End the Debate: Blockchain vs. Bitcoin

michaelmatthews (54)in #bitcoin • 8 years ago (edited)

The word "Blockchain" is all the rage these days. Banks around the world are currently busy building a bunch of centralized blockchains. How many blockchains do you need really?

THE POWER OF IMMUTABLE

Bitcoin's real power lies in its immutable database. Once data goes in, it never comes out.

All data in Bitcoin's blockchain will remain there forever. Because Bitcoin's blockchain is decentralized and global, the data is unable to be changed (even by Satoshi Nakamoto himself).

Thousands of nodes, around the planet, prevent any attempt to roll-back or remove data. This make the Bitcoin blockchain an immutable database! Can you see how powerful this is?

FACTS:

Bitcoin reached 1 petahash per second of computing power/speed on September 15th, 2013.
It is currently running at over one exahash per second.
One exahash equals 1,000 petahashes... or 1,000,000 terahashes... or 1,000,000,000 gigahashes

Bitcoin Network Hashpower Peaks Above 1000 Petahash per Second
http://themerkle.com/bitcoin-network-hashpower-peaks-above-1000-petahash-per-second/

The Bitcoin Network Hashrate Has Passed 1 Exahash
http://cryptomining-blog.com/6454-the-bitcoin-network-hashrate-has-passed-1-exahash/

QUOTE:

“All of Google today would represent less than 1% of all of mining (Bitcoin operations worldwide). The sheer degree of what is happening in (Bitcoin) mining is not being appreciated by the press. If we assume there are 10 million Google servers, and each of these servers is running, you can multiply that through and get one petahash. If they turned off all of their data centers and pointed them at Bitcoin (mining network), they would be less than 1% of the network.”

~ Balaji Srinivasan, CEO of 21 Inc.

So what have we learned so far:

To temporarily change data, a hacker would need carry out a 51% attack, which is basically impossible now that Bitcoin is the largest and most powerful computer network on Earth.

If Google stopped serving up all internet searches and pointed it's entire Googleplex at Bitcoin, at best, it could only achieve a 1% attack. That's why the Bitcoin blockchain is so secure compared to other smaller blockchains. To think that a bank can just host a blockchain in a couple data-centers somewhere is completely ridiculous! One does not simply create a blockchain. You need an entire planet to build a totally secure blockchain.

I'm going to be bold here and say that Earth's blockchain is Bitcoin! Kind of like the M.O.A.B. (mother of all blockchains). All these tiny new bank blockchains are mutable (they can be changed). They're vulnerable to cyber-attacks, bank failures and/or government confiscation. What happens if a bank goes out-of-business. What happens to all that data? Does the acquiring company take over the task of securing the data? Can a government seize the data and servers?

Let's remember that the Bitcoin blockchain has no company assets to seize and no CEO to arrest. Bitcoin is everywhere and nowhere. Like a ghost inside the machine.

What powers the network?

Banks are trying to separate Bitcoin from the Blockchain. This makes no sense and here's why:

BTC powers the Bitcoin blockchain. Miners are rewarded with BTC for verifying transactions and securing the network. Without a coin (or some type of monetary token) there is no incentive for miners to secure the network on their own.

All cars need some type of fuel to operate. Basically, the banks want to drive a car with no fuel. BTC is like fuel for the Blockchain. This is the genius of Satoshi Nakamoto. He understood economics and incentives.

If the bank gets shut down, it would be like turning off the life-support to a patient in a coma. The patient would die instantly. The bank's tiny little blockchain relys on bank funds to fuel the network and keep the lights on at the data-centers. After a bank failure, this situation could spell disaster for their mini-blockchain and all of its customers.

Centralized vs. Decentralized

Who holds the keys to the network? Banks who build just a blockchain, hold the keys to their data-centers. With Bitcoin, no one person or company holds the keys to all the data-centers that hold the decentralized and global blockchain.

I've said it once. I'll say it again... Bitcoin is everywhere and nowhere. Like a ghost inside the machine.