Because of the unfriendly interfaces associated with blockchain and the fact that it was difficult for everyday people to comprehend, it was once a system that was only used by geeks and people who could understand code and other complex technology communications. This has completely changed since people have started to learn about how they can use it and ways that it can be applied for greater functions.
Think about the internet itself, although not everyone is clear on how it works and everything that goes on in the backend of the internet, virtually everyone knows how to surf the internet in one way or another.
They are aware of how the internet can be used and although they may not be able to perform complex functions using the internet, they can certainly use it in their everyday lives. As time carries on, even the more complex functions such as coding and website building are becoming more accessible for average people, and everything continues to evolve.
The same could be completely true for blockchain. The more the general public shows an interest in these systems, the more blockchain is going to evolve. While blockchain is still very far from being accessible and user-friendly, the point is that it is slowly moving in that direction.
The intention is that eventually, blockchain will be able to be used by virtually everyone. Ideally, you won’t need to know anything about the blockchain system itself, you will only need to know how to interact with the user-friendly interfaces.
Already, startup companies are starting to develop these friendly interfaces that are intended to make using blockchain as simple as logging into your email account. Another myth about blockchain is that it is similar to cloud storage. This is completely untrue.
Blockchain is incapable of storing any physical information like you would see with a pdf file or a word document. The blockchain system is not a storage system like the cloud. Instead, it is a system that provides a “proof-of- existence.” This means that the system can prove a document exists, but it cannot regurgitate the document itself. However, they have developed what they call “data lakes” which allow for these documents to be stored, and the owner of the information is the one who controls how it can be accessed by others.
There are many reasons why this would be beneficial for people who are seeking to use the blockchain technology for their programs. Let’s think about a college degree for example. If a school were to use blockchain technologies for their degrees, each degree would be logged into the computer using blockchain technology.
Each degree would then be provided with its own code, which is called a “hash”. Later, when a person with a degree wanted to apply for jobs, they would be able to prove the existence of the degree by providing the company with the hash.
Then, if the company wanted to access the degree to look it over, they would be able to contact the employee that owns the degree and require access to it. This means that there is still a high amount of security around personal information and the information within’ documents.
However, it also assists in proving that they do exist, which provides a great deal of importance. Something many people think about blockchain is that it is only usable by those who are in the financial sector. The initial application of blockchain was bitcoin, and therefore people think that the entire system is built around cryptocurrencies and finances.
Although it does have a major impact on this sector, it also has the ability to have an impact in many other places, as well. As you learned in the previous chapter, however, blockchain has the ability to have a significant impact in many other places in society, as well.
Real estate, healthcare, and digital identities can all be impacted by blockchain. Using this system, there can be a significant amount of information stored on the internet that could then be accessed, with permission.
Blockchain has a major impact and ability to make a change in the financial sector of society, but it also has the ability to make a major impact on other areas of society as well.
Although it is mainly being explored for its ability to assist the financial industry, it is now starting to be researched for its ability to assist in other industries as well.
As the program becomes more understood and its abilities become more understood, an increasing amount of industries are becoming interested in how it can have a major impact on their own industry.
