Blockchain Based Solutions |The Scions of The Internet

The origin of the internet is as old as computers, dating back to the 1950s. Like other revolutionary technologies, the internet evolved from basics like networking, making headways to complicated protocols. It grew as an empowerment today, as a lifeline of communication, business and daily necessities for billions around the globe. Internet is now the crux of technology, which transformed as the foundation of many other dimensions like Big Data, Cloud Computing, and most recently, Blockchain solutions.

While Big Data and Cloud Computing evolved as massive technological disruptions, Blockchain solutions are now evolving as a significant facelift of the internet. Although the technology gained initial popularity as the basis of cryptocurrency, its metamorphosis as the future of internet application is taking shape eventually.

Cryptocurrency- Birth of Blockchain based solutions

Blockchain technology is only a decade old, supposedly originating in Japan. As records mention, Blockchain was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto as a public ledger system to store the currency called Bitcoin. The latter is a digital asset and a medium of exchange. It is the first among Blockchain based solutions. This digital asset uses strong cryptography to secure its transactions, hence, gaining the moniker as Cryptocurrency.

Blockchain is a solution to a pertinent problem in digital cash transactions called Double Spending. It is possible to corrupt a digital token by duplicating its underlying digital files. Such duplicate tokens can let online transactions occur multiple times for the same amount of money, creating fake records of new currencies. It is similar to the creation of counterfeit money in the physical world.

Prevention of Double Spending has two approaches: Centralization and Decentralization. In Centralization, a third party verifies if a token is on use. In Decentralization, strong cryptographic techniques create a system of distributed-ledgers. This system of distributed-ledgers is Blockchain.

Differences between Blockchain & Internet -- Is Blockchain different from the Internet?

On the onset of Blockchain’s popularity, a general understanding of the technology is necessary. A key aspect is its comprehension in light of the Internet. While Blockchain is different from how the internet works, it is not different from the internet, in terms of its origin or existence. Blockchain is different, but not separate from the Internet. So how Blockchain based solutions are different from the internet?

Applications on the internet are centralized, but decentralization is the basic aspect of Blockchain. Centralized servers store everything on internet., Servers are physical devices that store digital information. A wired or wireless connection connects them to devices creating a vast network of the internet.
In contrast, Blockchain does not need centralized servers because here information is distributed across the network equally. It is a peer-to-peer network creating a distributed computing system. Information on any transaction is in each ledger, which are individual blocks in the network. This is the primary difference between the Internet and the Blockchain.

However, Blockchain does not exist separately from the internet. It is a section of the internet that is secured cryptographically so that the information distributed in the system is accessible only to its exclusive users.

Unique aspects of Blockchain

The basic features of decentralization and cryptography provide many unique characteristics to Blockchain technology. The major facets of Blockchain are immutability, being anonymous yet public and constant verifications.

• Blocks in the chain are immutable; it is impossible to copy or alter a block because it is integrated into the previous block. Any attempt to change the block will lead to a mismatch in identities with the previous block, securing the information. Thus, tempering a block is not possible as it means attacking the complete chain.
• Each block of a blockchain is anonymous. Only the owner of the ledger has complete control over the information in the block. But, any user can verify if a transaction on the block is true or authentic by mining. Only the information regarding an exchange between users is shared in the system. What is exchanged is only known to the two parties between which exchange occurs.
• Verification of transactions happens every 10 minutes in Blockchain through mining. This makes this technology secure and incorruptible.

Other facets are making Blockchain a unique technology. Verification of transactions does not need any third party, blockchain based solutions are open to anybody and it does not require any permission to enter a public distribution system. These aspects are contrasting to that of the internet.

Blockchain based solutions as the New Alternative

With several special features, Blockchain app development offerings are now emerging as an alternative to conventional internet applications. Industries are gradually adopting Blockchain technology for its ingrained advantages. It evolved much more than being only a cryptocurrency. Apart from the corporate sector, public sectors are also using this actively. Several advanced countries are now implementing Blockchain as public utilities.

The shift from conventional internet applications to blockchain based applications is drastic. Blockchain is imminent in current as well as in the upcoming landscape of technology.