Although the blockchain is very hot, many people don't know much about the blockchain.
What is a blockchain?
Let's first look at how Du Niang explains it. Baidu Encyclopedia shows that blockchain is a new application mode of computer technology such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, knowledge mechanism and encryption algorithm.
Why is blockchain called blockchain?
Blockchain is formed by linking blocks, and blocks are storage units that record the communication information of each block node. Blocks are very similar to records in a database. Every time data is written, a data block is created. With the expansion of information exchange, block after block, the result is called blockchain.
What are the characteristics of blockchain?
Blockchain mainly has the following characteristics:
1. Decentralization: In the blockchain system, every node has the same rights and obligations, and there is no central control here. Decentralization has well established mutual trust. Although there is no central management organization, people can cooperate and trust each other. This mainly applies the blockchain distributed ledger technology.
2. Openness: Blockchain data is open to everyone, and everyone can find data here except some encrypted information.
3. Independence: The whole blockchain system does not depend on other third parties, and all nodes can automatically and safely verify and exchange data in the system without any human intervention.
4. Security: Blockchain has certain security and cannot be tampered with. Because everyone's account book in the blockchain system is the same, if someone wants to tamper with it, it is possible to forge a nonexistent record only by controlling more than 5 1% of the accounting nodes. Of course, this is basically impossible. This is mainly due to the core technology of blockchain: * * knowledge mechanism, which has the characteristics of "the minority is subordinate to the majority" and "everyone is equal".
5. Anonymity: Many people think that blockchain is so open and transparent. Do we have no privacy? Actually, it is not. Although the transaction information of the blockchain is open and transparent, the identity information of the account is encrypted and can only be accessed by authorization.
Now tell you a story to help you better understand the blockchain.
There are three people in the family, father, mother and brother. Last year, my father was in charge of the books at home, and all the income and expenditure at home were in charge of my father.
However, on Double Eleven, the thrifty mother wanted to buy herself a beautiful dress on a treasure. When I checked the ledger, I found something was wrong. It stands to reason that except for some money deposited in the bank and wealth management, the whereabouts of the daily consumption money at home are all in this account book, but it looks wrong. Some consumption is clearly not there, but it is recorded.
Later, my father confessed that he couldn't help buying a pack of cigarettes.
Later, my mother changed her strategy, and the whole family kept accounts, and everyone recorded the monthly consumption expenditure in their own accounts. Whenever there is a transaction or consumption at home, my mother will shout, charge to the account, and everyone records the transaction in their own accounts. This is the decentralized accounting model. Everyone is the center and everyone has an account book.
Dad's bookkeeping mode used to be centralized bookkeeping. If dad wants to cheat alone, it's hard for anyone to see it. The decentralized bookkeeping mode solves the disadvantages of centralized bookkeeping. If dad wants to tamper with the ledger, it will be very difficult.
For example, dad wants to take some money from the account book and secretly buy cigarettes. The amount of money is limited. If he wants to take money, he has to change the account book, but his account book will not be tampered with. He wants to change the books of three people, including him. And this is undoubtedly more difficult than going to heaven.
So after that, my father moved the idea of smoking many times, but the situation at that time was very helpless, so I had to give up the idea.
Is blockchain and bitcoin the same thing?
In fact, blockchain and bitcoin are not the same thing, it is only the underlying technology of bitcoin, and bitcoin is only the first application of blockchain in digital currency.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto put forward the concept of blockchain for the first time, and in the following years, it became the core component of electronic currency Bitcoin, serving as the public ledger of all transactions. Blockchain was first applied to Bitcoin.
The origin of blockchain is to solve the trust problem, and one of the most successful applications of blockchain is digital currency. Bitcoin can be said to be the most successful application of blockchain so far.
What are the applications of blockchain?
The application of blockchain is actually very extensive. In addition to digital currency, the future application of Bitcoin is still very extensive, and blockchain technology has been widely used in different industries. Such as commodity traceability, copyright protection and trading, payment and settlement, Internet of Things, digital marketing, medical care and so on. Promote different industries to quickly enter the "blockchain+"era.
1. Payment and clearing: Blockchain can abandon the role of transit bank, realize peer-to-peer payment, reduce transit cost and accelerate capital utilization.
2. Product traceability: For example, if we buy a dress on a treasure, we can see the previous life of this dress.
3. Securities trading: Traditional securities trading needs the coordination of four institutions, which is inefficient and costly. Blockchain technology can independently complete one-stop service.
4. Supply chain: The blockchain technology is introduced into the supply chain system, which can synchronize information within the system, control all links, better complete the division of labor and cooperation, and facilitate accountability afterwards.
5. Intellectual property: When the copyright is liquidated, our photographic works, musical works and literary works will become our information, and the ownership of the information will be confirmed and become our property.