The world is starting to wake up to cryptocurrencies, nowadays if you ask most people about Bitcoin, they will have an answer for you. But the term “Blockchain” is still unknown to the general public as a whole. Blockchain isn’t a in-your-face innovation that you can see and touch such as a smartphone. But with the world continually progressing to online applications and transactions, blockchain is the answer to the question that has plagued skeptics since the birth of the internet: How can we collectively trust what happens online?

In this article, Crowdholding will look into blockchain technology and how blockchain technology is revolutionizing businesses.

What is a blockchain?

A blockchain fundamentally is an extremely simple concept. Think of it as a record book that everyone can see and no one can alter. This simple idea has the potential to completely change the processes in numerous huge industries from the financial sector to governmental procedures. It’s simplicity is the reason why it is huge unrivaled potential.

Photo credit FT. How does Blockchain work ?

A blockchain as a distributed database that controls a shared list of records. These records are referred to as a block, and each block is encrypted. These blocks contain a history of every block that came before it with the transaction data time stamped to the second, therefore connecting these blocks together (or creating a chain), hence why the name blockchain is so fitting.

So why is it so revolutionary? This is down to the two main primary components: a decentralized network and the transaction ledger the network maintains. Everyone connected to the network can see the shared transaction ledger, but there is no single point of failure from where the records or the digital assets can be hacked or corrupted. Also because of the decentralization of the system, there is not one single organisation or entity controlling the data. This is completely the opposite to a bank or a large tech company, where they will store their data in a certain location / locations.

The future of Blockchain

Blockchain technology was first thrown into the public eye when a still elusive Satoshi Nakamoto published his famous white paper back in 2008. The white paper introduced the concept of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system which was named Bitcoin. The blockchain for bitcoin was launched 3 months later in January 2009. Blockchain is the structure that allows Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to thrive, although blockchain can be used for more than just cryptocurrencies.

So what is the future? Recently we have seen a shift towards blockchain from large banks and tech giants. Recently The Royal Bank of Canada has started to experiment with blockchain technologies for payments. Martin Wildberger who is the executive vice president for innovation and technology stated this in regards to the announcement:-

“Everybody recognizes blockchain will be transformative and critical”

Companies such as Microsoft and IBM are implementing the option to build custom blockchains for customers as well. At the same time dozens of startups are appearing using blockchain technology for everything from healthcare, voting to even the legal marijiana industry.Here at Crowdholding, we are adopting the use of blockchain technology as well to revolutionize co-creation between startups and co-creators from all over the globe.

The potential is so vast because when it comes down to any business or industry that uses some kind of digital asset or needs to make use of a transaction system, blockchain can be implemented to vastly improve and increase the overall security of the process.

Blockchain is only starting to be used in a number of businesses and there are some economic, technology and regulatory hurdles that must be jumped to see the widespread adoption of this technology, but in the upcoming years blockchain will change the way your digital life is protected and shared, right under your nose.