What is a blockchain?
In simple words, blockchain is basically a database. But a very special one, one which is the most secure and impossible to hack as for now.
Blockchain is "unhackable" by its nature. Because instead of being on a computer like normal databases, blockchain is decentralized, which means it is stored on multiple devices across the globe. So to hack a blockchain one would need to hack into all the devices across the globe which is impossible as for now.
As for the developers, a blockchain collects information together in groups, known as blocks, that hold sets of information. Blocks have certain storage capacities and, when filled, are closed and linked to the previously filled block, just like a linked list, forming a chain of data known as the blockchain.
Blockchain vs Database
| Criteria | Blockchain | Database |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | Decentralized: no central authority | Centralized: controlled by an admin |
| Architecture | Distributed Network | Client-Server |
| Integrity | Data can never be altered | Data can be altered |
| Data Handling | Only read and write operations are allowed | CRUD i.e. Create, Read, Update & Delete are allowed |
| Transparency | completely transparent | the admin decides who views the data |
| Performance | Slowed by the verification since data is stored on multiple devices | Extremely fast an scalable |
| Cost | Costly and harder to maintain | Cheaper to implement and maintain |
- So basically blockchain has a lot of advantages over normal databases but it is not better than it due to basic things like cost and performance.
Cryptocurrency: Blockchain's most popular application yet
Cryptocurrency, as you would already know, is just digital currency. Crypto uses blockchain as a base to store all the transactions. This was one of the best application of blockchain since transaction data needs to secure. No one should be able to change it. And this is the exact thing which blockchain does.
Conclusion (My thoughts)
So as for the answer of "Is blockain a future?". I think YES, it is. Blockchain is a very secure way to store our data. Also nowadays tech companies have become so big that people are stating to question their power. Blockchain is a way to decentralize the data away from these big companies.
Also as more and more people start adopting blockchain the prices will go down. More over technologies like Polygon sidechain also reduces cost and improves performance over normal blockchain. But that's a topic for another blog.
So Yes, according to me, blockchain could indeed be the future of data storing.
Cover Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash
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