Why blockchain is revolutionary and why you should care.

What's the big deal about blockchain technology?

I mean, people still wonder if the whole blockchain stuff is a buzz that will fade away soon.

Debates are still being held as to why we do and why we don't need the blockchain.

The other day someone said, "if the primary aim of this blockchain is to store large amounts of data digitally, we already have big, functional digital databases like the cloud, where you can share databases and manage permissions".

I've heard many other notions as to why blockchain isn't necessary, and how blockchain is just another storage system.

I understand that some of these things are said out of ignorance. I even used to hold this view too, so I'm not judging you🌝

Now let me give you a little inside story about my 'ignorant' days and how I suffered😅

I remember asking my friend, Adeshino, who was writing for the blockchain ecosystem why he thinks this blockchain is a big deal, and guess what? My friend sent me blockchain books by Don&Alex Tapscott, The Bitcoin standard, etc and told me to find out WHY. Sigh!

These books were like 200+ pages long.

That's what I got from an innocent question😑

Well. Did I read it? Yes. Did I complete it? Nope. Why? Technical words almost turned my brain upside down.

That's why I decided to make my writings about blockchain as simplified as possible.

So, If you're still wondering if this technology is anything different from what we've had so far, I'll be kinder to let you in on the benefits of blockchain technology right away, and let you see why this is the most beautiful time to be alive🤗

N/B: If you can, you still look up these books. They're awesome, but keep a dictionary or google close. Now, let's get right in.

What are the benefits of blockchain technology? Why is it even important?

~First is that it provides greater security.

Data stored on the blockchain is protected with cryptographic keys, and this makes it harder for hackers to break in because they don't have access to the keys.

Data stored on the blockchain are verified by nodes on the blockchain network and once verified, they cannot be reversed or manipulated. This verification process makes the system very secure.

Also, as a distributed database, the system is very robust, in the sense that if one database fails, i.e one copy fails, there are other copies across multiple nodes.

~The second one, the one that actually excites me the most is decentralisation.

In my opinion, decentralisation is the most juicy perk of this technology. It is programmed to eliminate intermediaries, giving us (the end users) complete ownership of our data and resources.

What that means is that no central authority can use our data for their selfish interest without our consent as opposed to centralised systems.

So, in blockchain, you decide what to do with your data and no third party or middleman can overhaul that.

~The next benefit of blockchain technology is greater trust.

As a member of a blockchain network, you can always rest assured that you are receiving accurate and timely data that cannot be easily manipulated since data must be verified before it's added to the chain.

~Another valuable benefit of blockchain is transparency Since members share the same copy of the blockchain's database, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving greater transparency and confidence in the database.

Now imagine if blockchain technology is used for all voting systems in the world, where we get to see all votes clearly, without manipulations. We'll have fair elections with the most credible candidates getting elected.

I bet you know how better the world will be if the challenge of election rigging is off our political systems.

Blockchain also provides transparency in the case of auditing, as you can go back through time and see the former state of the database.

If you’re recording things like property titles, you can see the previous owner of the property and the current owner.

The blockchain provides a perfect audit history because these blocks are chained together.

Why should you care about blockchain?

Beyond being used for finances, hospitals are integrating the blockchain to help track medical record data and improve their accuracy.

Agricultural firms use it logistically to track the supply chain of food.

Smart contracts rely on it to keep a record of all agreements and state changes.

More recently, it has become a means to trade, sell and authenticate original digital pieces of art as NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens)

Blockchain is becoming an increasingly important part of how we live, work and interact with our digital information.

Like with every other new, revolutionary technology, there is no one set of standards, and the overall impact is still being discovered.

In all of these, there’s no doubt blockchain is here to stay!

P/S: It's the third part of the blockchain exposition and I'll love to hear one thing that you've learned. Please share with me in the comments. Chao!