust and security is not an issue, blockchain won’t help. It has to be prudently decided whether Blockchain for storage purpose is actually required or not.
6. The blockchain is linked with criminals and fraud- There is no doubt in the fact that cryptocurrencies have been used by criminals and terrorists for illicit activities like human trafficking, corruption, money laundering etc. New policies and technologies are being implemented in order to get rid of this massive problem. The blockchain is a magical technology that would be of great use for law-abiding citizens.
7. Only meant for techie and finance people- As discussed earlier, the first use case of blockchain is Bitcoin. Probably that’s the reason people always associate it for finance and techie people. We can find various use cases of blockchain for medical records, voting, supply chain, real estate, social media, and blah blah blah…list continues…
8. Stores assets- Blockchain doesn’t store assets!!! It stores the records of the flow of assets across various parties. For example- As a use case for land registry; blockchain holds the record of transaction of land (instead of actual land LOL). Similarly, it doesn’t store files and physical information.
9. 100% Immutable- Blockchain is a technology which is in the nascent stage of research and has not been fully developed yet. In fact, one must always keep in mind that every technology has some weak points. The blockchain is not fully resistant to all types of attacks. Recently, the occurrence of Sybil attack, routing attack has been in the picture.
10. The blockchain is a product- Blockchain is not a product, It is actually a network of nodes which is composed of continuous growing series of blocks. Various products like Dapps are built on top of blockchain technology. In fact, few products like QLDB are used to build Blockchains.
11. Only 1 Blockchain- It is thought that there exists an only single type of blockchain. Let’s have a look at categories of Blockchains — Public blockchains, private blockchains, and consortium blockchains. Even among public blockchain ethereum blockchains and bitcoin blockchains exist. Intensive research is going on to create hybrid blockchain that combines the best features of all Blockchains.
12. It is illegal- Well the regulatory status of Bitcoin varies across countries As of now cryptocurrencies are illegal in India but are likely to get legalized soon. It is widely recognized as illegal due to the fact that 44% of Bitcoin transactions were reported to be illegal. Probably this is the reason why Bitcoin is banned in a few countries.
13. The blockchain is a hardware- Blockchain doesn’t have a physical form and hence is not a tangible thing. Recently blockchain’s first hardware wallet called Lockbox has been launched.
14. Blockchain companies mean ICO’s — Well blockchain companies’ funding is not entirely dependent upon ICO’s. There are so many alternate ways to generate funding.

Have any other myth about blockchain?

Try elaborating it….