Genesis Of Blockchain: Overview Of How It Began And Where It Is Going
Introduction
The blockchain has become a buzzword recently in such a way that you may expect everyone to know what the blockchain is. However, for this writing, you will be re-introduced to blockchain technology, how it began, and its prospects.
What then is this blockchain?
Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies also known as altcoins. It is a decentralized distributed public record (ledger) of transactions carried out within a distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) network.
By "decentralized distributed ledger", means that no single authority can control what is written onto the shared ledger. Blockchains allow several participants to coordinate and contribute information. It can be seen as a shared database from a layman's perspective, whereby each participant can transparently access its contents.
History of the Blockchain
The blockchain architecture was first developed by an anonymous person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as the distributed ledger behind bitcoin transactions after the financial market crash. The technology has since taken on a life of its own, with interest coming from many quarters. The Bitcoin blockchain and cryptocurrency were then launched in 2009.
In their statement release, the creator of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Satoshi Nakamoto, claimed that he and his group had solved the alleged double-spending problem. He had combined many technological ideas and advancements into a single answer. Game theory, cryptography, and algorithms are a few of these.
This feat by Satoshi was important because it was only after the creation of Bitcoin that users were able to carry out transactions with other users without relying on a central bank or another third party to validate their transactions. This was a breakthrough in the way digital transactions were conducted.
Evolution of the blockchain
1991-2008: Creation of blockchain and its early years
In 1991, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta conceived the idea of blockchain. Their initial project was to create a chain of blocks that was cryptographically secure such that document timestamps could not be altered. This idea or project was published in an article about timestamping digital documents. They proposed a solution to prevent the altering of timestamps in documents.
In 2008, Blockchain History starts to gain significance because of the conceptualization and creation of Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto.
2008 - 2009: Beginnings of blockchain and bitcoin
The ideas underlying bitcoin and the blockchain were introduced in a white paper written by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as pointed out earlier. According to the white paper, blockchain infrastructure will enable secure peer-to-peer transactions without the need for dependable third parties like banks or governments. Although Nakamoto's exact identity is still unknown, there are many ideas.
Jan. 12, 2009: When Nakamoto paid 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in block 170, it was the first bitcoin transaction ever.
Oct. 12, 2009: For bitcoin developers, the Internet Relay Chat channel #bitcoin-dev was set up.
Oct. 31, 2009: People can now trade fiat currency for bitcoin thanks to the first bitcoin exchange, Bitcoin Market.
Nov. 22, 2009: To communicate news and information about bitcoin, Nakamoto created the Bitcointalk forum.
2010-2012: In 2010, the first ever expensive pizza was purchased with 10, 000 Bitcoin from Papa John's pizzas.
2014: A turning point for blockchain
The year 2014, was a turning point for the blockchain as it started gaining the attention it deserved from financial institutions and other industries.
2015: Development of Ethereum and Smart Contracts
In 2015, Vitalik Buterin, a Canadian programmer co-founded Ethereum. They thought that Bitcoin had not yet reached its full potential when it came to leveraging the full capabilities of blockchain technology, as one of the first contributors to the Bitcoin codebase.
Also, it was in 2015 that the Ethereum Frontier network was launched. This launch enabled developers to write smart contracts and dAPPs.
2018 - now: The future of blockchain and Web 3.0
Bitcoin turned 10 years old in 2018. Many countries such as Japan started accepting Bitcoin as currency. Blockchain technology was incorporated into production applications in many businesses and cyber currencies.
In a 2020 Global Blockchain Survey carried out by Deloitte, it was found that 40% of respondents incorporated blockchain into production, and 55% viewed blockchain as a top strategic priority. This trend continued into 2021 as governments and businesses turn to blockchain to address a range of use cases
Image credit 101Blockchains.com
Prospects of Blockchain
Blockchain technology is gaining prominence rapidly. As of today, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies in the virtual space, from Ethereum to LiteCoin, to BNB, and Solana, among others but this is not the only use case of blockchain. Blockchain technology promises relevant uses cases in the following industries:
Healthcare: In fields such as medical information storage. This can be public where the patient has access to the information or private. Blockchain also finds its application in the medical field in drug authenticity checks. Another way to use blockchain in healthcare is health insurance. With the advantage of the security that the blockchain provides, it can be employed in health insurance.
Government: One of the powerful applications of blockchain technology in Government is the voting system. Another application is task processing; where taxpayers' information is stored in the blockchain, and also, the moving around of the task is monitored by the public. Findings suggest that Government will probably start replacing the conventional paper-based systems with distributed ledger technology (DLT) systems which will provide trust, transparency, and security via encryption and validation of data.
Finance: Blockchain offers a low-fee, high-security peer-to-peer payment system. You are not required to pay a central authority since there is none. What a cool thing! By doing this, a transaction using a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or one of the many others, can be made without the involvement of a third party. Giving you real sovereignty over your transaction, your payment to your friend is recorded in a ledger that any bitcoin user may access. Blockchain technology is helpful in a scenario where you take a loan where you put down collateral and the smart contract controls the collateral. The smart contract will be written in such a way that when one does not pay their loan, their collateral gets forfeited (dangerous, I must say). Another application is the trading system/exchange/swapping; this is a popular application in the finance sector.
Art: The art industry has seen and experienced a kind of rush due to the introduction of NFTs (digital arts) in the blockchain system.
Cyber Security: Blockchain is the ideal technology to strengthen cyber security since it adheres to the concepts of decentralization and ledger technology. By creating an integrating API architecture that eventually makes cross-messenger communication possible, it contributes to the security of private messaging.
Identity and Privacy: At the moment, identity systems have several flaws. They are fragile, alone, and prone to mistakes. These issues can be resolved by blockchain technology, which also offers a single point of identity and asset verification. Additionally, a hitherto unheard-of form of "self-sovereignty" may be provided by blockchain identification.
What you have learned
In this article, you were introduced to the concept of blockchain technology, also, you were walked down the line of the evolution of the technology, and its prospects.
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Further Readings
Video Explanations on Blockchain
