A chain of blocks
Types of Blockchain networks
We go with the first concept that you have to master. The blockchain as such can not go alone, it must be accompanied by an adjective, and these can be "public" or "private".
Public Blockchain Networks
Public blockchain networks like Bitcoin, allow any individual to participate in it, all records are public and anyone can join. It is therefore a distributed network, in which all members are equal.
The system is based on a concept called cryptographic economy, which is a series of rewards for the mining of cryptocurrencies, validated by the work test (Proof of work). Quiet, below we explain it in detail.
Private Blockchain Networks
Private blockchain networks are blockchain networks in which only the companies that have created them can say who participates and who does not, and they decide who to give access to. It can be a central authority or several that decide it.
At the moment we are not certain of the existence of any private blockchain network. It must also be said that this would not be as big a change in many sectors as the public blockchain networks will imply.
What is the Blockchain?
We could say that blockchain technology is like a great accounting book, in which annotations are made, they are public, and everything is registered, so that anyone can see it and have access to it freely.
To put another simile and understand it better, the blockchain is like a large global computer network, in which your hard disk is shared and replicated in all computers and all the information is therefore available in any of them. The data of one is exactly the same as the data of the other. Now better?
Bitcoin is the birth of the Blockchain
The blockchain technology is born with the bitcoin, this virtual currency or token has solved the challenge of being able to send money to any person in the world without needing an external entity to regulate it. This is possible thanks to the birth of Blockchain technology. We could say that Bitcoin is the first example of successful implementation of this new technology.
Bitcoin enables any individual in the world to have access to money, access financial services ...
This will not surprise us unless it reminds you that a large part of the world's population does not have access to a bank account.
Now that smartphones can be marketed for € 5 any citizen of the world can acquire bitcoins and therefore money without having to go to any bank.
CAPITALISM WILL ALSO BE TRANSFORMED
Capitalism as it was conceived, was based on the fact that money was a scarce resource, and now it will be more abundant than ever, that of course will change all the rules of the game.
The bitcoin allows us among other things to send money to another person without the need for any person to approve it, and therefore monitor it, will be the rest of users who validate this transaction and give it for good.
Ok ... Michel, I smell that it will not be safe and there may be scams, who guarantees that my money is worth? Who do I complain?
This challenge is the one that has managed to solve this technology, now we will enter the technical part, but I give you an advance ... To make a transaction, there is the sending party, the receiver and an encrypted key, when money travels from one part to another , passes through nodes, and the money arrives, when it arrives, every network receives a copy of this transaction.
Ok ... now imagine that instead of sending money, we will send data ... This is the true potential of this technology.
How does Blockchain technology work?
First of all, to say that I am not a computer, so I will try to give an explanation so that anyone can understand it without going into too many technicalities ... Let's GO!
We will explain how a transaction of bitcoins would be carried out from the technical point of view. First, in a transaction are the following parts:
Issuing Party
Receiving party
Encryption key or hash
Amount of bitcoins or information to transfer