BitCoin … BlockChain – What the heck is it?
By now, unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past decade, you’ve heard someone reference the term BitCoin or Crypto Currency. What you may not have heard as commonly referenced is Blockchain Technology, which is the technology foundation for these.
Bitcoin in its simplest explanation is a digital currency. It was the first block-chain crypto currency in the world. Crypto currency, defined, is a digital or virtual currency protected by an encryption method called cryptography. This digital currency was created in January 2009 following the housing market crash. It is not a physical existence of coins or dollars, rather a collection of blocks or block chains.
The foundation of this tech corner session is not so much to overwhelm or teach about bitcoin or cryptocurrency, but to shed light on the vast future for blockchain technology itself and what it means to technological advancement.
Blockchain is a network of computers that can be located all over the world, the more computers connected, the stronger the chain. It provides a method of recording and transferring data in a transparent, trusted, and provable way. Below are 5 Industries that will be dramatically changed by BlockChain.
Banking and Payments
- Provides financial services to untapped sectors.
Online Data Storage
- Makes data storage safer, removing failure points
Voting
- Making elections more transparent and fair
Supply Chain Management
- Used to track and verify authenticity of products
Internet of Things (IOT)
- Sharing information directly between each other
The world of Blockchain Technology is vast and quite endless. A topic that can’t simply be taught within a simple session, yet, the hope is through this quick read you will no longer ask “what the heck is it” and have an interest to learn more about it.
Article References:
https://cryptomaniaks.com/guides/blockchain-for-dummies-ultimate-blockchain-101-guide https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency.asp
