What Is Blockchain Technology And How Does It Work (In Simple Terms)

The world is a weird place, with weirder people: for example, billions of people these days seem to be talking about Bitcoins, Altcoins, and NFTs, yet very few people know exactly how it works. Most people are purely enthused by the possibility of making millions overnight by investing in Cryptocurrencies, but that is, perhaps, the least fascinating thing about this new tech. Behind all the buzz and hype, there is something much more interesting that is rarely talked about, and that is Blockchain Technology – it is the backbone of all the buzz that has been taking the internet and several real word industries by storm. But what is Blockchain technology exactly, and how does it work?

To answer that question, I would like to take you back to the time before Blockchain Technology. 

You see, a few years ago when humans lived in small clans of about 50 persons on average, they started keeping records of their livestock and crops – because you didn’t want someone else taking what belonged to you, as it could be the difference between life and death. So, humans developed systems such as maths, alphabets, and subsequently spreadsheets to keep inventory. 

Spreadsheets were great. All you had to do was write the name of the item, and the number you owned in rows and columns respectively, that way you knew for sure what you had down to the last grain. You even know what you had a few years ago if you could find the spreadsheets.

Everything was going fine, but as humans began to own more properties and live in larger groups (villages, cities, countries, etc.) with numbers soaring to thousands, and eventually millions, the records got larger and longer. More complicated and confusing information needed to be stored in a shorter period of time. It didn’t take long for humans to realize that the spreadsheets were becoming too complicated and bullet-ridden with errors. The solution? Develop a database. 

A database was better than spreadsheets because they could hold a larger amount of information, and could be simultaneously accessed, curated, and edited by multiple people at once. This meant, more data could be stored in a shorter period of time (since multiple people were working on it), and the information could be double-checked (if you don’t see the error, your neighbour just might, right?).

Humans continued with this system for years, and as the internet and more powerful computers emerged, the databases also improved – data could now be stored, accessed, and manipulated by multiple individuals across the world. 

This is the way Banks work. It is the way social media websites work. It is the way basically everything works these days. But there were issues with this.

For example:

• A database needs a database manager or managers. And these managers hold complete control over the records. The issue is, honesty isn’t 100% assured. What if the managers came together and decided to siphon some gold into their accounts by replacing a 7 with a 3?
• Even if they were honest, humans are still humans. Errors were still possible, and do occur a lot.
• People couldn’t work for 24 hrs, 7 days a week, for 365 days. Even organizations who manage to pull this off have to hire multiple workers around the globe, and this is expensive, and only possible if you had a very huge organization
• Time for processing data was still bound to be within the speed of humans. You still had to wait for the information to be stored, vetted, and then confirmed by a person. 
• Since this database was owned and managed by an individual, organization, or the government, the people in charge could easily decide to alter the information in it – this is how criminal records are wiped clean, or an account is banned on social media. It is also how corrupt governments move money around without being seen.
• The database being stored in a building, or server also meant that someone could decide to raid the building, or hack the servers and gain control over all the stored information – manipulating it as they please…
• The database could be destroyed – by humans or natural disasters.
• Because someone else is going to have a look at the data we share, we cannot comfortably share sensitive information on a database system – unless we don’t mind of course
• Sometimes one piece of information can be stored twice – by accident, or intentionally. For example, a payment could be recorded twice by mistake, thereby skewing the entire record.
• You, the user, don’t really have power over the data you put into, or retrieve from the database – only the database manager does, and it is by their permission that you can.
• The database gets increasingly expensive and time-consuming to use as it grows larger and more complex.
• Most databases are not encrypted. This means virtually anyone can access the information if they could get past the managers – this is essentially what hackers do.

In short, databases had their issues. It wasn’t transparent, reliable, independent, automatic, fast, secure, or indestructible. 

But everyone mostly kept quiet about it. Everyone had to just trust the authorities to be doing their job. Everyone had to put “faith” in the system. But not everyone was happy with it. 

Of all the billions of people on earth who were dissatisfied with the database system (for maybe deducting some few cents from their paycheck), Satoshi Nakamoto was the most pissed of them all. And so, he set out to change things. He decided to create a better system. He decided to build the blockchain system of keeping records.

Who Invented The Blockchain

It is well known that Satoshi Nakamoto invented Blockchain in 2008, with his first project (using the newly developed Tech) being the creation of a public transaction ledger for the now-famous Bitcoin. But no one knows for sure if Satoshi Nakamoto was even a person.

Legend has it that Satoshi Nakamoto is actually a pseudo name for a group of 11 highly intelligent and dedicated individuals who wanted to resolve the issue associated with database systems. To date, no one knows for sure who Nakamoto is.

Satoshi Nakamoto was active in the developmental stages of Bitcoin up until December 2010 when he/they vanished. As the name suggests, he/they claimed to be of Japanese origin, but many doubt this claim because of his/their level of English proficiency. In fact, based on his/their vocabulary, it is postulated that he/they are of commonwealth origin (i.e. from any of the 54 member states of the British Empire).

Though before vanishing, he/they had handed over the Bitcoin project to Gavin Andresen who is a citizen of the United States and is very much alive (as of the time of this writing)

How was the BlockChain technology developed?

As explained earlier, the tech is actually an improvement upon an already existing system – i.e. the database. Hence, Blockchain was developed using some drawings, charts, math, and basic explanations in words. Once the concept was solidified, the code was then written in C++. Though Blockchains aren’t bound to be written in the C++ programming language.

In fact, in recent times, due to the sheer difficulty of developing a new Blockchain, most Blockchain platforms/apps/programs are derived from existing Blockchain open source codes (like Etherium). It’s pretty much like how planes or boats are built. Once the principles are understood, anyone can go ahead and develop their model (giving it all the features they desire).

So, Satoshi Nakamoto developed the Blockchain technology and used it to create Bitcoin (which everyone is crazy about today). But that Blockchain technology has a wider application, and Bitcoin, being a cryptocurrency, is just one tiny example of what Blockchain Technology can accomplish. 

So, How Does The Blockchain Technology Work?

Now you’re getting geeky. But that’s admirable. Okay, so how does this Blockchain thing work?

It is quite complicated, but let me simplify:

Imagine three sisters, Kate, Princess, and Jane, who own a large farm. In a traditional database, all three sisters would be working on their respective sections of the database. Kate would be taking inventory of the crops (type, species, quantity, quality, harvest date, expiry date, prices, buyers, etc.), Princess would be taking record of the livestock (type, breed, number, healthy, etc.), whilst Jane would be taking inventory of the equipment (tools, machines, numbers, fueling, repairs, etc.). 

It would be so nice, but what if at the end of the year, one Cow was missing and Princess had no clue what had happened, how would they (the three sisters) ever know what happened? What if Kate lost her records? Or what if Jane intentionally inflated the cost of maintaining the machines? You see the problem, right?

But in a Blockchain system, all three sisters, Kate, Princess, and Jane, would have a copy of a single record. Whenever Kate records a new crop, all three sisters would copy that, and write it down on their records. Same with the record of Princess and Jane.

So that, if Princess lost her records, both Kate and Jane can easily provide her with a new and accurate copy. And if at the end of the year, Jane comes up with a suspicious record, both Kate and Princess can know for sure that Jane was a lying thief.

***

In more technical terms, Blockchain operates by distributing the database across several nodes in a network. 

Side note: A network means a connection of two or more people (or computers in this case). Whilst a node refers to the individuals in the networks. That is to say, Blockchain shares the records amongst the 3 Sisters.

That being said, there is no central point of reference or authority in the network. Everyone has equal rights and power, and no one can claim superiority, nor alter what is in the network. Hence, Blockchain is said to run on a decentralized Peer-to-Peer network (i.e. P2P network).

But, Why Is It Called A BlockChain?

You see, when you are using Blockchain technology every information needs to be seen and authenticated by the majority of the nodes in the network before it can be accepted as correct or valid. Now, once any information is accepted as valid, it is considered a block and distributed to everyone in the network. So, basically, everyone has a series of Blocks that have been verified by everyone else in the network, and it is these series of blocks – linked together – that form the “chain”, hence the name “Block-Chain”.

Though there are important concepts that need to be explained here. 

First is the idea that each block needs to be verified. In the Blockchain community, this process of verification is called mining. 

Mining involves carrying out a series of complicated calculations on a computer in order to prove that a block is indeed legitimate. As a reward, miners (i.e. the people doing the mining) are rewarded with a small price (usually a cryptocurrency). A cryptocurrency is simply digital money (usually respected within the network). That is to say, each network has its digital money (like eth, doge, bitcoin, etcetera). More on Cryptocurrency later.

The second concept to watch out for is the idea of linking blocks. In a Blockchain network, you can’t just add or remove records from the Blockchain because they are all linked to each other – and are inseparable

This is because, to generate a new block, information from the previous block is used. That is to say, if we have blocks “1” to “10”, block “3” is the product of block “2”, and block “3” helped form block “4”. So that, since every block was formed from the previous block and creates the next block, altering a block would mean that you will have to change all the blocks that come after it (since the content of the new block isn’t the same contents that helped create them) and that the block that formed it is no longer its true parent (since parents should produce exactly what they are, and not the new/alien information that was introduced).

The result is that the chain (i.e. Blockchain) would have to be destroyed entirely for you to accomplish such a goal, and since this can’t be allowed, the blockchain would reject the alteration.

Again, considering that the records of the Blockchain are held by people scattered all over the world, it is impossible to apprehend everyone and change the record in all their databases in order to match the new information you are trying to inject.

The result of this is that information once stored, is stored forever. 

This means, every piece of information, no matter how old, is crucial for the creation of the next block in the chain. This is like saying, your great grandparents are the reason you look the way you are, and your looks would also determine the looks of your great-grandchildren, and on and on…

First (interesting) side note: The first block in the blockchain is called the Genesis Block. The Genesis block is also known as Block 0, and it is upon it all other blocks are derived. Interestingly, the Genesis block in the Bitcoin blockchain (created by Satoshi Nakamoto) cannot be spent – as it returns errors – but hold a secrete message which reads, “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”. The meaning of this encrypted message is yet unknown, but many speculate it is a sort of mission statement for the technology – to fix the financial crisis. In Satoshi Nakamoto’s words, Bitcoin (being the first implementation of the Blockchain technology) is “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.”

Second (boring) Side note: All information in a Blockchain is stored cryptographically (i.e. they are all encrypted). That is to say, even if you could see that information was added, you would have no way of knowing/reading that information unless you are the person with who that information was shared. So, whilst everyone can see the blocks being added, only those who were given permission to access the data can access it. This means, multiple conversations can go on privately, even though it quite know that they are going on…pretty much how someone sees you whispering, but has no clue what you are saying.

It is these basic concepts that make blockchain technology so appealing. 

To really appreciate the gravity of what this means, I’d first list out some of these cool features we’ve been discussing, and also elaborate on the benefits of these features

What are the Features, Benefits, and Characteristics of the BlockChain Technology?

Like I’ve been explaining for a while now, Blockchain Technology is

• Immutable: With blocks stored in chains, it is impossible (or at best, useless) to try changing the content of the blockchain. Remember the story of the three sisters, right? In more technical terms, it means no false information can be added – not even a virus can be introduced into the system. The system is pure and incorruptible.
• Consensus: This means, for any change to occur on the blockchain, the majority of those in the network must agree to it. This task is usually handled by a code (known as the consensus algorithm) so there is no fear of mistakes, bigotry, or cheating.
• Distributed Ledger: with the block/information distributed across the nodes, everyone can see the information it holds. It also means that there can’t be any malicious alterations to the records, no one can game the system, and once everyone agrees a new update/data/block should be added, it happens quickly across the block (within seconds)
• Decentralized: There is no single controlling authority. Everyone has equal rights and control in the network. Every user can interact with any other user in the network without needing permission or supervision from any third party. You can decide to chat with a friend without logging in to a social media platform. You can send money without going to the bank. You can sell properties without needing a lawyer. You can do whatever you want without seeking permission, or worrying that someone might intercept the information or kick you out of the network. Everyone in the network is equal and important. This also means that there is no single point of failure. If one node in the network corrupts, gets attacked, or just goes offline, all other nodes can function effectively without worries (since everyone has the same information it has, there is no real loss). This also means that no one person can alter the information in favor of their agenda. Everyone must agree, else it won’t work. And this brings about transparency and trust in the system.
• Secure: With every information on the Blockchain being encrypted, the identities and affairs of everyone in the network are protected. Encryption is like scrambling data (i.e. making it impossible to understand), but it is much more complicated. In encryption, the only way to get back the information shared is if you have the encryption key. This is why you hear a lot about Public Keys and Private Keys in the world of Blockchain (especially Cryptocurrency). Everything that transpires in the Blockchain is highly encrypted and can only be decrypted by the receiver. Hence, there are no worries that someone might intercept or steal your information/money/asset. 
• Faster: By eliminating the third parties, communication and transactions can go on faster and smoother. And, Blockchain networks (like Ethereum) that incorporate smart contracts can even automate actions, removing the need for further dialogue after an agreement.

Side note: of all these features, only 3 are considered the pillars of any Blockchain technology.

What are the Three Pillars of Blockchain Technology?

The three pillars of blockchain technology are:

• Decentralization (i.e. The record is held by everyone)
• Transparency (i.e. Everyone can access the record at any time)
• Immutability (i.e. No one can alter the records)

What is Smart Contract and how does it work?

The best, and oldest illustration of a smart contract is the vending machine. In a vending machine, you put in a coin and get a snack or drink without the need of negotiating or interacting with a seller. A smart contract basically function the same

A smart contract is a program that stores agreements and immediately executes them once the conditions on the agreement are met. If Kate and Princess agree that once Jane turns 18 they are going to give her a Goat and some tubers of yam, a smart contract would see to it that on her 18th birthday she records of ownership of the Goat and tubers of Yam transfers to Jane automatically – even if Kate and Princess forgets.

Smart contracts are automatic, fast, accurate/error-free, cost-effective, secure, and generally reliable. It eliminates the question of trust or integrity. Once the agreement has been made, and the records of the ownership of the assets are on the Blockchain, the Smart contract would make sure everything goes on as planned. Imagine instructing the Smart contract to put aside a certain percentage of your income monthly – that way you will never have to remember, nor worry about the amount taken.

What can the Smart Contract be used for?

Smart contracts can be used to handle complicated tasks in divers’ fields such as automobile, insurance, clinical trials, trading, mortgage/real estate systems, government operations, supply chain management, video games, and even the futuristic Web 3.0. 

With smart contracts self-driving cars could charge money from passengers to drive them to their locations, health bills could be automatically taken care of by health insurance companies once a patient falls ill, mortgages could be exchanged without the need for lawyers and other third parties, you could gain real-world reward from video games, rather than meaningless points (since digital assets and physical assets are now paired together on the blockchain network, all bearing a certain value compared to the currency of the network), and so much more. 

Remember, smart contracts are just a single feature that can be added to the Blockchain Technology (as several other features can be, and are added)

Okay…back to Blockchain. Are all blockchains one and the same?

No, there are different types of blockchains

What are the types of Blockchain technology

There are three major types of Blockchain technology. They are

• Private Blockchains: As the name implies, these Blockchains are owned by individuals or organizations. It is not to say that the Blockchain is no longer decentralized, but that the span of that distribution has been curtailed. That is to say, a node can only join the network by invitation. It is also possible that a large enough organization can have its own decentralized network. This network would be open to, transparent for, and immutable by members of the organization, yet inaccessible to eternal parties. For example, a university can create its private Blockchain network to take care of the academic records, financial records, employment records, courses, and the general administration, and no other organization can have access to this blockchain. A private blockchain is also called a “Permissioned Blockchain”.
• Hybrid Blockchains: An organization may decide to incorporate Blockchain technology into their affairs, whilst leaving out some other aspect of those affairs from the Blockchain. In such a situation, the system is called a Hybrid Blockchain.  
• Sidechains: To avoid ambiguity, or to handle special operations, another blockchain network can be developed and linked to the main/primary blockchain. In essence, sidechains operate independently of the primary blockchain. Hence, the sidechain can make use of a different consensus algorithm, means of record-keeping, and work on more specialized data without affecting the proper functioning of the primary blockchain. Usually, these different blockchains communicate thanks to a feature known as “Interoperability”.

Interoperability is now a very much talked about concept in the Blockchain community. This is because, with several Blockchain networks coming up, there needs to be a way for the networks to communicate effectively; else it would be a big mess. 

The significance of this can be appreciated when you realize that interoperability can bring about the possibility of an international network of Blockchain Technology – pretty much how we have an international network of networks (i.e. the internet) running on traditional databases with Servers, and other centralized systems. 

Thankfully, a lot of work has already been done in this regard, and some systems are already in place. The interoperability solutions that are available today are generally categorized into three: Cryptocurrency interoperability approaches, Blockchain engines, and Blockchain connectors. 

Moving on…

If blockchains are so great, what are the main blockchain networks we have today?

What are the main Blockchain Networks?

As the potentials of Blockchain technology comes to be appreciated, more and more networks are beginning to pop up, and in diverse industries.

As stated in the beginning, blockchain technology is the backbone for all the amazing things being done today. Blockchain networks make room for what is known as the blockchain platform. The blockchain platform, on the other hand, allows for the development of blockchain-based applications (that can then be used by everyone for their specific needs).

So far, some of the most popular (and successful) Blockchain networks are

• Ethereum
• NEO
• Dragonchain
• Hperledger Sawtooth
• OpenChain
• Corda
• EOS
• Ripple
• Quorum
• Tezos
• Stellar
• Hyperledger Fabric
• Hyperledger Iroha, and
• Hedera Haswhgraph

They all come with their special features, pros, and cons. They also serve different industries and aim at solving diverse problems.

Enough of stories and theories. what are some practical applications and use of Blockchain Technology?

What can I do with Blockchain Technology? Or, what are some industries where Blockchain is used

The real-world application of Blockchain technology is near limitless. Blockchain technology is used in 

Banking And Finance

Probably the most famous application of Blockchain technology. Thanks to the blockchain, the banking and finance industry now enjoy something called Decentralized Finance (Defi). This meant that individuals (relying solely on smart contracts) can carry out transactions (using cryptocurrencies) without the need for intermediaries such as banks, exchanges, or brokerages. Sometimes, individuals can also stake or acquire digital assets such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – and these assets might be tied to other real-life assets.

Side note: Cryptocurrencies (sometimes called Crypto-currency, or Crypto) are encrypted binary data that are designed to serve as “money” for a blockchain network.

Defi essentially improves upon the real-world financial system with digital wallets, cryptocurrencies, and trading services. Needless to say, Defi matches traditional finance in complexity but beats its inefficiency.

It is worth noting that Defi is also gaining wider adoption with over $20.5 billion already invested in Defi as of January 2021

Voting

Thanks to the immutability, decentralization, and transparency of blockchain technology, coupled with smart contracts, votes can become tamper-free.

In 2018 during the Midterm election and in 2020 during the Presidential election, blockchain-based software (called Voatz) was used to cast votes. Sierra Leone also implemented a blockchain-based voting system to work side by side with the official vote counter in some parts of the country. There are also more instances of usage in Japan, and Russia. In fact, countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and India are (as of the time of this writing) developing blockchain systems to use for the purpose of voting in the future.

Healthcare

From securely storing patients’ medical records to keeping track of the medicine supply chain, and other deep research purposes, the healthcare applications of blockchain are far-reaching.

Some popular blockchain healthy care companies include Akiri, Chronicled, Embleema, ProCredEx, MedicalChain, Factom, RoboMed, Avaneer, amongst so many others. 

Agriculture

Food supply chains are now back up in blockchains – helping keep track of every place the foods have gone to before getting to the final consumer. This is crucial when tracing the origin of food contamination, optimizing the supply chain, or some other purpose.

Furthermore, blockchain helps with crop insurance (to ensure you get the exact type of crop you want), traceability of crops, and pricing of crops.

Some notable startups in the industry include AgriDigital, AgriLedger, AgriChain, Ripe, TE-FOOD, Worldcovr, and so on…

Education

With billions of Students passing through several levels of education, the records are incredibly massive, and traditional ways of keeping records are just burdensome, prone to error, slow, disorganized, and limited. 

But with Blockchain, all data can be stored on a chain, with each individual’s record growing without danger of being tempered or lost. Important data such as grades, course materials, down to attendance can be recorded accurately and permanently. Plus, more data can always be added. This way, any organization looking to hire can easily access a single record, rather than calling and waiting for a response from diverse institutions.

Some companies making this a reality include, Sony Global Education, Disciplina, Blockcerts, ODEM, AppII, BitDegree, Gilgamesh Platform, and so on… 

Examples of famous companies/organizations using BlockChain today

Some popular companies that have already leveraged Blockchain technology include

• BBVA
• Visa
• Ford
• Barclays
• Unilever
• FDA
• DHL
• Pfizer
• MetLife
• Aegon
• Shell
• Siemens
• People Bank of China
• SEB
• Singapore Airlines
• British Airways
• Westfield
• Government of Dubai
• Uganda National Drug Authority

Whilst some other famous companies, who intend to create their own Blockchain network, with its own cryptocurrencies (indicated in the brackets) include,

• Facebook (Libra)
• JPMorgan Chase (JPMCoin)
• Walmart (WalmartCoin)
• AirAsia (BigCoin)
• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (???)
• Arias Intel Corp. (iNEO)
• Amazon (Amazon Coin)
• Tencent (QQ Coin)
• Google (???)

In fact, most organizations are making the shift gradually…but cautiously nonetheless. We would explore the reason below

What are the dangers, disadvantages, or challenges of Blockchain

Indeed Blockchain technology is a leap in technological advancement and promises great things if we follow it make that leap, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. 

Theoretically, Blockchain technology is the next big thing, however, it still has a lot of hurdles to overcome. But for the question of it having disadvantages, I would answer No. 

This is because, the real challenge the technology has really isn’t from the technology itself, but from our application of it.

For example

• Blockchain technology requires an obscene amount of power to operate…or at least that’s how we’ve been operating it. For instance, Bitcoin, being the oldest and largest of all blockchains networks, consumed as much as 80 Terawatt-hours of electricity yearly (that’s the equivalent of the energy used by 159 nations combined) because of its “Proof of Work” method of validating blocks (which required a tremendous amount of computational power). To remove this huddle, serious work has been put in place to adopt a new means of validation of blocks, called “Proof of Stake”. As the name implies, this method doesn’t require “work”, but that users of the network “stake” some valuables to “Proof” their trust in the network… Some Blockchain networks have already started implementing this method so that once it becomes widely adopted, this drawback would vanish.
• There is a high level of risk using blockchain technology because of the lack of regulation and anonymity of users. You have no way of knowing if the network is legit, neither do you have anyone to complain to if something goes wrong in the network. In fact, there have been several cases of people being duped into investing in Ponzi schemes (which then vanished with their money as soon as it appeared). This is besides the high volatility of Blockchain assets – where prices can go up and down quickly (sometimes flushing millions of dollars down the hole…you must have heard of “dips”, right?).
• Blockchain is pretty new and complex. This means, not a lot of people really understand what it is, nor appreciates the potentially revolutionary applications of the technology. Most people just heard you could make money with Crypto, and it was all they ever cared to know about. With slow adaptation, comes slow application…hence, blockchain may not reach its full potentials (to change the world) as speedily as anticipated.
• For all its hype, Blockchain is still quite hard, slow, and expensive to use. With “gas fees”, and difficulty finding people or businesses that accept crypto as payment, the tech has a few more years and tweaks before it becomes commonplace. And 
• The Government and other large Establishments may want to kill it in its infancy. The truth is that the traditional way of doing things puts food on the table of a lot of rich and powerful people, who may not want to disrupt all their affairs because of some new technology that threatens to make them irrelevant. It is no surprise then that there have been several cases of crypto being banned (in some form) in different countries, for different reasons (notably China, Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Vietnam)

But it is not all gloom and doom for the new tech. As pointed out earlier, there are a lot of organizations pushing to make it generally acceptable, and the masses are actually strongly emotionally attached to the new tech, so it has a lot of force behind it, and would most likely survive the fight if it keeps taking down its obstacles one at a time. In fact, the struggles can be a good thing – a test of how resilient it is.

How will Blockchain change the world?

 Once perfected, Blockchain technology can help 

• Reduce Fraud: indeed, a lot of scams have transpired within – and have even been made possible by – Block technology (thanks to the anonymity of end-users) but it doesn’t mean the tech is particularly obscure. The fact is that though they had successfully extracted the funds from their victims, they cannot move or spend the funds without being seen. Remember, it is also transparent. This means, authorities are closely watching to see when and where the funds would be spent – and when it gets spent, they would be pounced upon. This is the level of security blockchain promises. There would be no room for untraceable cash. Nothing would go unnoticed. Everything would be accountable to the last decimal place.
• Accelerate knowledge, and technological advancement: Rather than having scattered – and hidden – information, all information can be made accessible to everyone. For example, Nano Vision aims at making scientific knowledge free and open to everyone in real-time, so that everyone can get their hands on important, and up to date scientific findings and use them in their works (rather than starting from scratch to figure out what is already known somewhere else). 
• Improve Accountability: With a permanent record that is accessible to everyone, there would be no room for shady businesses. The integrity of everyone would be on the line, and this would force individuals and organizations to act better. 
• Serve As A Safety Hedge: with many underdeveloped and developing countries struggling with the dwindling value of their currencies, individuals can secure their money by stashing them in cryptocurrencies. The great thing about crypto is that their value rises with time, so that not only would their funds be safe, they would also grow in value.
• Improve Commerce And Finance: Blockchain provides a faster and safer alternative to regular cash, or bank transfers (even across borders). A lot of the hurdles that come from conversions, checks, and balances can be eliminated entirely by switching to Blockchain. And the impact of this can be felt across the Banks, E-commerce stores, and physical shops.  
• Provide Total Control: Blockchain would give individuals total control over their identities and assets. Being encrypted, no other person on the planet can take what belongs to a person without their permission – not even the government can do that. Even in events of unrest, chaos, and wars, individuals can still hold tangible claim to their properties and identities, and it would be provable by the entire Blockchain network – consisting of potentially billions of people. Perhaps, Blockchain may be the only true means of justifying anyone in the future. Maybe it would lead to a brave new world.

The big question really isn’t if blockchain would change the world. The big question is “when?”.

What I think of BlockChain based on the countries using Cryptocurrency the most

When I looked at the statistics from Finance.yahoo.com, I realized something striking: Nigeria ranked number 1 on the list of countries using cryptocurrencies the most, with a share of 32% out of the entire pie. And when I proceeded to skim through the list, I found the United States with a net share of 6%.

Now, this may not be the entire truth – as other factors may affect the judgment I’m about to make now – but I deduced from the nature of the Blockchain Technology (especially the Defi/Cryptocurrency aspect) that countries that were dissatisfied with their economy, and are looking for viable alternatives quickly adopts the Blockchain Technology (specifically the Defi/Cryptocurrency aspect of it).

Indeed, it takes a lot of dissatisfaction with the current state of things for people to look for alternatives. Even the technology itself was born immediately after a dire financial crisis – with a secret message which reinforces the possibility of it being the true motivation for developing the tech.

But I don’t think it is a bad thing per se. Besides, discomfort led to the invention of many luxury products we enjoy today. If everyone was okay with the temperature of their climate, no one would have thought of making air-conditioners. This is the same with transport, healthcare, or any other field.

Today, we are given an opportunity to change the world: to revolutionalize everything.

In few years to come, a lot of opportunities would be available in the newly formed Blockchain industry. I’m talking about firms, startups, and governments looking to hire

• Blockchain Developers
• Blockchain Solution Architects
• Blockchain Project Managers
• Blockchain UX Designers
• Blockchain Quality Engineer
• Blockchain Legal Consultants

And so on…

In fact, there would be roles for 

• Crypto Brokers
• Accountants
• Marketers
• Crypto Journalists
• ICO advisors

Etcetera

…made available for anyone willing to key in (i.e. anyone willing to take up a career in this new field).

Even those who do not want to get into another struggle of learning a new skill (and getting certified), still have the unfair advantage of investing in the technology now that it is still in its infancy.

I am a Blockchain enthusiast…at least I’ve staked some money in the tech hoping it would someday yield profit…

In summary, Blockchain is a great technology, and the future is looking bright for it.