These days there is a lot of buzz about bitcoin which has brought attention to technology it uses i.e. Blockchain. If you follow the news about latest technology, you already know about all predictions that Blockchain will change all the sectors and will overtake all technologies. It will change everything and it will be a new world. I am sure you look at these claims with scepticism. One thing is for sure, nothing is changing overnight. So, chill!
I will try to answer few common questions one by one.
The first one which is very common - Is Blockchain actually revolutionary technology?
Yes, to great extent, but it has its own limitations which it needs to overcome before it can become useful for a lot of use cases. But the change in this space is happening very fast so it will not be long before it crosses all those hurdles. But as of now, there are inherent restrictions which it needs to overcome. When we go through what it actually is, we will look into some of those.
The second question, isn’t bitcoin a bubble and if it’s going to be burst very soon why should we bother about this technology?
First, let's be clear bitcoin is not equal to Blockchain. Bitcoin is a product of blockchain technology but blockchain is more than that. There are different opinions whether bitcoin is a bubble or not. Even if it proves to be the bubble and loses its value, it will not be because of flaws in blockchain technology. It will be because of how wildly it is being valued. Its valuation is a function of demand vs supply, greed and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Bitcoin in itself is a brilliant application of blockchain technology so we shouldn’t discount technology at all. The nature of blockchain technology makes it useful for a lot of use cases and these will increase as this technology evolves and gets pass its limitations.
The third question, isn’t change coming down the future as this technology is not fully mature, why should we bother about it now?
Yes and No. It will take time for technology to get mature, but in its present form also it has many use cases and is being implemented in a lot of areas already. So, change is not coming in some distant future it has already started. And you know what? Future comes soon enough. Just two years back no one knew about Ethereum but today it is the technology to implement blockchain effectively. As you are reading this, technology is evolving and maybe next year this time it will be more mature and being implement in your day job. So, to stay ahead of curve, you need to start knowing now.
So even if you are not a fan of bitcoin and doubt economic sense behind it, do not discount blockchain. Do know about it.
Hope this will clear some of your doubts and questions about Blockchain. I have tried to keep it simple without going into technical details, we will look into those in coming posts.
