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When I first started reading about blockchain, it was usually in conjunction with bitcoin, the digital currency used to value transactions on the internet. Blockchain is the technology that manages the database on which bitcoin transactions are stored, but confusion about it is widespread.
Blockchain can be described as a digital ledger that records transactions and documents any alterations to those transactions, making it possible for all steps in any process to be traced back to the original creator. The name comes from the idea that the transactions are blocks, with the ledger notations forming a chain linking each block to the previous one. Bitcoin is not underwritten by a central bank or governing body; its blockchain ledger consists of communally recorded transaction data that is reconciled by its network in 10-minute intervals.
Blockchain is more secure than databases maintained by only one authority, which are more easily hacked or compromised. Each user has a copy of the data, making the network so vast that it could survive a natural disaster or pervasive attack on its infrastructure. Also, to alter a block on the chain, a user would have...