Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Digital World As We Know It (Infographic)

By VW Staff

Although the creation of the web has solved many problems over the years, and because of the fact that many of us couldn’t live without it, there’s always been the concern about people’s security. Other people can see what you’re doing online, track trends over what you look at, see your pictures, and most importantly, it’s possible to see your financial transactions over the worldwide web. No matter how many different solutions have been thrown at this problem, there were always leaks in them due to the use of third parties. When purchasing something online using a credit card, which many of us do on a daily basis, you’re giving away tons of your personal data, plus there’s the transaction fees that we’ve all grown so used to, which are often not even worth it for smaller payments and purchases.

Not too long ago, in the year 2008, the first ever cryptocurrency was created, it was the digital currency known as Bitcoin. These are different then traditional types of currencies as they’re not controlled by countries or governements, and don’t go through any third party. This was a huge breakthrough for means of exchange, and a big solution to a lot of problems. Transactions usually go through two or more parties for reasons of trust, but now trust can be manufactured simply through a complex code.

All the transactions of a Bitcoin are recorded in ledgers known as blockchains. These ledgers use extremely complex technology in order to work effectively, however the idea is fairly simple. A blockchain enables anyone to directly and securely make a transaction or to create a smart contract between two people or companies (which a new platform called Ethereum is doing), without having to go through any third parties. These third parties could include a credit card company, bank, or a platform such as PayPal, all of which will take a transaction fee. Blockchains have the potential to unleash endless new applications. Using blockchains has many benefits, such as a very secure system, increased speed, few errors, lower costs than other methods, plus the elimination of central points of attack. Therefore, it is no surprise that many companies are showing an interest in this rather new technology. It’s for these reasons, that this new technology is set to change the world as we know it today. Bitcoin opened the door using blockchains for the first cryptocurrency, and now Ethereum is broadening the horizon of blockchain technology with what it’s calling Smart Contracts.

First appeared at ValueWalk