If the blockchain frenzy and the hype surrounding it is anything to go by, blockchain is set to revolutionise everything from the way in which we make payments to the way in which we drink beer. I may have made that last bit up – but you get the idea that in and amongst the buzz there are some pretty wild predictions being made! So in this post, i thought it would be useful to take a step back from the hype and understand “what is blockchain?” If you keep coming back to this fundamental question, i think it can help you navigate and understand what use cases are feasible and which ones are not. Through these 6 awesome infographics we get a good understanding of what blockchain is:

1. How a Blockchain Works – FT

Okay, this particular infographic by the Financial Times has been really popular across various social media platforms. I like it because it explains what is blockchain in a really simple way:

2. What is Blockchain – Q-Insights

Here Nasreen Quibria adds further detail to the above infographic, explaining what blockchain is, how blockchain works with some real world blockchain opportunities. Importantly, Nasreen states that the technology is still in its infancy and opportunities are being explored.

3. Blockchain Technology Breakdown Infographic – Followmyvote

This is a cool infographic, in a slightly nerdy way. It gets into more details and explains some of the terms (such as nodes, hash-function) that are sometimes unknowingly banded around in layman’s terms. Check it out:

4. How a Bitcoin Transaction Works

This is worth a look. It takes you through a real world example of a bitcoin transaction, you get to visualise how the underlying technology is enabling the processing of that transaction. You do need to look at it for a little while though – but it nicely pulls together some of the theory described in the above infographics in a real world example.

5. Blockchain: Capital Markets Use Cases – Grey Spark CMI

This is pretty useful since it brings together the above blockchain concepts and explains how they can potentially be applied to the financial landscape. Well worth a read!

6. Blockchain: Non-Financial Use Cases – LTP

In this last blockchain infographic we get to understand that blockchain has wider implications beyond financial services. It highlights some of the non-financial uses of blockchain that are currently being explored. The infographic by LTP – Let’s Talk Payments – captures research completed by GrowthPraxis into 20 non-financial use cases for blockchain technology and the startups in this space.



