I am writing this thread because I see immense potential in blockchain technology for simple and complex transaction alike involving various forms of currencies and digital assets. The following information will explain what this technology is and how it can solve the pitfalls with the traditional methods of transacting.
What is and Why Blockchain
Basic Overview
As defined by Wikipedia, Blockchain is "a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks," or even more simplified, it is "a digital, public ledger that records online transactions." If this confuses you, I will explain later on what this means.
It is important to note the difference between blockchain and cryptocurrency. Blockchain is the core technology that cryptocurrencies operate on. In fact, the creator of the idea of a blockchain system was Satoshi Nakamoto, the very same individual behind Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency has additional technology on top of blockchain, often containing components such as mining and digital wallets.
The following are some properties and aspects of blockchain that make it truly unique and powerful.
Distributed
By design, Blockchain records and stores transactions across many computers. In a peer-to-peer fashion, the collective group of computers ensure with nearly perfect probability that not one party can make unwanted changes to a previously set in place transaction, making transactions unalterable once executed.
Immutable
Simply put, immutability ensures that nothing about any transaction can be changed. The only way to make changes is for every computer on the distributed network to agree/accept those changes. While this seeming flaw exists in theory, the likely-hood of such occurrence in practical applications is extremely unlikely. This property of immutability effectively creates a system that is not reliant on trust of various parties, as no modifications can be made once in place.
The one drawback of this would be that things like buyer-protection cannot be implemented, as once each transaction is complete, there is simply no way to reverse it. Despite this issue, the following topic regarding smart contracts, explains how digital assets can be verified for the accuracy of a seller's claims on a variety of parameters and checkpoints set in place by the platform.
Smart Contracts
Just like real contracts, smart contracts create a set of rules by which every transaction follows. These contracts can be made into effect by the platform and each actor on the platform that wishes to transaction must follow the guidelines and limitations set by the contract to ensure a fair playing field.
For verifying transactions, contracts can verify the accuracy of a party's (person's) claims such as if they have the appropriate funds for the transaction, or if they have the digital asset one is trading. Smart contracts can be advanced further to verify certain properties of a digital asset, such as when it was created, the type of files it has, and even the contents of its files. The technology could be extended to account for more complex properties such as text in an image for a logo, or sounds in a video for a trailer.
Given the variety of digital assets available, an advanced smart contract cannot 100% guarantee a digital asset is exactly what it is claimed to be, though it is certainly an order of magnitudes much safer and verifiable of a system than simply trading and hoping everything goes as expected.
Extensible
With a blockchain-based digital asset trading platform, the creators can extend it support various payment methods such as bank transfers, PayPal, Stripe, Venmo, and cryptocurrencies, assuming such payment vendors allow interfacing with the platform.
Though, it would be arguable that a platform-based cryptocurrency would be optimal to prevent scams that are made available when interfacing with other payment systems such as PayPal and its ability for buyer's to chargeback (take back) payments. Many fear the volatility of cryptocurrencies, but one can be created to have its value modeled around a real-world currency like the U.S. dollar (stablecoins).
Furthermore, a blockchain trading platform can be made available for use by other companies, most notably marketplaces. Marketplaces such as that of MC-Market (and its competitors) could interface an existing digital asset trading blockchain, should the blockchain platform creators chose to allow it. These marketplaces could add their own trading user interface to match it with their existing theme, while still maintaining the core implementation of an existing block-chain platform.
Conclusion
I wrote this article to particularly raise awareness among the community as to the potential benefits block-chain brings to financial transactions, especially those that are more complex and involve digital assets. As a developer and researcher myself, I am extremely interested in perhaps creating such a platform that solves the issues of traditional transactions on MC-Market and others alike. If you are a developer, designer, investor or simply an individual that wishes to engage in conversation with me regarding this, you are more than welcome to PM me here, or talk with me on discord: jevergreen#9608
Further Reading (should you wish)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp
https://medium.com/(at)OdysseyProtocol/blockchain-trends-digital-asset-trading-taking-new-steps-towards-sharing-economy-86ab0237a19e
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
What is and Why Blockchain
Basic Overview
As defined by Wikipedia, Blockchain is "a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks," or even more simplified, it is "a digital, public ledger that records online transactions." If this confuses you, I will explain later on what this means.
It is important to note the difference between blockchain and cryptocurrency. Blockchain is the core technology that cryptocurrencies operate on. In fact, the creator of the idea of a blockchain system was Satoshi Nakamoto, the very same individual behind Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency has additional technology on top of blockchain, often containing components such as mining and digital wallets.
The following are some properties and aspects of blockchain that make it truly unique and powerful.
Distributed
By design, Blockchain records and stores transactions across many computers. In a peer-to-peer fashion, the collective group of computers ensure with nearly perfect probability that not one party can make unwanted changes to a previously set in place transaction, making transactions unalterable once executed.
Immutable
Simply put, immutability ensures that nothing about any transaction can be changed. The only way to make changes is for every computer on the distributed network to agree/accept those changes. While this seeming flaw exists in theory, the likely-hood of such occurrence in practical applications is extremely unlikely. This property of immutability effectively creates a system that is not reliant on trust of various parties, as no modifications can be made once in place.
The one drawback of this would be that things like buyer-protection cannot be implemented, as once each transaction is complete, there is simply no way to reverse it. Despite this issue, the following topic regarding smart contracts, explains how digital assets can be verified for the accuracy of a seller's claims on a variety of parameters and checkpoints set in place by the platform.
Smart Contracts
Just like real contracts, smart contracts create a set of rules by which every transaction follows. These contracts can be made into effect by the platform and each actor on the platform that wishes to transaction must follow the guidelines and limitations set by the contract to ensure a fair playing field.
For verifying transactions, contracts can verify the accuracy of a party's (person's) claims such as if they have the appropriate funds for the transaction, or if they have the digital asset one is trading. Smart contracts can be advanced further to verify certain properties of a digital asset, such as when it was created, the type of files it has, and even the contents of its files. The technology could be extended to account for more complex properties such as text in an image for a logo, or sounds in a video for a trailer.
Given the variety of digital assets available, an advanced smart contract cannot 100% guarantee a digital asset is exactly what it is claimed to be, though it is certainly an order of magnitudes much safer and verifiable of a system than simply trading and hoping everything goes as expected.
Extensible
With a blockchain-based digital asset trading platform, the creators can extend it support various payment methods such as bank transfers, PayPal, Stripe, Venmo, and cryptocurrencies, assuming such payment vendors allow interfacing with the platform.
Though, it would be arguable that a platform-based cryptocurrency would be optimal to prevent scams that are made available when interfacing with other payment systems such as PayPal and its ability for buyer's to chargeback (take back) payments. Many fear the volatility of cryptocurrencies, but one can be created to have its value modeled around a real-world currency like the U.S. dollar (stablecoins).
Furthermore, a blockchain trading platform can be made available for use by other companies, most notably marketplaces. Marketplaces such as that of MC-Market (and its competitors) could interface an existing digital asset trading blockchain, should the blockchain platform creators chose to allow it. These marketplaces could add their own trading user interface to match it with their existing theme, while still maintaining the core implementation of an existing block-chain platform.
Conclusion
I wrote this article to particularly raise awareness among the community as to the potential benefits block-chain brings to financial transactions, especially those that are more complex and involve digital assets. As a developer and researcher myself, I am extremely interested in perhaps creating such a platform that solves the issues of traditional transactions on MC-Market and others alike. If you are a developer, designer, investor or simply an individual that wishes to engage in conversation with me regarding this, you are more than welcome to PM me here, or talk with me on discord: jevergreen#9608
Further Reading (should you wish)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp
https://medium.com/(at)OdysseyProtocol/blockchain-trends-digital-asset-trading-taking-new-steps-towards-sharing-economy-86ab0237a19e
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
Last edited:
Banned forever. Reason: Ban Evading (Phil Marlin, https://builtbybit.com/members/phil-marlin.93393/)
