What is Blockchain?
It’s a shared ledger for recording the history of commercial transactions – that cannot be altered.
Blockchain is the technology behind Bitcoin
Blockchain is a public electronic ledger – similar to a relational database – that can be openly shared among disparate users and that creates an unchangeable record of their transactions, each one time-stamped and linked to the previous one. Each digital record or transaction in the thread is called a block (hence the name), and it allows either an open or controlled set of users to participate in the electronic ledger. Each block is linked to a specific participant.
Blockchain can only be updated by consensus between participants in the system, and when new data is entered, it can never be erased. The blockchain contains a true and verifiable record of each and every transaction ever made in the system.
There are a variety of blockchain permutations, and they fall mainly into one of two categories – public or private. Public blockchains allow anyone to see or send transactions as long as they’re part of the consensus process. There are also consortium blockchains, where only a pre-selected number of parties are authorized to use the ledger. For example, a group of commercial companies and they use use blockchain to do secure transactions between the member companies.
Private blockchains, in contrast, restrict the ability to write to a distributed ledger to one organization, such as a group of employees within a corporation, or between a set number of organizations.
Blockchain benefits:
- Enhanced coordination and choreography between parties through a shared view of the latest status, obligations and other information
- Master source of data instead of disparate data stores that require constant validation and reconciliation
- Complete traceability, ensuring integrity of data that is continuously updated and maintained by multiple parties
- Reliable and accurate audit trail with transparency of the identity responsible for each data change
If you would like to explore blockchain possibilities for your organization, call TBS Automation Systems inc. at 856.424.3247 option 3.