The Blockchain from a technical point of view is a database in which the information transmitted by users is checked and grouped at regular time intervals into blocks. These blocks are linked and secured through the use of cryptography forming a chain of blocks, the so-called Blockchain. This chain can therefore be considered as a register of all the transactions carried out since the start of the secure system and accessible to all. For many, it constitutes the greatest revolution since the arrival of the Internet. To better understand, we asked a financial expert, to enlighten us on the use and functioning of this new technology…
The use and usefulness of Blockchain technology
This technology makes it possible to do what the Internet has never been able to do. While the Internet has made it possible to exchange information in a decentralised manner, we have not been able to do without platforms that act as trusted third parties when we want to send money via the Internet. The Blockchain solves this problem by eliminating the need for an intermediary.
For example, when you make a payment from person to person via the Internet for a sale, one solution could be to use an intermediary platform such as PayPal, which would act as a trusted third party to certify to the seller that the buyer has paid the amount. In return, the platform will take a commission for its role as a trusted third party. With the Blockchain system, it is the computers on the network that will check if the two people are reliable. In order to validate their transactions, the Blockchain will certify the whole process based on the contribution of the computers in the network.
How does the Blockchain work?
As explained by our financial expert, the Blockchain uses contributions from network members to verify and validate transactions. But how does this contribution work in practice? Since it is a decentralized database technology, to certify a transaction there is no need for a central server. From now on, everything happens in peer-to-peer mode, i.e. user-to-user. It is therefore important to understand that information is no longer stored on servers belonging solely to one company such as PayPal or Google. All computers participating in the network have now stored transaction information. Thus, each computer participating in a Blockchain has a copy of it. Within this copy, you will be able to find the complete history of all the transactions made since its creation.
In addition, transactions are stored in linked blocks and no one has the right to erase the information contained therein or remove it. Many services and companies around the world are beginning to rely on this technology. Some are even talking about the use of the Blockchain to certify information and to fight more effectively against the notorious Fake News that abounds on the Internet. According to many specialists, this is a revolution that will require significant training for computer scientists and developers to be able to master the technology.
