Blockchain is one of the biggest buzzwords in technology right now. But what is it? And why are all your friends and family talking about it?
Let’s start from the beginning. The first major application of blockchain technology was bitcoin which was released in 2009. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and the blockchain is the technology that underpins it. A cryptocurrency refers to a digital coin that runs on a blockchain.
Understanding how the blockchain works with bitcoin will allow us to see how the technology can be transferred to many other real-world use cases.
Bitcoin is the brainchild of a mysterious person or group of people known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Nobody knows the identity of Nakamoto, but their vision was laid out in a 2009 whitepaper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.”
The bitcoin blockchain
The blockchain behind bitcoin is a public ledger of every transaction that has taken place. It cannot be tampered with or changed retrospectively. Advocates of the technology say this makes bitcoin transactions secure and safer than current systems.
So here are a few facts about bitcoin:
- It is not issued by a central authority.
- There is a limit of 21 million.
- Currently just over 17 million are in circulation.
- The first transaction using bitcoin is widely believed to be carried out by a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz, who spent 10,000 bitcoin on two Papa John's pizzas in 2010.
- The identity of bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery.
- Bitcoin has often been used to buy illicit products such as drugs.
EmoticonEmoticon