Blockchain is a constantly growing ledger that keeps a permanent record of all the transactions that have taken place in a secure, chronological, and immutable way. It can be used for the secure transfer of money, property, contracts, etc. without requiring a third-party intermediary such as bank or government. Blockchain is a software protocol, but it could not be run without the Internet (like SMTP is for email).

What is Blockchain?

A blockchain is a constantly growing ledger which keeps a permanent record of all the transactions that have taken place in a secure, chronological, and immutable way.
Let’s breakdown the definition,
• Ledger: It is a file that is constantly growing.
• Permanent: It means once the transaction goes inside a blockchain, you can put up it permanently in the ledger.
• Secure: Blockchain placed information in a secure way. It uses very advanced cryptography to make sure that the information is locked inside the blockchain.
• Chronological: Chronological means every transaction happens after the previous one.
• Immutable: It means as you build all the transaction onto the blockchain, this ledger can never be changed.
A blockchain is a chain of blocks which contain information. Each block records all of the recent transactions, and once completed goes into the blockchain as a permanent database. Each time a block gets completed, a new block is generated.

Note: A blockchain can be used for the secure transfer of money, property, contracts, etc. without requiring a third-party intermediary like bank or government. Blockchain is a software protocol, but it could not be run without the Internet (like SMTP used in email).

Who uses the blockchain?

Blockchain technology can be integrated into multiple areas. The primary use of blockchains is as a distributed ledger for cryptocurrencies. It shows great promise across a wide range of business applications like Banking, Finance, Government, Healthcare, Insurance, Media and Entertainment, Retail, etc.

Need of Blockchain

Blockchain technology has become popular because of the following.
• Time reduction: In the financial industry, blockchain can allow the quicker settlement of trades. It does not take a lengthy process for verification, settlement, and clearance. It is because of a single version of agreed-upon data available between all stakeholders.
• Unchangeable transactions: Blockchain register transactions in a chronological order which certifies the unalterability of all operations, means when a new block is added to the chain of ledgers, it cannot be removed or modified.
• Reliability: Blockchain certifies and verifies the identities of each interested parties. This removes double records, reducing rates and accelerates transactions.
• Security: Blockchain uses very advanced cryptography to make sure that the information is locked inside the blockchain. It uses Distributed Ledger Technology where each party holds a copy of the original chain, so the system remains operative, even the large number of other nodes fall.
• Collaboration: It allows each party to transact directly with each other without requiring a third-party intermediary.
• Decentralized: It is decentralized because there is no central authority supervising anything. There are standards rules on how every node exchanges the blockchain information. This method ensures that all transactions are validated, and all valid transactions are added one by one.

History of Blockchain

The blockchain technology was described in 1991 by the research scientist Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. They wanted to introduce a computationally practical solution for time-stamping digital documents so that they could not be backdated or tampered. They develop a system using the concept of cryptographically secured chain of blocks to store the time-stamped documents.
In 1992, Merkle Trees were incorporated into the design, which makes blockchain more efficient by allowing several documents to be collected into one block. Merkle Trees are used to create a ‘secured chain of blocks.’ It stored a series of data records, and each data records connected to the one before it. The newest record in this chain contains the history of the entire chain. However, this technology went unused, and the patent lapsed in 2004.

In 2004, computer scientist and cryptographic activist Hal Finney introduced a system called Reusable Proof Of Work(RPoW) as a prototype for digital cash. It was a significant early step in the history of cryptocurrencies. The RPoW system worked by receiving a non-exchangeable or a non-fungible Hashcash based proof of work token in return, created an RSA-signed token that further could be transferred from person to person.
RPoW solved the double-spending problem by keeping the ownership of tokens registered on a trusted server. This server was designed to allow users throughout the world to verify its correctness and integrity in real-time.

Further, in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto conceptualized the theory of distributed blockchains. He improves the design in a unique way to add blocks to the initial chain without requiring them to be signed by trusted parties. The modified trees would contain a secure history of data exchanges. It utilizes a peer-to-peer network for timestamping and verifying each exchange. It could be managed autonomously without requiring a central authority. These improvements were so beneficial that makes blockchains as the backbone of cryptocurrencies. Today, the design serves as the public ledger for all transactions in the cryptocurrency space.
The evolution of blockchains has been steady and promising. The words block and chain were used separately in Satoshi Nakamoto’s original paper but were eventually popularized as a single word, the Blockchain, by 2016. In recent time, the file size of cryptocurrency blockchain containing records of all transactions occurred on the network has grown from 20 GB to 100 GB.
So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Overview and History of BlockChain’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in BlockChain or Ethereum. If you wish to learn BlockChain or Ethereum and build a career in BlockChain domain, then check out our interactive, Blockchain and Ethereum Developer Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:
https://www.tecklearn.com/course/blockchain-and-ethereum-certification-training/

Blockchain and Ethereum Developer Training

About the Course

Tecklearn’s Blockchain and Ethereum Certification Training course in the blockchain technology that covers essential concepts like Blockchain programming, Ethereum, Solidity, Digital ledger types, Smart Contracts, Multichain, Bitcoin mining, Cryptocurrency, etc. The course provides an overview of the structure and mechanism of Blockchain. You will learn about the Ethereum ecosystem, how smart contracts are developed using Solidity and how to deploy a business network using Hyperledger Compose.

Why Should you take BlockChain and Ethereum Certification Training?

• The average salary of a Blockchain Ethereum Developer is $158,860 per annum – Paysa.com.
• Blockchain tech has gone far beyond its beginnings in banking and cryptocurrency: In 2019, businesses are expected to spend $2.9B on the technology.
• IBM reports that Blockchain markets are headed to $60 Billion worldwide by 2024.

What you will Learn in this Course?

Introduction and origin of Blockchain

• How does our current financial system work?
• What can be the possible solution
• What is a distributed system
• What is Blockchain
• How does a Blockchain work
• Components of Blockchain
• Business network
• Consensus, Provenances, immutability and finality

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

• Distributed system
• Distributed Ledger technology
• Global Payments
• Why BlockChain
• BlockChain and use case needs
• Requirements of blockchain for business
• BlockChain benefits
• Types of BlockChain
• Hands on

Bitcoin Platform

• What is Bitcoin?
• Why use Bitcoins?
• Bitcoin Ecosystem
• Structure of a Bitcoin Transaction
• Merkel Trees
• Scripting language in Bitcoin
• Applications of Bitcoin script
• Nodes in a Bitcoin Network
• Bitcoin Economics
• What is Bitcoin Mining?
• Types of Mining
• Mining and Consensus
• Hands On

Introduction to Ethereum

• What is Ethereum?
• Ethereum Layers
• Introducing Smart Contracts
• Cryptocurrency in Ethereum
• Mining in Ethereum
• Consensus Mechanism
• Platform Functions in Ethereum
• Technologies that support Ethereum
• Ethereum Programming Language
• Components for the development of Ethereum DApps
• Editors and tools
• Frontend Development
• Ethereum Test Networks
• ERC Tokens
• Hands On

Solidity

• Introducing Solidity
• Sample Code, Layout of Source File
• Structure of a Contract
• State Variables, Functions Types, Reference Types
• Special Variables and Functions, Expressions and Control Structures
• Function Calls, Error Handling
• Visibility for Functions and State Variables
• Inheritance, Constructors
• Importing Smart Contracts
• Gas Limit and Loops
• Sending and Receiving Ether
• Recommendations
• Contract ABI
• Setting up the development environment and Deploying DApp
• Hands On

Hyperledger

• Introduction to Hyperledger
• Hyperledger architecture
• Hyperledger Fabric V1 Architecture
• Consensus
• Hyperledger API
• Hyperledger Application Model
• Hyperledger project and tools
• Network Topology
• Exploring Hyperledger frameworks
• Business Network Deployment on Hyperledger Composer Playground
• Sample Transaction
• Service invoices
• Hands On

Hyperledger Composer

• Development Environment using Composer
• Developing business networks
• Testing business networks
• Introduction to Hyperledger Fabric
• Hyperledger Fabric Model
• Ways to create Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Network
• Hands On

Create and Deploy Your Private Blockchain On Multichain

• What Is MultiChain
• MultiChain Privacy and Permissions
• Mining in MultiChain
• Multiple configurable Blockchains using MultiChain
• Setting up a Private Blockchain
• Hands On

Blockchain Use Cases

• Potential use cases in Blockchain
• BlockChain project

Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section and we will get back to you.

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