目录
Each generation experiences a grand phenomenon that revolutionizes the way the world operates forever. The most recent was the emergence and rise of Bitcoin as well as other subsequent cryptocurrencies. Blockchain Technology is the foundational element behind Bitcoin. As we approach the 3rd decade of the 21st century, the potential of this marvel technology transcends cryptocurrency. This article will explore these possibilities, with a minor focus on how it can help to break up big tech monopolies and create a fair decentralised tech space for all the internet users.
Blockchain is a decentralised system of storing information that preserves the provenance of original data. The name “Blockchain” is a combination of the words “Block” and “Chain”. A blockchain consists of packages of information known as “Blocks” that are each linked to the one before, thus creating the Blockchain illusion.
这些区块可以以数字形式保存无数信息，例如金融交易、财产记录、法律合同、医疗信息等。每个完整的区块都与其 nonce 相关联，即创建区块时随机生成的 32 位任意数字，以及其哈希值（由 nonce 生成的 256 位标识号）。由于其唯一性，这种哈希可以被描述为人类指纹的数字等价物。
区块链技术的历史可以追溯到 1990 年代初，当时密码学家 Stuart Haber 和 W. Scott Stornetta 试图建立一个具有防篡改文档时间戳的系统。然而，直到 2009 年 1 月，比特币的假名创造者中本聪 （Satoshi Nakamoto） 推出了现在臭名昭著的加密货币，区块链才首次得到实际应用。
One of the prominent properties of blockchain technology is its ability to be used as a distributed ledger, as demonstrated by bitcoin. In this model, bitcoin is managed by a peer-to-peer network of devices (known as “nodes”) geographically spread all over the world. These nodes are operated by separate, independent individuals or groups, as opposed to a distributed database with a central administration or authority. This decentralization allows the blockchain to be resistant to any altercations to its previously recorded information, meaning the data recorded in the blockchain (in bitcoin’s case, transaction history) is irreversible.
On a public blockchain like bitcoin, the decision to add new information is made by consensus. When a majority of nodes on the blockchain verifies that the information is valid, it is added to the chain in the form of a block. Each block’s position on the blockchain is based on the chronological order of creation. Therefore, each block contains the exact timestamp of its creation, its hash, as well as the hash of its predecessor. If any changes are made to the information in a block, its hash and the timestamp also change automatically. This makes it impossible to tamper with the data on the blockchain. If a user alters their copy of the blockchain, other nodes on the chain could easily cross-reference their copies and identify the node responsible as well as correct the change. This fault-tolerance mechanism builds trust in each block in the history of the blockchain and gives the users the platform to interact with the data in real-time without relying on intermediary third-parties such as banks, lawyers, brokers, etc.
使用区块链的全部意义在于让人们——尤其是那些彼此不信任的人——以安全、防篡改的方式共享有价值的数据。
麻省理工学院科技评论
Due to this transparent, decentralized nature of a blockchain network, any adjustment to the system operation or the data it contains requires consensus, which ensures these changes are made in the best interests of the majority (Blockchain distributed consensus model). Moreover each and every online transaction involving digital assets, past and present, can be verified at any time in the future. This brings us to the first point in our list of how blockchain technology can immensely underpin the way we do online activities in coming years.
区块链技术如何打破当前的大型科技垄断
We are currently witnessing the incessant rise and unparalleled dominance of big-tech giants. In 2019, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft generated combined revenue of $899.2 billion. For reference, if those 5 big-tech companies were to aggregate into a single country, it would be the 18th largest country in the world by GDP[1]. With the majority of the population now believing the tech companies should have their powers limited[2]. it has become evident that a technological solution to break up the tech giants stronghold on our society is just as needed as government-imposed regulations. This is where blockchain technology comes into play. 斯蒂姆 is a new kind of social media platform that’s powered by Blockchain tech and the competition in this space is heating up!
保护隐私
If there was a competition for the world’s worst kept secret, social media companies and search engines accessing our private data would be the odds-on-favorite to bring the trophy home! Everything from personal conversations to search queries we enter to advertisements we click on is tracked, recorded, and stored. A blockchain-based system could prove to be a fine antidote to this treacherous predicament. As cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and IOTA have demonstrated, combining cryptography and economic incentives can establish an unbreachable way of storing and accessing the private information of anonymous users. Blockchain networks with special cryptographic functions can enable the protection of information and manage who can access it by allowing varying degrees of confidentiality. Blocksurvey.io is an example of such a network. It implements a blockchain system that prevents your personal information from being shared when you’re answering a third-party survey.
打击假新闻
Fake news and clickbait have infested our orthodox social media feeds. A survey held in spring 2020 showed that 60% of 16-to-24-year-olds in the UK had recently used social media for information about the coronavirus, and 59% had come across fake news on the subject[3]. The situation across the globe is not any better. A Reuters Institute report for the University of Oxford’s Study of Journalism accounts that 55% of readers are concerned about online misinformation. The related YouGov survey which featured 75,000 people from 38 countries across all continents has uncovered the disquieting fact that less than half of people (49%) trust the news media they use themselves[4].
So why aren’t these social media powerhouses not taking sufficient measures to tackle this? Is it because they are not equipped with a technique capable enough to mitigate and verify millions of pieces of information posted within mere minutes? Or is it because fake news and clickbait drive up engagement and more engagement equals more money? Well, it’s a bit of both. Here, the transparent nature of a blockchain ledger becomes the wildcard.
According to Avivah Litan, the co-author of the “Predicts 2020: Blockchain Technology” report, By 2023, up to 30% of world news and video content will be authenticated as real by blockchain ledgers, countering Deep Fake technology[5]. As blockchains continue to make swift and palpable moves through the world of technology, we might be heading towards a fake news-free social media networks.
对抗审查
Big tech oligarchs have been under increasing scrutiny lately regarding their enforcement of rigorous online censorship and demonetization. While the global conversation regarding the threat to free speech from big-tech monopolies gets heated, Chinese internet users have already deployed blockchains to resist the heavy censorship implemented by the governing Chinese Communist Party. Several blocked letters and reports have been published on the Ethereum blockchain by anonymous users. Since Ethereum transactions are permanent and distributed among many computers in public decentralized networks, anyone could read the materials, and the CCP was unable to tamper with the information or force ISPs to remove them[6]. While it must be noted that the Chinese state-led censorship vastly differentiates from the big-tech companies’ censorship, the principle of utilizing blockchains to fight online censorship can be adopted by any platform wishing to supersede current social media heavyweights.
为获得报酬铺平新途径
Social media content producers have long been resigned to losing well-earned money to media platforms acting as the middle-man. A blockchain network that features a goal-based financial incentive system can eliminate this problem and allow individual creators themselves to gain agency over their content as opposed to a central media platform. A blockchain-based video sharing platform could rival YouTube in the future by adopting this theory.
Ranidu Lankage’s blockchain-based music streaming service 奥迪斯 has already incorporated this idea to its core. The innovative Sri Lankan DJ’s platform will allow users to spend tokens to listen to songs as it seeks to cut out the middle-man in streaming and pay up-and-coming artists their fair share. 校对 and 开放音乐倡议 are organisations that use blockchain tech as a way to protect copyrights of web content creators.
Furthermore, businesses could have the opportunity to streamline their transactions and payment processes using “smart contracts”, a series of programs that are stored on a blockchain and can be used to automatically exchange rewards based on certain conditions and criteria.
结论
随着大型科技巨头继续利用其无懈可击的力量踩在薄冰上，区块链开发人员的使命是破坏和削弱这些垄断企业，并建立一个更加去中心化的网络，这无疑是未来十年值得关注的使命。提示雪崩效果。
现在让我们看看区块链技术的应用
区块链技术在许多领域都很有用。在这里，我们列出了一些常见的应用程序。
政府部门的应用
1. 实行民主选举的委托投票制
With the hotly-contested 2020 US Presidential Election reigniting the age-old public discourse regarding voter-fraud, there has probably never been a better time to look into permanently applying blockchain technology to create a secure voting system. The immutable nature of the blockchain would guarantee the eradication of ballot-tampering as well as eliminate the need for manual counting, thus delivering faster election results. Moreover, the ability to cast your vote digitally in the form of a cryptographic unit or token would void the need to be physically present in order to vote. This will help boost voter turnout. Additionally, the transparency and traceability that blockchain offers will widely decrease public distrust related to the validity of the ballots and election results in general, and prevent the need for further audits. Needless to say, all things considered, a blockchain-based voting system would be a significant overhaul to the currently outdated traditional voting systems. 沃茨 is one such company that’s researching on this area.
2. 存储公共数据
Government databases are almost always the largest single record of information on its citizens. They record, store and manage individual’s data on a plethora of different factors from birth to death. This makes them very attractive targets for hackers and other bad-faith actors. A blockchain network can help reduce this threat significantly. The decentralization will not only provide resistance to a potential breach or data remodification, but it will also add better transparency to the database. Furthermore, a blockchain structure would help the general public navigates these databases more smoothly and efficiently.
金融领域的应用
3. 降低跨境交易成本
跨境交易通常被证明是昂贵且耗时的。这主要是由于必须通过安检并沿途在多家银行停留。像比特币这样受区块链启发的方法将加速这一过程并有助于降低交易成本和费用。这意味着不再依赖 PayPal！
4. 验证数字身份
With 91 percent of banks, worldwide have started to invest in blockchain-inspired solutions, it won’t be long before they will be able to authenticate the identity of a unique customer using blockchain IDs. This will allow them to protect their institution as well as their customer from scammers and other fraudulent personnel. 氢气平台 is a great example of an online source that uses blockchain properties to facilitate digital identification, among other financial services. Evernym 系列 is another company that provide similar service.
5. 众筹
A blockchain system that deploys smart-contracts will be able to eliminate the third-party platforms that currently run crowdfunding programs. This will allow the donors and recipients to deal directly with each other as well as save the intermediary fee.
6. 股票交易
由于区块链网络能够快速验证和确认交易，它有可能通过为客户提供更快的交易体验来超越当前的股票交易平台。
医疗保健领域的应用
7. 保护医疗数据和患者隐私
With a staggering 176 million+ personal health records being accessed by intruders between 2009-2017,[7] it’s fair to say that data security has become a major concern within the healthcare industry. Blockchain networks’ version of an immutable, decentralized patient detail log would be able to facilitate a significantly better and more secure healthcare database. 突发 IQ is one of the companies that heavily research in this area.
8. 推进基因组学
基因组学是分子生物学的一个分支，研究基因组的结构、功能、进化和作图。随着科学家们在这个非凡的领域不断取得重大突破，区块链系统可以通过提供数字基础设施来存储数十亿个基因数据来帮助他们。它还可以提供开源市场，人们可以在其中将加密的遗传信息出售给研究人员。
制造业中的应用
9. 监控供应链
The decentralized ledger format can be utilized to track containers during the shipping process. Every crew member in the supply chain has access to the information and they can perform their job accordingly. If used properly in a similar logistical function, this technology can drastically reduce the human effort and paperwork required to complete the task. IBM recently concluded an initial test of the application with favorable results. 船链 is a company that operate in this space.
10. 物联网
物联网 （IoT） 是指可以通过互联网共享数据的无线连接物理对象的网络。使用区块链应用程序来验证此类网络中数据和设备的完整性的想法非常有前途。
11. 3D打印
3D 打印本身就是一项有趣的创新，然而，使用区块链方法来管理其供应链只会将其提升到一个新的水平。区块链在没有中间人的情况下促进了过程中的每一项功能。从加密设计到通过智能合约协商印刷交易，再到最终产品信息和所有权详细信息。
教育应用
12. 促进高级学生登记
Unsurprisingly, blockchain’s components can be harnessed for educational purposes as well. Using the immutable distributed ledger, administrators can establish and manage a database that consists of invaluable academic information on each student. This information can be accessed to identify the problems students experience, and put forth necessary actions or teaching techniques required accordingly. Even further, by using the decentralized structure of the blockchain, this data can be shared among parents, educators, and even multiple schools or universities. Apart from this, student data can be easily verified to ensure the accuracy of each student’s credentials and achievements.
13. 通过基于代币的奖励系统激励学生
代币化的数字学分甚至加密货币都可以用作学生和教师的激励措施，以提高士气和提高他们的学术潜力。教师可以向表现最好的学生提供额外的（数字）学分作为鼓励，并营造一个热情的学习环境。
14. 创建教育成就组合
A blockchain network that stores students’ academic accomplishments and merits can help them build a transparent digital CV, which, when presented to a future employer, can be verified by checking with the school or university administrator. APPII 餐厅 is a blockchain-based recruitment platform that allows students to create their portfolios. Once the student enters his or her academic details and milestones, a blockchain network verifies the accuracy of the input credentials, and machine learning is occupied to match the data in the CV to relevant job opportunities.
法律行业的应用
15. 公证职能
Blockchains are a great way to keep track of things over time while preserving original data and transparency, right? So, it is undoubtedly the perfect digital notary. Recording legal documents related to intangible assets like intellectual property, royalties, wills, art, copyright agreements, and patents on a blockchain network would make it extremely easy to confirm and verify the validity of those documents whenever necessary. Stampd.io is a website that allows you to add documents to a crypto blockchain, setting up the chance in the future to prove that it was added by you with an exact timestamp. A non-fungible token (NFT) is one of those modern investment asset class that’s popular among crypto traders these days. Most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain so you need to have some Ethereum in order to get into this kind of investments.
16. 管理房地产交易
The information regarding tangible property registration and transfer of ownership rights can be efficiently managed through a blockchain ledger. Since the data stored on the blockchain is fully transparent and immutable, any conflict related to these “smart properties” can quickly be resolved. Propy is a company that utlize blockchain tech in this space.
17. 维护工人的权利
According to the International Labor Organization, almost 25 million people work in forced labor around the industry globe. This may soon change for the better, thanks to a bit of help from blockchain technology. The US State Department and Coca-Cola have joined forces to form a blockchain consisting of protocols and smart contracts to verify unacceptable working situations and pressure their respective employers to honor the contracts of those workers[8].
在各种其他行业的应用
18. 促进能源交易
Energy microgrids built on blockchains can decentralize the production process and ultimately bring down the price of energy drastically. The first real-world experiment was recently conducted in Brooklyn, NY by LO3 energy in collaboration with Siemens[9].
19. 防止里程表欺诈
Odometer fraud has been a long-standing issue in the automotive industry. This is when fraudulent dealers mechanically tamper with a car’s odometer and reduce its mileage to make it appear less used, resulting in the customer overpaying for the vehicle. A blockchain-based smart odometer can counter this by consistently recording the vehicle’s mileage in the form of blocks. This would make it impossible to alter the mileage information and give digital quality assurance of the vehicle. This theory has now been adopted by Bosch’s IoT lab, and they have experimented with it on 100 cars across Germany and Switzerland.
20. 确保食品安全
According to World Health Organization, roughly 420,000 people die each year due to food-borne diseases[10]. This mostly comes down to the difficulty of isolating harmful food. Blockchain method can be implemented to track food from raw materials or harvest to final production, with verified data regarding its whereabouts and condition from farm or factory to kitchen.
21. 促进数字存储
云存储是目前最常用的数据存储形式。但是，这些软件的集中设置使它们容易受到黑客的攻击。可以提出在区块链服务器上运行的去中心化主机作为这个问题的可行解决方案。
总结
Blockchain – Ascending beyond cryptocurrency: the irreversible, unalterable, unhackable, uncheatable digital revolution of our generation; a pragmatic technology that’s reshaping tomorrow – one block at a time. The future is now.
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