Blockchain (or chain of blocks ) is one of the most interesting technologies today and a pillar of the popular digital currency Bitcoin. Like the World Wide Web in its time, Blockchain has the potential to transform many industries. It can make processes more efficient, transparent, and secure.
For governments, multinationals, investors, and entrepreneurs, it is much more than just a pioneering technology.
The prestigious magazine The Economist defines it as a distributed database that maintains a list of records, or blocks, that is continually growing. One cannot change the information within a block since each block has a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchains innately behave like a digital and public inventory.
Blockchain is a way of structuring data and the basis of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which was the pioneer, or others like Dogecoin, Ripple, NeuCoin, Litecoin, etc.
This encryption breakthrough – consisting of concatenated blocks of transactions – allows competitors to share a digital ledger over a computer network without a central authority. No part has the power to manipulate the records: mathematical algorithms preserve the integrity of all of them.
In addition, depending on the type of Blockchain, it is decentralized – no one person or company controls the data input or its integrity. However, every computer on the network constantly verifies the entire blockchain. All its points have the same information; the corrupt data at point “1” cannot be part of the Blockchain as it does not match the equivalent data at points “2” and “3”.
In Healthcare
The use of digital signatures on Blockchain-based data, accessed when authorized by multiple users, can control the availability of medical records and thus maintain their privacy. A conglomerate of insurers, patients, doctors, and hospitals can also be part of the entire Blockchain, reducing payment fraud in the healthcare sector.
In the Financial Sector
Today interbank transactions can take many cases, days to be approved and finally entered, especially outside office hours. With Blockchain, they are processed at any time, and the time to be completed can be reduced to minutes.
In Legal Services
Blockchains can bring together large amounts of data, such as entire contracts. Certain industries can benefit through “smart contracts” or systems that enforce or facilitate the execution of contracts through the help of Blockchain. As an entity that monitors compliance with the law, the middleman can be removed from the equation through these smart contracts if the payments are completed according to the agreed parameters. The peculiar nature of the smart contract means that it is easily fulfilled by electronic means, ensuring that its control does not fall on a single party.
In Defence
Unauthorized access or modification of vital defense infrastructures, such as network firmware or operating systems, can seriously compromise national security. IT systems and Defense infrastructure are usually distributed in different locations. Suppose this distribution is based on Blockchain technology throughout more than one data center. In that case, access depends on a consensus regarding modifying and preventing attacks on vital parts of equipment and networks.