Every era has a number of developments that shape its course and go down in history as the notable events of that epoch. Technology continues to be a constantly evolving field that strives to outdo itself, coming up with even more spectacular developments hot on the heels of some paradigm shifting innovation. The tech space never seems to rest as developers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and government continue to push the boundaries of technology to even greater heights. Blockchain technology has in recent years become front and center of the technology discussion with intuitive applications being powered by its network architecture.
Within the context of the blockchain technology discourse, the question of whether people consider blockchain to be a scam or not does come up quite a bit. One reason for this is that the world was introduced to the blockchain via the emergence of cryptocurrency. When Satoshi Nakamoto released Bitcoin in 2009, the world became aware of blockchain technology, at least on a much larger scale. As a result, many people ascribe blockchain and cryptocurrency to be the same thing. Thus, negative sentiments against cryptocurrency sometimes tend to be transferred to the blockchain technology debate. Cryptocurrency is just one of the applications that can be powered by blockchain technology.
Is Blockchain Still Considered a Scam by the World?
In order to answer the question, this article will examine the current profile of blockchain technology in the world. Blockchains are increasingly becoming more popular in the world today. People seem to be finding newer ways to leverage the power of the blockchain for intuitive applications that provide solutions to real-world problems. Blockchain technology has a lot of important features that allow it to offer robust functionality. The theoretical immutability feature of the blockchain is one that endears people to it greatly.
Theoretical Immutability
Theoretical immutability stipulates that the records stored on the blockchain cannot be altered. Each block apart from the genesis block has a parent block on the blockchain. Thus, if any information stored on the blockchain is altered in any way, the hash functions will be misaligned and the false insertion will be automatically invalidated and discarded. This tamper-proof nature of the blockchain enables it to be useful in a number of security protocols. The digital landscape is forever at the mercy of hackers and cybercriminals and so, a technology like blockchain that is tamper proof is definitely a concept of interest for participants in the digital space.
Eliminating the Cost of Trust
The basic foundational merit of bitcoin is in its zero-cost trust protocol for payment processing. In mainstream finance, the cost of trust is an important aspect of the payment system. Third-party authenticators like banks and clearing houses are needed to ensure that everyone is playing by the rules. These third-party services charge transaction fees which form a considerable part of the total cost of a transaction. With blockchain payment systems, the third-party authenticator is eliminated and transactions are between payer and payee only.
With the introduction of smart contract by the Ethereum blockchain, the elimination of the cost of trust took on an even greater dimension far beyond the realms of payment processing. Smart contract protocols, allow for self-performing contracts that do not require a third-party arbiter. This greater expands the field in which the cost of trust can be eliminated in the global business process. The end result isn’t just cheaper and faster transactions, there also a component of increased confidence in the system. Already, smart contracts are being utilized in creating decentralized organizations, cryptocurrency system, voting, and music licensing.
Large-Scale Investment
Perhaps one of the more profound indicators of whether the world views blockchains as scam or not is in the amount of money that has been poured into blockchain projects over the years. Without even considering cryptocurrency projects and other crypto trading activities, the scale of investment by governments, corporations, and individuals into the blockchain space is astonishing.
Numerous governments all over the globe are in utilizing blockchain technology to simplify several aspects of governance. Large-scale corporations try to outdo each other by designing and creating sophisticated blockchain-based applications. IBM has invested a lot of money into developing blockchain applications for the business and finance market. Companies are creating private blockchain test-pilot applications to use in their organization. Banks, VCs, serial investors, angel investors, and tech enthusiasts alike have put up quite a lot of equity into blockchain projects all around the world.
While several national governments are waging a regulation war against cryptocurrencies, the case is the exact opposite for non-currency blockchain applications. Many governments while expressing a negative opinion of cryptocurrencies always assert that blockchain is technology for the future. From national identity management systems to land registry records and even healthcare delivery, governments have realized that blockchain has the power to provide solutions for many government administrative headaches.
The Growing Blockchain Community
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may grab most of the headlines but the blockchain community as a whole is growing in not only size but legitimacy as well. Blockchain technology has become firmly established as one of the most important emerging technologies in the same category as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT).
There are numerous blockchain conferences held in many cities across the world with thousands of participants. There is also a lot going on at the intersection of blockchain and data science. Cross-platform protocols are being developed that utilize blockchain and data science to accelerate the actualization of technologies like AI and IoT.
In answer to the question, “is blockchain still considered a scam by the world”, the answer is an emphatic no. In fact, it is highly unlikely that blockchain technology was ever seen as a scam at least not within a majority of people. Blockchain technology is part of the leading cast of technological concepts that are orchestrating the evolution of the new digital age of even greater connectivity and faster transactions.
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