What is a block chain, why can you say that it is an invention comparable to the Internet?

Virtual currency "Bitcoin (bit coin)Technology that became known to the world by the appearance of "Blockchain (block chain)There is an evaluation that it is a large invention comparable to the Internet. Why important block chains that may be applied not only to virtual currencies but to all sectors such as finance and commerce, tracking, data transmission support the InternetTCP / IPYou can tell by comparing it to.

The Truth About Blockchain
https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain

Although it is a block chain which became known by the appearance of bit coin, it is not a synonym for virtual currency, it is a highly applicable technology that can be utilized even in virtual currency, is a concept and concept. In short, an example of using block chains is virtual currency.

You can see how block chains are used with bit coins by looking at the following articles.

Summary of things I would like to know to perfectly understand the virtual currency "Bitcoin" - GIGAZINE


Block chains are like ledgers that record all of "trading (exchange)", so you can incorporate the mechanism of block chain in any field where exchange is done. In the virtual currency, the ledger which records "all" the money (accurately "value") exchanges, when exchanging data in the case of data transmission, when and when the person exchanged data with whom, when and who interacted with whom It is a chain.

The excellent point of the block chain is that it is unnecessary to have a centralized organization and mechanism to manage the exchange. The point where communication is shared through a network such as the Internet is quite different from the system that mediates existing interactions. It is virtually impossible for everyone to share and share resources, thereby maintaining and managing ledgers, which are huge transaction records, and falsifying interaction records to share with everyone. It is impossible to tamper with all the records sharing the block chains on the network if you want to tamper with the transaction record of the block chain.

If you use block chains that can not be tampered with, you can secure the reliability of transactions without cost. For example, if you want to remit money to a remote location, financial institutions are intermediating to ensure the security of the exchange, such as confirming that you are the right partner and sending the specified exact amount. Instead of securing the safety of transactions, financial institutions take a commission, but if the virtual currency is guaranteed transactions that can not be tampered with block chains, intermediaries are unnecessary. It is that traders can exchange money (value) without paying costs to intermediaries. The same is true for stock buying and selling, and now brokerage companies are mediating, but if you use block chains, securities companies will be unnecessary.


Although it is a block chain which is primarily lively in the financial area, the application range of the block chain is not limited to the financial field. In the world where interaction exists, it is possible to utilize the block chain, it is believed that what has been obstacles to exchange such as money (commission), time and physical position disappears, new value and service will be born .

Professor Marco Ian City of Harvard University and Professor Karim R. Rakhani, who contributed to Harvard Business ReviewThe Truth About BlockchainIn my article, I explain the block chain to TCP / IP and explain its value. With the emergence of TCP / IP technology, e-mail came out, after that the network spread to the world wide web, the so-called Internet world was born. According to Professor Ian City, the block chain is also open, distributed and shared like TCP / IP, and that service will spread like the Internet. In this parlance, the e-mail that was the first service that grew up with TCP / IP is a bit coin in the block chain.

TCP / IP created new economic value by dramatically reducing connection costs. And Ian City expects that the emergence of a new economic value by the emergence of a block chain that dramatically reduces the cost of transactions (transactions).

When an e-mail is born, the product goes by just pressing the buttonAmazon's dash buttonOr arrange a car with a smartphoneUberThere should have never thought of such a service to be born. Block chains are expected to be useful not only for securing the safety of transactions but also for predicting what will happen in the future, as it records past actions and performance. There is a possibility that services that can not be imagined can be born in the future from the mode of use with bit coins.


Professor Ian City believes that as it took decades for the birth of a wide variety of Internet services from e-mails, block chains will also create services over the years as well. Also, from a business point of view, it is pointed out that adding a bit coin, which is already being established as a settlement infrastructure, into the settlement method is the first step. And it is the next step to build a private block chain network with limited trustworthy transactions in a relatively small local network and reduce transaction costs. Specifically, in the diamond industry, attempts to manage and track the flow of raw ores excavated from mines until they reach consumers with block chains have begun.

Professor Ian City points out that the first areas that benefit from the block chain that will occur over the next 10 years are "authentication systems" and "prevention of money laundering." A public identity verification system such as a passport using a block chain was born, and it is expected that a system that tracks the flow of money and prevents money laundering will emerge. In the near future, it is expected that the election voting system will also be managed in the block chain and guaranteeing elections that could not result in fraudulent tampering.

As block chains, which are said to be comparable to the Internet, spawn various services over the years, huge players like Google and Facebook in the Internet world will be born in the block chain world as well Ian City The professor points out.