What is Blockchain technology Explained with Meaning
The Blockchain is a distributed database that can be used to maintain a continuously growing list of records called as blocks, each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchain technology created a backbone of the internet by allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, which has also given a rise to digital currency, Bitcoin to solve the double spending problems without the use of a trusted authority or central server. Blockchain is a peer-to-peer connection, hope you may understand what is blockchain meaning and definition in details.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. It is a digital asset that is designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to manage its creation and management, instead of depending on central authorities.
Cryptocurrency uses a system of cryptography to control the creation of coins and to verify transactions.
Ransomware virus used the same concept of cryptography to decrypt all the information of a particular computer. Since bitcoin used a concept of cryptography the transactions are encrypted into cipher text which cannot be easily decrypted.
Features of Bitcoin:
- Bitcoin is a digital currency which is not combined with any bank or government and permits users to send data anonymously.
- There are no single organization controls this bitcoin network.
- This is same as the online version of cash transmission instead it uses bitcoin but not all shops use Bitcoin yet.
Below figure shows that how bitcoin transaction takes place with help of blockchain.
Image Credit: Blockgeeks
Image credit: wiki – Blockchain
Whenever the online transaction takes place between two parties the information is stored in gigantic Bitcoin public ledger. This record of transactions is kept in the block chain, which is a sequence of records called as blocks. The size of the complete ledger is around 107GB as of 2016.
See also: Impact of Blockchain Technology in Real Estate Industry
Origin of Blockchain:
It was first conceptualized in November 1, 2008, by Santoshi Nakamoto and implemented a component of digital currency called as Bitcoin. Due to the use of peer to peer network and distributed servers, a blockchain database is managed autonomously. One of the main reasons for designing digital currency was to avoid double spending problem (is an error in a digital transaction where the same digital token is sent twice or more.)
In order to prevent this issue, blockchain is used due to decentralized feature and distributed digital public ledger to record transactions of many computers so that records cannot be altered. Since this ledger will require a power, hence Nakamoto presented an idea for people to devote CPU power to run software this is called as Miners which will form a network to maintain the block chain collectively.
Japan has passed a law to accept bitcoin as a legal payment method and Russia is looking into regulating bitcoin.
Blockchain use in Healthcare industry
The main use of blockchain and health care is exchanging the data. There are various electronic devices available to which gather all real-time patient data through wearable, activity monitoring devices etc., and there is also data available in clinical example medications. This information is encrypted & digitally signed which then stored in Blockchain and data lakes, where we can see all the patient historical data, unique identifier, labs generated reports etc. Patients have permission to control the access levels of it.
The health analytics & Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) uses this collected information to healthcare IT systems through the online network. Providers use the health information to access these health data to provide medical claims and processing the payments. Pharmaceuticals industries could see the prescriptions information and act accordingly, this would lead to clinical safety analyses, audit trials, and data sharing.
Image credit: Productiveedge
Let us know what you think about Blockchain, what is it and and understanding of bitcoin in the comment section below.
See also: 15 Real World Use Cases and Applications of Blockchain Technology
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