tl;dr - Blockchain at it’s core, is basically a database with the special properties of immutability, decentralization, distributed consensus and transparency.
solved the problem of double spending
"Block chain does not need to be perfect, it just needs to be better than whatever the alternative is."
Before we delve into understanding what exactly a blockchain is, we must first learn it's language. You must have some idea of what these terms mean.
Hash - It is a unique signature that is generated from data. Hashing algorithms are utilized hashed the data such that it is mathematically impossible for two different data sets to output the same hash.
Node - These are computers or actors on the network which talk to each other. For the sake of a decentralized ledger, each node holds a copy of the blockchain.
Decentralized, Distributed Ledger - This means that the data or blockchain is not stored at a central server, however a copy of the blockchain is stored at all the nodes participating in the blockchain.
Transactions - It is a record of event executed, in this case adding a block to a blockchain will be a transaction.
smart contracts -
Consensus Mechanism - These are algoirthms or techniqures that make the blockchain further secure by adding another layer of consensus, the consensus is usually something that all the nodes on the network agree on.
Gas Fee - This is a monetary amount or capital that the actor must put up while executing transactions on the blockchain. On platforms like etheruem, a gas fee in ETH is charges ususally 1 dollar. this further adds another level of security since the participating actors have some stake in the blockchain.
Are blockchains needed
Imagine a world where you can visit any state, city, and country and of you get hurt and have to go to the hospital and you don’t speak the language or are unconscious all of your medical records are easily accessible in a n instance and not have to worry about filling out paperwork. That is one of the many things blockchain tech can offer.
But you really have to understand what the internet is in the first place.
At first, when you hear about what the blockchain actually is (just a ledger, a database, basically), it sounds underwhelming.
But when you realize the true nature of what the internet is, i.e a method of communication between different devices, you start to realize that blockchains and the internet itself isn't that different; they are highly complimentary.
In the future, it's quite possible that the blockchain becomes a bottom layer, much like TCP/IP for which communication between computers, phones and other electronic devices are based on; so it will be used by literally everyone without people even knowing what it is (just like most people don't have a clue what TCP/IP is).
The blockchain has an additional benefit of being able to attach a currency on it, which means that not only can you communicate between different devices around the world like the internet, you can also seamlessly exchange value.
After the advent of AI, we began to put AI in everything, in some areas it made sense; breast cancer detection, weather prediction, , in some areas not so much;
More often than not, companies like to ride the buzzword wave to attract rich and dumb investors. Funnily enough, sometimes they club these buzzwords together; AI Blockchain, Cloud AI, Cloud AI powered Blokchain using Deep Learning in Web3. Hearing this, your average rich-dumb investor will lose their mind. The engineer will look at you crazy.
This was the reason every project in 2009 - 2013 had "Blockchain" in it. The same reason why we have "AI" in everything in 2024, Hype.
When the self-driving drones that are delivering your food and coffee to your doorsteps arrive, they can, through blockchain verification, chat with your front door to prove their authenticity, and your front door (that has AI technology) will check with the blockchain and allow the delivery of your goods.
etc etc etc.
That's just some of what's possible in the future, not counting some of the more traditional uses like normal banking, or hiding assets and tax evasion for rich people (which is like a 100+ trillion dollar market).
But that all depends on a lot of things like AI development (which is growing extremely quickly) and other things. It's not going to happen in the near future, but the blockchain WILL become ubiquitous in the future and become internet 2.0.
But which blockchain(s) will succeed? who knows. Might not be any that exist today. Invest (but really, it's more like gambling right now) at your own discretion/risk.
51% attack
high energy consumption
overhyped
"blockchain was always a solution looking for problems"
dangers of electronic voting with blockchains
ANON on reddit.com
Voting electronically, in general, is a terrible, terrible idea. Just off the top of my head here are a few issues.
First, your secret key eliminates the anonymity of the voting booth, which is a massive flaw. Currently, if I bribed you to vote it is pointless. I give you $50 bucks, you walk into a voting booth and I have to assume that you voted the way I told you to vote, but I can't prove it. This is the reason we don't let people take photos of their ballots, for example, and why we will spoil ballots that have markings on them that are not supposed to be there.
Your secret key system makes it trivially easy for you to show someone else how you voted. In addition, if your secret key is ever leaked which is again, not particularly hard, then anyone in the world with access to the leak can see how you voted.
Next, it carries with it the usual fuck off risks of general electronic voting. Blockchains are reasonably strong against man in the middle attacks, but they are just as weak against the more common forms of hacking. Someone makes a worm that steals your key when you put it in? Congrats, they stole your vote. Someone keylogs your shit, congrats they now have your secret key and can broadcast it around. Crypto is only as secure as the end user, and if bitcoin et al have taught us anything it is that the end user is dumber than a sack of bricks.
Lastly a blockchain would add all of the usual issues with electronic voting, but also the added benefit of being subject to some form of 51% attack which... yikes
if youre someone normal, you would just use a preexisting blockchain platform for your project. platforms like etheruem and hyperledger and IBM blockchain are the industry standard for blockchain application.
However, with the safety of a large and recognized blockchain comes its own disadvantages-- high operating cost and slow processing (transaction) times.
if youre someone like me, someone who at the thought of building something from scratch, building something out of nothing, that thought process makes you feel superior, smart, rewarding, then you should make your own blockchain.
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