Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies dominate blockchain discussions, this technology could disrupt far more than the financial sector. That's because there are different types of blockchain, and some are fit for enterprise use.
In the broadest terms, blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that records data in a public ledger without requiring third-party validation. Instead, unidentified parties confirm the data's validity via an established consensus method.
To understand blockchain's potential business value, CIOs and other leaders must first recognize the difference between public blockchain and enterprise blockchain and the benefits and drawbacks of the latter.
What is public blockchain?
Many consumers are familiar with a public blockchain, also known as a permissionless blockchain. Information on a public blockchain is transactional data stored on digital nodes, distributed via a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) network of computers. Users are pseudo-anonymous and confirm the authenticity of data added to a blockchain by consensus. The distributed ledger technology underlying blockchain records the details of an asset's transaction in several places, accessible at any time.
Well-known public blockchain uses include cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are cryptographic assets converted into exclusive, digital representations that exist as a singular copy on the blockchain. Consumers buy, sell and hold these digital collectibles with the NFTs authenticating their ownership. Usage of NFTs ranges from trading cards to real estate and art pieces. In addition, NFTs and cryptocurrency are examples of decentralized finance. Each utilizes blockchain technology to remove the intermediary processing of a financial transaction.
Two drawbacks of public blockchain are performance and scalability. The system slows down, is costly to support, and becomes less sustainable as the number of transactions it must support increases. The number of transactions also inhibits its ability to scale at a reasonable pace. Blockchain, especially cryptocurrency, also uses an enormous amount of energy.
Continue reading: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/The-basics-of-enterprise-blockchain
In the broadest terms, blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that records data in a public ledger without requiring third-party validation. Instead, unidentified parties confirm the data's validity via an established consensus method.
To understand blockchain's potential business value, CIOs and other leaders must first recognize the difference between public blockchain and enterprise blockchain and the benefits and drawbacks of the latter.
What is public blockchain?
Many consumers are familiar with a public blockchain, also known as a permissionless blockchain. Information on a public blockchain is transactional data stored on digital nodes, distributed via a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) network of computers. Users are pseudo-anonymous and confirm the authenticity of data added to a blockchain by consensus. The distributed ledger technology underlying blockchain records the details of an asset's transaction in several places, accessible at any time.
Well-known public blockchain uses include cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are cryptographic assets converted into exclusive, digital representations that exist as a singular copy on the blockchain. Consumers buy, sell and hold these digital collectibles with the NFTs authenticating their ownership. Usage of NFTs ranges from trading cards to real estate and art pieces. In addition, NFTs and cryptocurrency are examples of decentralized finance. Each utilizes blockchain technology to remove the intermediary processing of a financial transaction.
Two drawbacks of public blockchain are performance and scalability. The system slows down, is costly to support, and becomes less sustainable as the number of transactions it must support increases. The number of transactions also inhibits its ability to scale at a reasonable pace. Blockchain, especially cryptocurrency, also uses an enormous amount of energy.
Continue reading: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/The-basics-of-enterprise-blockchain
