What really is BLOCKCHAIN to an average person?
Let us begin with its introduction, Blockchain is a technology that was first developed in 1991 by a group of researchers but wasn't used up until someone by name Satoshi Nakamoto used it to create the cryptocurrency #Bitcoin in the year 2009
So The BLOCKCHAIN is a database or ledger that everyone can get a copy of and everyone can add a record of it cannot change the original record, instead, it will create another block or record, pointing to the old one.
It is perfect because no one can alter a record that has already been added to the system and then everyone can have access to it.
Look at it this way, the BLOCKCHAIN is like a sugar cube in a transparent glass that everyone can see. So everyone can add his own sugar cube to the transparent glass case but no one can remove it.
And every sugar cube has a different colour that makes it stand out from every other sugar cube. So everyone can see everyone's sugar cube.
Why is the BLOCKCHAIN outstanding?
The blockchain uses a system called the peer-to-peer network to verify that everything is still in the other. Instead of using a central control system, BLOCKCHAIN uses a peer-to-peer network for its verification.
So whenever someone joins a blockchain, he is given a copy of the BLOCKCHAIN that everyone has. Whenever a new block is added to the chain, it is sent to everyone that has access to the block to verify that it is accurate.
Let's go back to our Sugar cube explanation. What I meant, in essence, is that everyone in the BLOCKCHAIN has a copy of the same "glass of Sugar cubes" and can see everyone else, so if someone wants to join the network, he is also given his own glass of cubes that everyone has.
If someone wants to add his own sugar cube, it will actually need to be verified by everyone with the glass sugar cubes and if it checks out, the sugar cube will be added to everyone's sugar cube.
So everyone has a copy of that cube.
It is so secure because if someone needs to make a change to that particular cube, he needs to make it on everyone's copy of glass cubes for it to be accepted into the glass (in this case BLOCKCHAIN). So it is very impossible to do.
Imagine going to everyone's houses to ask for their glass of Sugar cubes to edit within a short time.
You see why the blockchain is so far the most secure technology that exists.
How can we apply this Technology:
Cryptocurrency
First, most people assume that BLOCKCHAIN is a cryptocurrency, well, cryptocurrency is one of the use cases of the blockchain and it's just one out of many.
There are other uses of the blockchain and how it can be applied. Crypto Currency is the most popular Use of the blockchain.
cryptocurrency is a digital currency that was built on the BLOCKCHAIN designed for payment of goods and services. So cryptocurrency isn't like other digital payments like PayPal, Google pay etc.
Because it is decentralised, meaning it is not controlled by a third party or government agency that can easily determine the outcome of the Currency.
The issue with our currency is that since it is centralised, it is controlled by a single body, you have rules, it can be hacked, or maybe your bank servers are down and you can't do that, people using UBA will understand better.
So Cryptocurrency isn't affected by all that, there is no international transfer charge, no delay, you have your money at all times etc.
Examples are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin etc
Other Use cases include:
Government:
So blockchain tech can be used in government in creating a perfect voting system. So because the blockchain is so secured, it is a perfect system for E-voting.
A regular online voting system can be hacked easily or can be stolen if it's a physical ballot paper.
Remember what I said earlier about the glass sugar Cube? Imagine that in Nigeria 2023 Election, the blockchain is used as the technology powering the Nigerian Election. So the system is open and everyone is seeing the vote of everyone because we have over a 20million registered voters, which means we have 20 million people on the blockchain, so if a hacker wants to possibly edit the votes of someone, he needs to do that to the 20million people's copy that are on the chain, within a particular time, which makes it impossible to do.
You get right??.
Healthcare:
Blockchain can also be used in healthcare too. So last year I was hospitalised and I was almost unconscious, they took me to this particular hospital where the nurses came to me to find out what was wrong with me, the nurse started asking me questions to know what was really wrong with me, I couldn't say anything cause I was too weak. Instead, another nurse came and said, leave this boy, he doesn't want to say what was wrong with him, he doesn't want to get well…
Imagine the blockchain is used in keeping records of everyone and every hospital has access to that particular block or record, since it can't be altered, all they need is to get the recorded history of the person and check out what has been happening and then that can be easily fixed.
Blockchain can be used in other industries such as food, and automobile, as a notary, it can be used to track counterfeit goods, track products as e-commerce….
My take:
Knowing what the blockchain is and what it can do, it will be a revolution in technology that most industries will seat on and it's best to start learning about it.
The last time when something this awesome happened was the Invention of the internet, and the people that took it seriously now have over 60% share of the internet.
The good thing is, The blockchain is still a baby technology that hasn't been exploited yet, or even accepted in most cases because of its decentralised nature and not fully owned by someone.
You can also be part of it, learn and try to be part of the people that will have a major share in it in a few years' time.
There are other use cases that haven't been fully exploited, I would advise you to start something from other case and allow The fintech part of the blockchain (CryptoCurrency) to be the majority and focus on others.
Thanks for your time.