Читать книгу Cryptocurrency All-in-One For Dummies - Peter Kent, Kiana Danial - Страница 100

Blockchains are recognized as the “fifth evolution” of computing because they’re a new trust layer for the Internet. Before blockchains, trust was established by central authorities that would issue certificates. One you may be familiar with is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) client certificates. An SSL certificate is the “green lock” that appears next to a web domain. It lets you know you’re on a secure website. SSL certificates have proven not to be foolproof. Certificates have been stolen from the domains of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service (commonly known as MI6), Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, Facebook, and Twitter. Relying on a third party allows for a single point of failure.

Blockchains, on the other hand, establish trust in novel ways. Proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains require miners to have a full and accurate history of their transactions to participate on the network. Proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains create trust by requiring nodes that are processing transactions to “stake” some cryptocurrency that may be forfeited if they’re caught defrauding the network. Private blockchains build confidence by distributing data across a network of connected but independent participants that are known by each other and can be held accountable. Each type of blockchain uses different incentive systems to establish trust that each participant in the network will cooperate in keeping a full and unaltered history of each transaction or entry that is made within the database they share.

When data is permanent and reliable in a digital format, you can transact business online in ways that, in the past, were only possible offline. Everything that has stayed analog, including property rights and identity, can now be created and maintained online. Slow business and banking processes, such as money wires and fund settlements, can now be done nearly instantaneously. The implications for secure digital records are enormous for the global economy.

Blockchains are important because they allow for new efficiency and reliability in the exchange of valuable and private information that once required a third party to facilitate, such as the movement of money and the authenticity of identity. This is a big deal because much of our society and economy has been structured around establishing trust, enforcing trust when it’s broken, and third parties that facilitate trust. You can imagine how this simple software can be utilized to fix areas that have proven not to be foolproof, such as voting, supply chain management, money movement, and the exchange of property.