08 Sep Blockchain Technology Resource Guide
Blockchain technology, long associated with Bitcoin, is increasingly being applied in various sectors and businesses. In addition to cryptocurrencies, blockchain is used in financial services, supply chain management, peer-to-peer trading, video games, smart contracts (simple contracts that will execute when certain conditions are met), and many other other industries. The technology promises creative professional new ways to manage the rights to their work and monetize it. For example, through its acquisition of Bindy, Pixsy offers visual artists international blockchain-based image rights registration.
But what is blockchain technology? To answer that question, Jesus Cedeño, cryptocurrency expert and writer for the Crypto Coin Society, has published an extensive backgrounder. While his article focuses on the application of blockchain in crypto coin, the article gives a good review of the technology behind blockchain. It’s information that creative professionals will find useful as blockchain becomes more prevalent in rights management and in the registration of their work.
To help you navigate Cedeño’s extensive article, here is an outline with links:
So What Is Blockchain Technology?
In his introduction to the article, Cedeño positions blockchain as one of the technologies which will usher in the “4th industrial revolution.”
How Do Blockchains Work?
The “ledger” concept of blockchain is explained as one which is public and decentralized, so that participants can review, check, and validate the contents, and the historical record of the ledger is preserved. There are various types of blockchain with different consensus protocols (the protocols by which the data blocks are verified), and Cedeño covers the most common ones.
What are the Types of Blockchain Technology?
This section delves into the difference between public and private blockchains, hybrid models, and “blockless” technology, DAG. It also describes how the technology is being used across different blockchains across industries.
Why do We Need Blockchain?
In this section, Cedeño’s self-admitted enthusiasm for blockchain comes out. He argues in favor blockchain as a disruptive technology for good. Because blockchain is decentralized, the need for a central authority or gatekeeper is removed. Cedeño contends that in turn promotes transparency, freedom, inclusivity, and privacy.
What are Different Generations of Blockchain?
This section goes into the history of blockchain technology, describing how each generation built on the previous iterations. The section also explains how the evolution of the original technology led to the development of a new computing platform, Etherum, which permitted the development of decentralized applications such as smart contracts innovations that have the potential to revolutionize the way creative professionals manage their work.
Bitcoin Connection
Cedeño concludes with a brief overview of the history of bitcoin.