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⑴ Re-understand the blockchain: Enlightenments brought by more than 1,550 application cases

Author: Ran Wei

(This article is excerpted from "2021 Global Blockchain Application Market Report")

When we talk about blockchain, anyone who knows something about blockchain can express their opinions more or less on related topics. Some insights. For example: from the perspective of technical system, blockchain is a new application of computer technology such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, encryption algorithm; from the perspective of functional attributes, blockchain is decentralized, non-tamperable, and full-process. Features such as leaving traces, traceability, collective maintenance, openness and transparency.

Looking back at the history of blockchain, there is no way around Bitcoin. On January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin genesis block with serial number 0 was born. A few days later, on January 9, 2009, Bitcoin block number 1 was born. When two blocks are connected, the blockchain is "born."

The inventor of Bitcoin, whose pseudonym is “Satoshi Nakamoto”, may find it difficult to imagine: In the past 12 years, with Bitcoin as the center, a huge “cryptocurrency family” has spread all over the world. The financial market set off a "big wave" that continues to this day. During this period, innovation and risks related to cryptocurrency are intertwined, progress and bubbles coexist, and pursuit and criticism coexist, and it drives government departments of various countries to continuously improve the monetary and financial systems, social governance and supervision systems.

At the same time, the blockchain that accompanies Bitcoin is also evolving rapidly, and has long gone beyond the scope of "Bitcoin's underlying technology" and has been applied to every corner of social and economic development.

So, what mechanism does blockchain work through? What are its advantages compared to traditional technologies and models? What is its application effect? In the "2021 Global Blockchain Application Market Report" jointly released by Capital Lab and Yuanwang Think Tank, we tried to provide a certain basis for the above issues through research on more than 1,550 application cases around the world in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. Empirical answer. At the same time, based on the study of these cases, we can establish a new understanding of blockchain: blockchain is trust, blockchain is sharing, blockchain is transaction, blockchain is substitution, and blockchain is efficiency.

In the Bitcoin creation paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Currency System", "Satoshi Nakamoto" repeatedly emphasized that Bitcoin has the characteristics of not relying on a "trusted third party". That is the characteristic of “decentralization”.

On the other hand, the underlying technology of Bitcoin, the blockchain, is precisely designed for "trust." In other words, reshaping "trust" in the digital era is the most basic function of the blockchain, but this trust consists of trust between people and between legal entities.Converted into trust between machines, between blocks, and between nodes. Interestingly, the subsequent “smart contract” function has further strengthened this trust through its integration with the blockchain.

Identity coding and authentication are the first steps to achieve the above-mentioned trust mechanism, and the distributed identity (Decentralized Identity, DID) system is the core of it. With DID applications, everyone from individuals to organizations to IoT devices, from physical items to virtual products, can be given digital "identities" and achieve trusted interactions. It is precisely because of this that blockchain-based certificate storage, empowerment, verification, circulation, and transactions can be realized, and only then can blockchain be implemented in various industries.

Application cases from around the world show that new trust mechanisms provide new rules and motivation for social and economic operations:

l China is comprehensively promoting blockchain electronic certificates Applications such as "one fish, one code", "one fruit, one code", "one tea, one code" and other applications are driving the global Anti-counterfeiting traceability of agricultural products and upgrading of food safety systems;

l Through the combination of blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence, the credit "portrait" of an enterprise is more accurate and can be obtained faster and more accurately. Lower-cost financing services;

l Charitable charity organizations have put charity funds "on the chain" to form a more transparent and standardized charity tracking and management system;

l Relevant cities in China have launched a blockchain-based gas cylinder product traceability management system, and the credibility of the source of gas cylinder file information and the level of gas cylinder safety management have been greatly improved;

l Germany is developing its distributed energy resources Assets establishes a digital registration system based on identity authentication to promote the development and trading of renewable energy and cope with the arrival of the digital energy era...

Among the three types of blockchains (public chain, alliance chain, private chain), alliance chain has been the most widely used. In addition to considerations of technical performance, operational efficiency, operability, expected results, etc., this is mainly because all parties in the alliance already have a certain foundation of trust. This also shows from another perspective that in blockchain applications beyond cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, "multi-centralization" rather than complete "decentralization" is a more realistic option.

In addition, it is undeniable that unlike the proof-of-work mechanism that Bitcoin “mining” relies on, the blockchain cannot completely ensure the integrity of the on-chain data from the source in the actual application process. Authenticity. In other words, a certain alliance member or node may provide false data intentionally or unintentionally. However, with the help of the characteristics of blockchain such as non-tampering, traceability, and multi-party consensus, the alliance can deal with counterfeitingIdentify and punish accordingly, such as "kicking" the fake members out of the node. Therefore, in a sense, blockchain-based trust largely establishes alliance members’ awe for the authenticity of data and deters data fraud.

If "trust" is the foundation of blockchain applications, data sharing is the core of blockchain applications. Without data sharing, there will be no cooperation, and the practical application of blockchain will be impossible.

l The State Administration of Foreign Exchange's "Cross-border Financial Blockchain Service Platform" pilot has been fully launched, promoting foreign trade exports through information exchange between foreign exchange bureaus, taxation, banks and enterprise-related market entities. Business development;

l The "Insurance/Claims Alliance Chain" jointly established by 11 insurance companies in Taiwan has been put into operation, and each company has achieved "single application and common documents" on this platform;

l Blockchain platforms such as Contour and TradeLens are reshaping the global supply chain and providing impetus for the digital transformation of international trade through data collaboration among enterprises, financial institutions, shipping companies, terminals, customs and other institutions... .

l In China, through data collaboration, various government departments have realized "one data, one source, one source for multiple uses, one network, and full network operation";

l Through The "Judicial Chain" platform allows all types of electronic evidence to be seamlessly connected with judicial institutions such as notarization, arbitration, judicial appraisal, and courts, which improves the efficiency of the judicial system while reducing costs;

l Targeting grassroots nationwide The court's "cross-domain collaboration mechanism for trial auxiliary matters" can realize "cross-domain service and cross-domain evidence collection" between courts in different regions, effectively improving the efficiency of trial auxiliary matters and trial quality and efficiency, and reducing judicial operation costs... ….

l China's "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Combination Port" project was officially launched, which can support the interconnection and interoperability of trade parties among the five major customs jurisdictions of the Greater Bay Area and become the first connected port in the Greater Bay Area , customs, logistics, enterprise, finance and other trade processes, interconnected and shared blockchain network;

l Japan's KDDI Telecom, Hitachi, Kansai Electric Power, Sekisui Construction and other large enterprises have established blocks Chain Alliance NEXCHAIN ​​to form a cross-industry real estate information sharing and management model and promote cross-industry innovation;

l The French Renault Group completed the test of its blockchain project "XCEED" for zero Sharing compliance information between component suppliers and automakers and simplifying compliance certification….

Although the above application cases in finance, government affairs and various industries are only a few typical cases, they are enough to illustrate that: on the one hand, data sharing is an inherent requirement of blockchain applications. In terms of specific implementation, everything must start from breaking down"Data islands" and "information asymmetry" began; on the other hand, the application practice of blockchain has in turn promoted cross-level, cross-department, cross-industry, cross-region, and cross-border data sharing and unprecedented cooperation.

It can also be seen from the above cases that based on the transparency, security, trustworthiness and other characteristics of the blockchain, data sharing allows cooperation that originally seemed impossible to be achieved, and more Open innovation results; data sharing can effectively improve the operating efficiency of business systems, financial systems and social governance systems; various organizations promote their own organizational changes and process changes while sharing and cooperating with external institutions.

Based on trust and sharing, "transaction" is the most intuitive and deepest manifestation of the value of blockchain applications. Currently, blockchain is opening a new chapter in the transformation of transaction models in various industries around the world.

From the perspective of functional architecture, blockchain-based transactions are by no means just a change in the transaction process. Instead, they integrate various unique functions of the blockchain. Integrated integration of blockchain applications such as logistics, payment/settlement, supply chain financing, insurance, and network security.

From the perspective of application form, blockchain-based transactions transcend the traditional concept of product or service transactions and represent the realization of the value of a wider range of data in circulation.

From the perspective of application scenarios, transactions based on blockchain involve the upgrading of the physical industry, the digital advancement of the financial industry, and the innovative application of the "token economy".

In the physical industry, take the application of agricultural blockchain as an example: on the one hand, supply chain traceability based on blockchain has become an important barrier to food safety; but on the other hand, for growers or For farmers, the supply chain traceability function is far from enough. How to help them expand the sales of agricultural products and obtain more income as much as possible is the "hard truth" for blockchain technology to continue to promote agricultural development. In other industries, the same applies.

Against the above background, new trading platforms in the global physical industry continue to emerge:

l The Indian government uses blockchain platforms to help farmers in remote areas sell agricultural products to reduce the While eliminating intermediate fees, obtain higher income;

l The Swiss company Cerealia builds a blockchain-based agricultural product trading and financing platform to promote the export of agricultural products in emerging market countries around the world;

l The world's largest independent refined sugar producer, Al Khaleej Sugar Company of the United Arab Emirates, launched DigitalSugar.io, a blockchain-based sugar product trading platform, to realize spot-based international raw sugar trading;

l Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, launched an international timber electronic trading platform based on blockchain.The whole process of timber trading will be managed on the chain, and the timber market will be provided with full industry chain services such as supervision of cloud warehouses, logistics, finance, and insurance;

l Shandong Province has launched the Shandong Internet Chinese Medicinal Materials Trading Platform, which will Realize online integrated services of quality control, transaction, payment, settlement and supervision through blockchain and other technologies;

l Weitang Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou released a blockchain-based pearl online trading platform, The core parameters and test reports of pearls will be uploaded to the chain for certification, and functions such as supply chain management, trade finance, smart contracts, payment settlement, and incentive mechanisms will also be added;

l Honeywell launches aircraft zero GoDirect Trade, an online trading platform for new and second-hand parts, provides a valuable reference for large manufacturers on how to apply blockchain to parts trading and circulation...

In the financial industry, blockchain is promoting the digital advancement of financial transaction business in aspects such as securities trading, asset securitization, trade financing, and cross-border settlement:

l The Australian National Stock Exchange has launched ClearPay, a digital securities trading platform based on distributed ledger technology, which can provide multi-currency, real-time DVP settlement on the same day and will replace the original exchange settlement system;

l Switzerland The company Finka has launched a related securitization token investment platform based on livestock from organic pastures in Bolivia to promote the development of the local livestock industry;

l The American company Securitize has established a Japanese real estate investment platform based on digital securities , aiming to revitalize idle real estate in rural Japan and enhance the vitality of the rural economy;

l China Postal Savings Bank and China Construction Bank completed the first cross-blockchain platform forfaiting transaction, Hua Xia Bank Kunming Branch’s first Realize forfaiting resale business in the secondary market;

l Nanjing Iron and Steel completed blockchain-based iron ore transactions with Rio Tinto of Australia and Vale of Brazil respectively;
< br /> l Baosteel Co., Ltd. and Australia's Rio Tinto completed the first blockchain-based RMB cross-border settlement transaction...

Of course, while blockchain promotes the advancement of financial transaction business, dark sides such as hype, scams, money laundering, and cyber attacks related to blockchain and cryptocurrency continue to follow. How to continue to promote financial innovation while also carrying out efficient risk prevention and control and effectively cracking down on illegal crimes is an important issue that requires long-term response. From a global perspective, China has responded with clear attitudes, strict measures, and effective measures in this regard.

The transaction changes realized by the blockchain in the real industry and financial industry are only the initial stage of the blockchain changing the traditional transaction method. "Token Economy"my)" is the higher level of the "transaction" function of the blockchain.

Under the framework of the "token economy", from electronic certificates to skill certificates, from credit records to public welfare activity participation records , from social media tracks to carbon emission reduction actions, when various data become encrypted digital proofs of rights and interests, and can be circulated and exchanged, they are given the "token" function.

Regardless of the investment/speculation craze of "Non-Fungible Token (NFT)", we can already see many early applications of "token economy" around the world:

l The HotCity project supported by the Austrian government uses a crowdsourcing model combined with blockchain and gamification tokens to encourage residents to submit heating waste heat hotspots to more efficiently meet urban heating needs;

l Ford is establishing "green miles" for commercial and municipal fleets using hybrid vehicles to help improve urban air quality;

l Weibin District, Xinxiang City, Henan Province, is building on the Merchants and enterprises issue certificates through the points system to establish a new business service platform;

l Chengdu released a blockchain-based community governance product "Chain Community", where residents can participate in volunteer services and other activities Obtain "Time Bank" points from the platform and exchange them for benefits and discounts provided by community merchants;

l Electric vehicle charging network working group of the global non-profit organization "Mobile Open Blockchain Initiative" ( EVGI) launches a global standard system for decentralized car charging technology, covering Tokenized Carbon Credit (TCC) scenarios;

l Blockchain reward platform MiL.k cooperates with Korean retailers to provide Its members provide blockchain-based points management services. Members can convert existing points into local MLK tokens through the MiL.k platform, or exchange them for other third-party points...

By As can be seen from the above cases and more, the "token economy" has several distinctive features:

The "token economy" gives asset attributes and tradable attributes to a wider range of data, and through cross- Mutual trust and circulation across domains and platforms can improve the operating efficiency of the entire social and economic system;

"Token economy" is a new process of value creation and realization, which does not necessarily use currency directly. Instead of being a trading medium, it is more embodied in the exchange, mutual benefit and reconfiguration of various elements and resources;

"Token economy" is often combined with an incentive mechanism, through the exchange of "good people and good deeds", The incentives of "good companies" and "good institutions" will effectively reshape the social value system and social credit system.

Overall, the "Token Economy" will spawn new production factors, reshape production relations, and greatly liberate social productivity; the "Token Economy" represents the evolution of the "Information Internet" to the "Value Internet" , indicating the most exciting future of the digital economy; the "token economy" based on blockchain has begun to take shape, and has begun to bring continuous and visible changes to economic operations, social governance, and everyone's lifestyle. All types of institutions and individuals should be mentally and physically prepared for this change.

Like other new technologies, in the process of application and popularization, blockchain continues to produce substitution effects in terms of platforms, media, models, methods, etc.: physical documents are replaced by electronic documents, and credit records are replaced by electronic documents. Tokens are replaced, manual review is replaced by data verification, and the city management platform is replaced by the "city brain"...

Such substitutions have become the norm:

l Argentina’s central bank has begun a proof-of-concept for a new blockchain clearing system, which may replace the existing clearing system;< br />
l Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (KOMSCO) expanded its blockchain digital gift certificate business to replace paper gift certificates and achieved record revenue despite a sharp decline in the issuance of banknotes and coins. Improvement;

l Courts across China have begun to use blockchain electronic seals to replace traditional paper seals in the enforcement of real estate seizures;

l The Shanghai court system is using artificial intelligence , the adoption of new technologies such as blockchain, and explore the use of digital court trial records to replace manual court trial transcripts;

l The Japanese company SUSMED launched a "Clinical Data Monitoring System Demonstration Using Blockchain Technology" pilot, indicating that the drug Or the necessary monitoring process in clinical trials of medical equipment can be replaced by a blockchain system;

l Alipay and Wukong Car Rental have cooperated to launch a "face-swiping" car rental service, which uses blockchain technology and credit-free security mode, tourists can rent a car by simply "swiping their face" and return the vehicle through mobile phone operations;

l Under the new crown epidemic, local governments in China have intensively launched "non-face-to-face" vehicles that combine blockchain technology ", no contact, zero errands" government service has replaced the traditional offline service method, providing a strong guarantee for the smooth progress of remote bidding, "cloud" customs clearance, financial support, resumption of work and production, etc. during the epidemic... .

In addition, we can also see that through the use of blockchain technology, various enterprise-level services are also realizing substitution and evolution: from paper contracts to electronic contracts, to program-based, Blockchain contracts that can automatically execute smart contracts. Blockchain is pushing contract signing into the era of "chain signing"; from offline human resources companies to online human resources platforms to basicIn the blockchain human resources market, global human resources services have experienced continuous changes from the 1.0 era to the 2.0 era and then to the 3.0 era.

Generally speaking, when the blockchain "invades" various industries, it will "mercilessly" delete all unnecessary links and processes, all unnecessary manual operations, and accelerate the The era of paperless, unmanned and automated is coming.

In the process of our analysis of more than 1,550 blockchain application cases around the world, words like "improve", "accelerate", "shorten", "lower", "reduce", "save", " Words such as "save" appear frequently in front of our eyes. These words show that the improvement of efficiency is the common pursuit of all parties involved in blockchain applications and is also the most direct result of the substitution effect of blockchain.

Numerous application practices are contributing to this:

l Kenyan company Shamba Records provides blockchain traceability, transaction and financing services to farmers in the country, currently covering more than 6,000 Small farmers and helped them increase their income by at least 40%;

l TradeWaltz, a blockchain trading platform invested by NTT DATA, Mitsubishi and other companies, completed a trial run, and the results showed that the platform can reduce traditional 50% of the workload of the trade process;

l Walmart Canada has significantly reduced invoice disputes with carriers by 97% through the application of the DL Freight blockchain platform;

l The State Grid Corporation of China’s power transaction certificate traceability inquiry platform has been put into operation, automating the entire authenticity review process for registered users and saving 99% of trusted manual review time;

l COSCO Shipping Lines and Shandong Port Group Qingdao Port have cooperated to launch a blockchain paperless import and delivery model, which can save customers nearly 24 hours on average per container;

l Taizhou, Zhejiang uses "materials" The "Internet + Blockchain" recycling system solves the problem of marine pollution control. Compared with traditional processing methods, this recycling system can save 94% of labor costs and 84% of operating costs...

In summary, through the joint action of trust mechanism, sharing mechanism and transaction mechanism, blockchain has formed an obvious substitution effect, improved the operational efficiency of finance, government affairs and various industries, and will Continue to create systemic change. This change is reshaping the relationship between people and machines, people and society, and people and the environment, and clearly points to three ultimate goals: efficiency, well-being, and environmental protection.

⑵ Explain blockchain in vernacular

img src=' https://p26 . toutiaoimg.com/large/39b 70000088 e 51 B3 c 258 '/

Recently, various ICO financial scams have been blocked in China, but this does not hinder the vigorous development of blockchain technology. After all, technology is innocent and can bring benefits to people. As for how to use it, it depends on people to operate it. If the operation is good, you can recommend development. If the operation is not good, it is like the major ICO projects. Find some knowledge for Internet celebrities to conduct so-called illegal fund-raising and financial fraud.

After talking for a long time, what is blockchain? When it comes to blockchain, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is Bitcoin. We need to solve a problem. Bitcoin is a blockchain, but blockchain is not Bitcoin. Simply put, blockchain is distributed ledger technology (DLT), not a token. It has many characteristics, such as decentralization, traceability, and difficulty in tampering.

(1) Blockchain is a distributed database

First of all, this is a decentralized distributed architecture system. Therefore, having only one central server or node is not called a blockchain. For example, if you go to Taobao to buy a mobile phone, you and the seller are strangers and have no basis for trust. If you give the money to the seller first, the seller may block you by not delivering the goods, and then your mobile phone money will be gone. If the seller ships first, do you pay? It is possible that you do not pay the seller after receiving the goods, and one party may lose money anyway. At this time, a third-party guarantee is needed to solve the trust problem. Just like Alipay now, you give money to Alipay and the seller will deliver the goods. When you receive the goods, the seller will receive the money.

The above example is a centralized system because all guarantee work is handled by Bora, a third-party payment company. Suppose one day Alipay wants to tamper with data, neither buyers nor sellers can do anything because all authority is in the hands of one company.

At this time, a distributed database is needed. This third party is no longer Alipay, but thousands of monitors. When you buy a mobile phone on Taobao, you will shout to everyone that I am going to XXX to buy a mobile phone, and I paid XXX yuan. The other person will yell like everyone else. I collected XXX’s mobile phone bill and sent it over. In this way, everyone knows about this transaction and everyone is recording this transaction, so it is useless if one or two nodes have problems or malicious behavior, because most nodes have recorded this matter.

(B) Blockchain uses encryption technology to ensure data security

There are two important points here: 1. Crypto-enabled hash function 2. Asymmetric encryption.

If you are interested in specific concepts, you can go online, but people without basic knowledge may not be able to understand it, because these two points are too professional. In fact, if you only know the use of blockchain, you don’t need to have an in-depth understanding of it. It is also a technical concept. All you need to know is that blockchain relies on these technical points to ensure data security and is not easily tampered with. Of course, many people say that these two points can guarantee 100% non-tampering. I want to be a little conservative here. As an author who works in the security industry, I have always had doubts about 100% security, so it may be more appropriate to call it difficult to be tampered with..

I will briefly introduce these two concepts and try to explain them clearly in plain English.

1. Cryptographic Hash Function

This is mainly used to verify the integrity of information. For example, I sent a message to the company leader saying that I was sick on Friday and needed to take a day off. At this time, a hash value will be generated based on the message I sent, such as: 123456. At this point, when the leader receives this message, a hash value is also generated. Because the content of the message I sent has not changed (it has not been tampered with), the hash value remains unchanged, still: 123456. This is if someone wants to tamper with this news and get sick on Friday and need to take a year off. At this time, the hash value will change, such as: 123489. That's when we learned our information had been tampered with.

2. Asymmetric encryption

It is mainly used for information encryption and authentication. It is actually two keys, one is called the public key and the other is called the private key. Public key encryption, private key decryption.

A public key is a key that everyone has. You own it, I own it. We can all encrypt with this key, but when decrypting it must be decrypted with my private key. If you don't have my private key, you can't decrypt it.

(C) The blockchain uses a consensus algorithm to reach consensus on new data.

The role of the consensus algorithm is to enable all nodes to reach a consensus on the new block. In other words, everyone must approve the new block.

For a centralized deployment system, this is simple, everything is controlled by the center, but in the distributed system of the blockchain, it is very complicated. For example, there are three nodes. A said he bought a mobile phone from XXX store and paid for it, B said he didn’t pay, and C said he didn’t pay enough. Then who do you listen to? What's more, blockchain technology is not as simple as three nodes, but a huge distributed system.

This is when a solution is needed. There is a corresponding problem in computer science called the "Byzantine Universal Problem" or "Byzantine Fault Tolerance" (BFT). This question was raised not because of Bitcoin, but because of a special background.

Early aircraft had three independent control systems. Why do we need three independent control systems? For example, in an emergency, there is a plane opposite. How to judge whether you should hide? If there is only one system, there is no choice, which is equivalent to centralized deployment. If the system breaks, you're dead. What if one of the two systems breaks? The good ones are said to hide, and the bad ones are said not to hide. The computer cannot judge the final result. Therefore, three independent systems are needed to support it, and the probability of two total failures is still very small. But this only takes into account injuries. What should I do if there is a malicious system? Is three enough? The answer is no, we need four systems to maintain consensus.

The use of blockchain is similar, because it is supported by a huge number of nodes, and each node is an independent system without interfering with each other. We can assume that the number of failed nodes and malicious nodes is limited, so it will not cause abnormal consistency of data.

Related Q&A: What is blockchain? What is the use?

Blockchain is a new computing paradigm and distributed infrastructure that uses fast chain data structures, distributed node consensus algorithms, and cryptographicCoding methods and smart contracts based on automated script code to produce, verify, store and transmit data. It can also be said that blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that can provide a decentralized trust mechanism in a non-trust environment, allowing multi-party participants to conduct secure and trust-based transactions without intermediaries.

The core advantage of blockchain technology is decentralization. It can realize decentralized credit-based transactions in a distributed system where nodes do not need to trust each other by using data encryption, timestamps, distributed consensus and economic incentives. Point-to-point transactions, coordination and collaboration provide solutions to the common problems of high cost, low efficiency and insecure data storage in centralized institutions.

The fields of use of blockchain include digital currency, certificates, finance, anti-counterfeiting and traceability, privacy protection, supply chain, entertainment, etc. With the popularity of blockchain and Bitcoin, many related top domain names have been registered. It has had a relatively large impact on the domain name industry.

Related Q&A: Can you explain to me what a blockchain is in an easy-to-understand way?

Er Gazi is my friend since we were young, and we were naked in Hegou together. Later, I came to the city to study and work, and lived a life as a drifter in the north; he farmed at home and also did some small business, and now he has a son and a daughter, and his life is safe. He envied my so-called "seen the world", and I envied his simple life without the pressure of mortgage loans. We have completely different and mutually enviable lives??

That day, Ga Zi came to me on WeChat and asked "District" What is a blockchain?" I was stunned for a moment, how could this idiot care about such an avant-garde word? I pretended to be calm and prepared to talk about the technical principles bit by bit, but I could see the confused expression of that idiot through the screen of my mobile phone. How to explain "what is blockchain" to people who have a little bit of Internet concepts and technical foundation? This seems to be a very thorny problem??

The village commissary interprets the core of blockchain (picture quoted from the Internet)

The core essence of blockchain is "decentralization", and almost all operating modes of blockchain operate around the concept of "decentralization". Once you understand what "decentralization" is, you can basically explain the question "what is a blockchain?" For Erga, of course, he must perform a version that he can understand.

“I said, Gazi, are you still open that canteen at the east end of the village?” Gazi answered yes. I decided to use this canteen as an example to explain the actual use of blockchain in modern business and financial models. Scenario, so that he can better understand what blockchain is.

"Are there still many villagers who take credit now? By the end of the year, some of the accounts cannot be remembered clearly, and there are still many defaulters or those who refuse to accept their accounts?" At this point, Ergazi got emotional and kept complaining. Nowadays, people's hearts are not as old as before, and business is difficult to do!

"In the past, the operation model of your canteen was a typical centralized one. You granted credit to the villagers and allowed them to take accounts on credit. All accounting was done directly through you and our villagers. You were the center of all accounting affairs." Ergazi said I understand, let me continue.

I said: "If one day you dieIf it is lost, then all the accounts will become dead debts? It is estimated that it will be difficult to get back the IOUs written in black and white, let alone those who remember the accounts verbally, but the decentralization of the blockchain can solve this problem well. . As long as the earth still exists, then the blockchain will remember that every account will exist forever." Erga became more energetic after hearing this.

The essence of the blockchain is "decentralization"

"The The essence is decentralization. Once someone takes credit from you, all the neighbors in the village will help you keep accounts. Because there are many nodes for accounting, it is neither easy to make mistakes nor others can refuse to pay, so everyone reaches a consensus. If someone maliciously fails to repay the debt, the whole village will know his character, and no one will be willing to have financial dealings with him in the future??"

At this point, Gazi was obviously a little excited. It seemed that he was I was really worried about the credit issue. Seeing that Gazi was interested, I also felt a small sense of accomplishment and continued: "Of course, the above is just an analogy. In fact, the blockchain does not really allow villagers to get paper. The pen helps you keep accounts, but it is done through the Internet and computer networking. "

At this time, Gazi was a little confused and asked: "Then what others bought from me, wouldn't everyone in the village know it? Then who would buy things from me? There is really no privacy at all. And you don’t have time to keep accounts here. Last year’s accounts are said to be this year’s. What if you keep procrastinating? "

"Okay, Gazi, your question is on point. "It seems that Gazi is not stupid at all, and he is very shrewd in doing business. I continued to explain: "So, the recording and transmission of this information are all done through encryption. What you see is a picture of numbers and English. String, and each account has a timestamp to record the time of occurrence, which cannot be relied on. "

Gazi had another question: "Is it possible that the people who owe the debt have a good relationship with the villagers, and they join forces to tamper with the accounting? Then you won’t be able to explain clearly at that time??”

“Gazi, that’s all you have, haha. "I understood Gazi's concerns and continued to explain: "The mechanism of the blockchain requires more than 51% of people to agree to tamper with a bill. Everyone has a degree of closeness and distance between them, and it is impossible for everyone to favor the same person. If it were a computer, more than half of the computers on the entire network would need to recalculate. This project would be so huge that it would be almost impossible to complete??"

In this way, through the actual situation of the canteen and combined with some scenes in life, Gazi understood What is in the blockchain: decentralization, distributed accounting, consensus mechanism, encryption mechanism, timestamps, and the characteristics of being difficult to tamper with.

Ergazi was silent for a moment, seeming to be digesting the example I just gave him. I don’t know how much he can understand the example. Not long after, he sent me a voice message on WeChat: “What does blockchain mean? In the past, when I bought goods online and paid, I had to go through Jack Ma’s house. If there is a blockchain, can we directly trade with the seller? Anyway, the accounting is very safe. "

"Okay, Gazi, it's really clear at first glance. Blockchain is essentially a decentralized distributed ledger data cloud. Of course, according toIt’s okay for you to understand it this way. "I'm very happy that Gazi can roughly appreciate the true charm of the blockchain. Fortunately, my words have not been in vain.

What is Bitcoin? (Picture quoted from the Internet)

"Then Bitcoin What is this thing again? What does it have to do with blockchain? "Gazi asked.

I thought about it briefly and decided to continue to explain to Gazi with the story of the canteen: "Your canteen, the villagers can't keep accounts for you for free all day long, right? Do you have to carry some during the holidays? This is the reward mechanism of the blockchain, and everyone who participates in bookkeeping may receive rewards. "

"Then what are the rewards based on? There has to be a rule, right? "Gazi asked very puzzled.

I explained: "Zhang San went to your store to borrow a pack of cigarettes on credit, but Li Si knew about it first and kept an account for you first, and then others knew about it. Keep accounts, then Li Si can get a small red flower as a reward ~ This small red flower is generated by the blockchain system and has no value in itself, so you do not need to pay any cost for this small red flower??"< p>“Can Bitcoin be spent as money? How is it different from the banknotes we usually spend? "Gazi continued to ask.

"Bitcoin is a digital encrypted virtual currency. In principle, it has no value itself like our banknotes. However, banknotes have a credit guarantee from the state, so they have value. Bitcoin is the value formed by consensus among Bitcoin network users, and it has tradable properties, so it can be used to carry value. "What is said here is a bit profound. I don't know if I can understand it.

I continued to explain: "Banknotes can be printed infinitely. If more are printed, inflation will occur. When we were young, popsicles worth 1 cent were very good. , now you can’t eat with 1 yuan. Of course, there are many factors that affect inflation. The number of Bitcoins is fixed, and there is no possibility of unlimited over-issuance. However, different people have different judgments on their value, and coupled with the influence of supply and demand and investor sentiment, their prices are always fluctuating. ”

What is the difference between Bitcoin price fluctuations and stocks?

“So is speculating in Bitcoin just like speculating in stocks? Can you understand it this way? "Gazi seems to know a lot.

"In fact, there are some similarities, but there are also big differences. "I continued Gazi's topic: "The price of stocks always fluctuates around the valuation of companies, and there is government supervision in the stock market. Bitcoin itself has no value. It is priced entirely based on supply and demand and player valuations. It grows wildly without any government supervision. Therefore, it may have higher risks and higher returns than stocks. "

In the end, Gazi revealed the real purpose of today. He asked me: "Can I invest in blockchain projects? ”

Gazi is a typical example of those who don’t go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. Although there is a large circle of people who are involved in both blockchain and Bitcoin, in fact, what he really cares about is “blockchain project investment” Is it reliable? "As soon as these words came out, I was extremely shocked. Now the so-called blockchain investment project has actually been launched.We have explored fourth and sixth tier cities and small towns!

Up to now, there are only three situations in investing in blockchain: mining, currency speculation, and so-called blockchain projects.

Mining and currency speculation are still the main lines of the blockchain (pictures quoted from the Internet)

The so-called mining is to obtain returns by purchasing mining equipment such as mining machines, mining virtual currencies, and then selling them for cash. . You can install the mining machine yourself, or you can find a mining pool to host it, but the core keys to profitability are "computing power" and "power consumption" as well as investment in equipment. With the sharp drop in the price of virtual currencies and the increase in mining difficulty, the current mining returns of many currencies are very unsatisfactory. Mining is obviously something only a very small number of investors who understand technology can do well, and my childhood friend Gazi obviously can’t do it.

As for "coin speculation", I have just introduced some differences between Bitcoin and stocks in the previous section. In principle, although they are both "buy low and sell high" operations, they are very different. Ordinary investors cannot determine the value of a virtual currency itself. The price is determined entirely by the relationship between supply and demand, which is somewhat similar to what we often call "market makers." On the other hand, the virtual currency trading market is extremely unstandardized, and fraud and hacker attacks often occur. The risk factor is much greater than investing in stocks. For the safety of my friends' funds, I am one of the ten thousand people who disagree with me and come to "speculate in coins"!

The "September Fourth Movement" stipulated that the issuance of virtual currency is illegal

In fact, in my opinion, most of the so-called investment projects in the market are essentially "illegal fund-raising" and "pyramid schemes." Some so-called blockchain investment projects attract investors into the circle through various packaging and inflammatory rhetoric, and then create the illusion of profitability by building a software and hardware ecosystem of issuing new coins + mining + currency speculation, and then finally run away. Our country's laws clearly stipulate that the issuance of virtual currencies is illegal.

Illegal pyramid schemes now wear the cloak of blockchain (picture quoted from the Internet)

And how to identify some pyramid schemes under the guise of blockchain? In fact, these pyramid schemes are also so-called Ponzi schemes, what we people often call "empty gloves." These so-called "direct sales" or "marketing" activities often have no actual products to circulate, and rely more on developing "downline" to ensure top-level profits. With the rise of the concept of blockchain, this MLM model has shown an intensification trend, and it even deceives people under the banner of state support for new technologies.

When Gazi asked, “Can blockchain projects be invested in?”, I realized the seriousness of the problem. Gazi is a typical young man from a small town, and his pursuit is his wife and children. But when faced with the attraction of "wealth", people often do inappropriate things. Mining and currency speculation are simply not suitable for him, let alone blockchain investment projects that are most likely "illegal financing" or "illegal pyramid schemes"!

I quickly dialed Gazi’s phone number and conducted the above analysis carefully??

⑶ The Olympics are approaching, from sponsorship, NFT to fan tokens, how can the sports industry embrace blockchain< /p>

The 32nd Olympic Games will be held in East JapanBeijing opens. There is no doubt that in this hot summer, a "sports wind" is blowing

For most people, sports and encryption seem to be two unrelated worlds, but if you look carefully Observation, you will find that these two fields actually have a lot of room for cooperation. In recent years, they can provide each other with a lot of what they need

Encryption and blockchain technology are developing rapidly, and there are application scenarios in all walks of life. And the scope of application is getting wider and wider. This trend has gradually extended to the sports field - in fact, cryptocurrencies have been rapidly adopted by the entire sports industry, with many teams being sponsored by crypto and blockchain companies, and crypto assets such as NFT and fan passes also starting from sponsorship. China has created more updated value for sports organizations, from NFT to fan pass, how the sports industry embraces encryption and blockchain

Increase the "exposure" of the crypto industry through sponsorship

Over the past seven years, an increasing number of crypto companies have sponsored sporting events and teams -

In football, in 2021, the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) also Successfully cooperated with grayscale investments, the world's largest crypto asset management company, and became the first professional football team in the league sponsored by a crypto company. It also announced to the sports world: crypto has begun to enter the NFL

Football field , football is undoubtedly the biggest sport in the world, so it is no surprise that it is favored by crypto and blockchain companies. Although the trend of crypto companies sponsoring the football industry only started in 2021, it is developing rapidly. It’s basically hard to find a football league today that isn’t related to basketball crypto, with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers recently announcing a partnership with Stormx, a crypto cashback app; and earlier this year, the NBA’s Miami Heat partnered with cryptocurrencies Exchange FTX has signed an exclusive naming rights agreement and is expected to change the name of its home venue to “FTX arena”. The naming agreement is said to last for 19 years and the deal value will be $135 million.

The application of blockchain technology to the fiscal electronic bill business is another successful exploration in the reform process of Hainan Province’s fiscal electronic bills and was selected as one of the 13th batch of institutional innovation cases of the Hainan Free Trade Port. one.

It is understood that blockchain financial electronic bills have the characteristics of leaving traces of operations, traceable processes, and real-time viewing, and can form an innovative application model that is open, easy to trace, and data can be shared. Our province promotes the work of financial electronic bills, breaks the data barriers in the field of people's livelihood at the provincial, city and county, township and village levels, opens up more than 50 system business platforms of relevant parties, and integrates the province's relevant finance, invoicing units, reimbursement application units, government affairs Service levelTaiwan, and related functional departments (such as medical insurance, health, taxation, archives, auditing) are "chained" into "one network".

At present, our province has achieved the coverage of all types, all units, all industries, and all fields of blockchain financial electronic bills, and has completed the provincial government’s practical list of tasks for the people. As of the end of June this year, blockchain financial electronic bills have been launched at the provincial level, 20 cities, counties, and all towns and villages. A total of 2,795 units in the province have launched blockchain financial electronic bills, with a completion rate of 100%. Among them, it covers the livelihood areas of 14 functional departments including courts, procuratorates, public security, traffic police, real estate, medical insurance, hospitals, schools, and banks.

#BTC[超话]# #digital currency# #欧易OKEx#

⑷ Is the founder of 360 Zhou Hong_

" The inventor of the word superuniverse is amazing. This concept can be so broad that everyone thinks they don’t understand it, but it can be so popularized that everyone can talk about it. No matter what you do, you can label yourself the superuniverse. "On December 28, 360 Chairman Zhou said at the "3354360 Group Strategy Conference to Open the First Year of Digital Security", "I like this word, but do you think I really understand the metaverse? No one knows, but this It does not affect our discussion of this word at all. Academicians have their own understanding, doctors have their own understanding, and I have my own understanding."

The universe is a basket that everyone can fit into.

"I've been crazy about the Metaverse for a while, and I started reading multiverse material in awe," Zhou said. "Super Universe is in good condition. It's a big basket and everything can be put in it. Some people put VR things in it, some people put community things in it, and I put industrial Internet things in it. So, everyone You can talk about the metaverse, and everyone can be a metaverse. Just don’t turn it into a patent for a few big companies."

Zhou revealed, "I have read reports written by many investment banks, and each bank has its own understanding. . In reality, I have also talked with many companies called Super Universe 2. As the saying goes, there are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people. Now I can say that there are ten thousand Metaverses in the hearts of ten thousand people."

Although the basket of the super universe is very large, Zhou still made a rough classification, namely the game school, the stock market school, the currency speculation school, the virtual world school and the digital twin school. After the word "super universe" became popular, many companies came forward and said that we are also related to the super universe, such as servers, chips, graphics cards, switches, clouds, big data, and databases. All manufacturers related to digital technology are actually related to the super universe. These people didn't lie either. It is true that the super universe needs service machines and cloud computing, which is the industrial chain that builds the foundation of the super universe. Because caution is the label of the Yuanverse, the stock prices of many companies have skyrocketed, so much so that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has conducted inquiries on many companies. I call this school the stock market school. "

In Zhou's classification, he was regarded as a digital twin by Bi Jing, but he also admitted that the "digital twin" was too weak. "I was very moved.All of our communication colleagues need to think about this. The digital twins and industrial Internet that we have been talking about for so long are not as powerful as the super universe."

Zhou's own answer is, "The core of the industrial Internet is digital twins. In my understanding, twin numbers and metaverse are basically the same thing. However, the term "digital twin" is too professional and technical, so it has not become a hot word among ordinary people. But the word metaverse describes digital twins from another perspective, making it easier for ordinary people to perceive and accept. ”

The network shows that digital twins refer to making full use of physical models, sensor updates, operation history and other data. Integrating multi-disciplinary, multi-physics, multi-scale, multi-probability simulation processes, completing mapping in virtual space to reflect the corresponding physics The entire life cycle process of equipment. Digital twin is a concept that transcends reality and can be regarded as a digital mapping system of one or more important and interdependent equipment systems.

The network security industry should be upgraded to a digital security industry.

In Zhou’s view, no matter what is in the basket of the super universe, security will only become more and more important. “The super universe or the industrial Internet can make the entire human society smarter, but it will also become more secure. Fragile.

Zhou believes that regardless of the metaverse or industry digitization, the ultimate core of business is the big data system. Once the big data system is paralyzed, all businesses will be paralyzed. "Everyone imagine that in the metaverse era, I only say Several scenarios, such as critical infrastructure, industrial Internet, Internet of Vehicles, energy Internet, digital finance, digital currency, etc. Each scenario is extremely complex and cannot be solved by traditional security products or technologies. For example, although the blockchain says it has algorithmically proven itself secure, many blockchain exchanges have had numerous security issues over the past two years, resulting in large amounts of digital currency being stolen. That is, as long as these technologies are code-based, software-based, there will be vulnerabilities. No matter how good a programmer is, as long as he writes a thousand lines of code, there must be 4-6 vulnerabilities. "

Therefore, Zhou proposed the concept of "digital security", that is, "cyber security" should be upgraded to "digital security", "I think 2023 should be the first year of digital security."

Related Q&A: 360 President

Introduction: Zhou Hong_, male, born in Henan Province, China in 1970, graduated from the Department of Computer Science, School of Telecommunications, Xi'an Jiaotong University. Founder and CEO of 360 Company, a well-known angel investor. Main achievements: Founding Qihoo 360 listed company. Representative works include "My Internet Methodology" and "Reject Mediocrity". In 2014, he won the title of China Internet Person of the Year. In 2016, he served as the third chairman of the Beijing Intellectual Property Protection Agreement. In 2016, he was brand new in the 10th Writers List. Ranked eighth on the list of entrepreneurs and writers in the sub-list.

Related Q&A: What kind of person is Zhou Hong_, President of 360?

In 1970, Zhou Hong_ was born in Qichun County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province.

He has always been excellent and hard-working during his student days. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Department of Computer Science, School of Telecommunications, Xi'an Jiaotong University, he became famous for his excellent study.With good grades, he was recommended to Xi'an Jiaotong University to continue his postgraduate studies in the Department of Systems Engineering, School of Management.

In 1998, 28-year-old Zhou Hong_ founded Beijing 3721 Technology Co., Ltd., and in the same year launched the Chinese website, the predecessor of 3721 "Internet Real Name", pioneering Chinese Internet services. In 2003, the company was acquired by Yahoo, and soon Hong Zhou became the president of Yahoo China. But after just 18 months, Zhou launched Yahoo.

In 2006, Zhou Hong_ invested in Qihoo 360 Technology Co., Ltd. and served as the chairman of Qihoo 360. Later, he launched free security software-"360 Security Guard". Over the years, he has been bombarded all the way, making sudden advances in the east and west. When it landed on the New York Stock Exchange 6 years ago, 360's market value exceeded 10 billion US dollars, becoming the top 3 Chinese Internet companies in terms of market value.

But in December 2015, Qihoo 360 announced that it had reached a final privatization agreement with a buyer group, and the buyer group would acquire Qihoo 360 for US$9.3 billion in cash. In July 2016, 360 Company announced the completion of privatization transaction, delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

In November 2017, after "hibernating" for a period of time, Zhou Hong_ finally officially returned to A-shares with 360. At the media briefing on Jiangnan Jiajie's major asset restructuring held in the trading hall of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Zhou Hong_ appeared wearing a red Polo shirt. However, unlike the glory of the year, when 360 returned to the A-share market, the world had already changed.

At any time, Zhou Hong_ is a person who knows what he wants to do. In "The Subversive: Zhou Hong_Autobiography", it is written that at a class meeting in the second year of high school, the class teacher asked everyone to talk about their ideals. Zhou Hong_ walked up to the podium and delivered his only speech about ideals:

"My ideal is very clear. I will be a computer software developer in my life. Make a product and change the world."< p>Today's Zhou Hong_ is also constantly changing under the wash of the Internet wave. In addition to security software, he also began to develop new products, because Zhou Hong_ knew: "In China's Internet arena, it is quite difficult. If you don't enter other people's territory, others will enter your territory; if you If you guard a territory and don’t go anywhere else, and others don’t come, it means that this land is quite desolate.”

⑸ What are the leading blockchain concept stocks

1.002657 Medium Kejincai

2.300663 Kelan Software

3.002152 Radio and Television Express

4.300079 Digital Technology

5.300542 Xinchen Technology< /p>

6.600570 Hang Seng Electronics

7.300561 Huijin Technology

8.002063 Yuangguang Software

9.603106 Hengyin Financial

Block Chain concept stocks that may become leading stocks include the following:

1, Blockchain Concept Stock 1: Yijian Shares (600093.SH) Concept Stock Index

The company used to be mainly engaged in supply chain management. In recent years, it has been actively transforming. On the one hand, the company strives to improve the company's supply chain. Management and commercial factoring business size.

On the other hand, with the realization of financial technology transformation as the center and the application of blockchain technology in supply chain finance as the breakthrough point, the whole strategy is fully promoting the development of the "Yijian Block" system. In the first half of 2017 Having successfully completed the development of the “Yijian Block” system 1.0 and achieved commercial use in the fields of medicine and commodities, Yijian is clearly a practitioner of the blockchain concept.

2. Blockchain concept stock 2: Gao Weida

A leading domestic financial information manufacturer, relying on its own advantages in bank IT solutions and bank customer resources to provide bank IT system cloud Serve.

3. Blockchain Concept Stock 3: Xinchen Technology

The company is currently mainly engaged in application software development business, software and hardware system integration business and professional technical services business. In recent years, Xinchen Technology has been more bold in its attempts at innovation. The company has made certain progress in the application of new technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain in the financial industry.

The domestic letter of credit business system based on blockchain technology has been successfully launched in banks and is expected to gradually become a new growth point for the company’s software solutions business.

(5) Extended reading of Xiangwei Group Blockchain:

The leading stock index refers to the influence and appeal on other stocks in the same industry sector during the stock market speculation in a certain period. The rise and fall of a powerful stock often guides and sets an example for the rise and fall of other stocks in the same industry sector.

The leading stock is not static, and its status can often only be maintained for a period of time. The basis for becoming a leading stock is that any information related to a certain stock will be immediately reflected in the stock price.

The conditions for leading stocks:

1. Leading stocks must start from the daily limit. The daily limit is the most accurate attack signal for both long and short parties. A stock that cannot reach the daily limit cannot be a leader.

2. Low-priced stocks are the best leading stocks. Low-priced stocks are sought after by many investors, because it is relatively difficult to speculate on high-priced stocks.

3. The circulation market of leading stocks should be moderate, suitable for large capital operations and retail investors chasing ups and downs. Neither large-cap stocks nor small-cap stocks can act as leaders.

4. The leading stocks meet the daily KDJ, weekly KDJ, and monthly KDJ at the same time and the low price golden cross.

5. Leading stocks usually go against the trend at the end of a market decline and when the market panics, hit the bottom early, or start before the market, and withstand a round of market decline.

Leading stocks refer to stocks that have influence and appeal on other stocks in the same industry sector during the stock market speculation during a certain period. Its rise and fall often have an impact on the rise and fall of other stocks in the same industry sector. Guidance and demonstration role. The leading stock is not static, and its position can only be maintained for a period of time..

Reference materials: Network-leading stocks

⑹ What is "blockchain"

Blockchain is a public ledger and there is no centralized hardware or management agency, anyone can automatically verify the authenticity of the ledger and easily discover whether the ledger has been tampered with by others.

In a word, the blockchain is a public ledger that can be verified by everyone.

The concept of being verifiable by everyone is crucial to blockchain.

Bitcoin uses the blockchain to record all transactions, so anyone knows the number of Bitcoins on each account.

So, as a publicly verifiable ledger, what are some use cases for blockchain?

In fact, there are many use cases that can be thought of. Blockchain is suitable for any data that can be recorded on a public ledger. Here are 4 examples:

1. Decentralized domain name server, namely domain currency. The domain name server is actually a ledger that records domain names.

2. Trustless public key encryption, such as https that discards unreliable certification authorities.

3. Ownership records, truthfully record the items and their corresponding owners.

4. Contracts and performance guarantees, the account book truthfully records the parties to the contract and saves the contract text.

But don’t forget that blockchain also has a very important component.

The ledger recorded using blockchain technology will always be updated. New data such as transactions, domain name inputs, records and contracts will be converted into hash values ​​of the same length by the hash algorithm and saved. However, hashing algorithms are not only not free but also very expensive.

Therefore, the ledger itself needs to have a recognition system to recognize the person who enters the block hash value.

In Bitcoin, this system is called mining and is rooted in the Bitcoin protocol. Bitcoin miners use a hash algorithm to convert transactions waiting for verification into hash values, and charge a certain amount of Bitcoin as a service fee.

Therefore, for non-monetary use cases, blockchain needs to find a way to bear the high cost of hashing algorithms.

I would like to remind everyone that my answer mainly focuses on the possible use cases of blockchain technology, and does not cover all aspects of blockchain, such as why hashing algorithms are so expensive. I'm sure you can find a lot of detailed information about Bitcoin and other blockchain applications online.

Supplement

Although blockchain technology has many advantages, there are still some less than ideal use cases. For example, there is no way to convert Bitcoin into any national currency; a ledger with billions of data entries would take up space and be impractical.

Bitcoin has been introduced to the worldPeople have shown that blockchain technology is feasible in principle, and people are also trying to solve these increasingly prominent problems, such as technologically transforming Bitcoin or introducing an entirely different blockchain technology. I think the following two methods are worth trying: one is to split the ledger according to certain standards such as the payer address, and the other is to introduce a main blockchain to verify the sub-blockchain. Blockchain technology is ever-changing and dazzling, and it’s unknown whether someone is already making such an attempt. But Bitcoin is still the world's first currency blockchain, what others call a cryptocurrency.

Whether in the technology circle or the financial circle, blockchain has become the hottest word, no one. Blockchain has core advantages such as decentralization and trustlessness, and can perfectly solve problems such as information asymmetry, high transaction costs, and trust of strangers in the development of the sharing economy, making "individual economy" possible. Based on this, blockchain technology is considered to be the core technology that has the greatest potential to trigger the fifth wave of disruptive revolution after steam engines, electricity, information and Internet technology.

In this context, a blockchain craze was born in society, and everyone praised it overwhelmingly. Dialectics tells us that everything has flaws, and only by seeing the pros and cons of things can we make rational decisions. Therefore, in this article, Xue Hongyan (Hong Yanweiyu), a senior researcher at Suning Financial Research Institute, focuses on pouring some cold water on the blockchain.

| What is Blockchain

Blockchain, English Blockchain, has a rather mysterious technological flavor in its name, and can be simply broken down into "data blocks" and "links". Each data block contains all the information exchange data of the system within a certain period of time, and is encrypted using cryptographic methods; the link means that each block has a link relationship with the next block, thus forming a blockchain.

It is generally believed that blockchain has two major characteristics: decentralization and trustlessness. A brief introduction is as follows:

Since each block contains all the information exchange data of the system within a specific period of time, Therefore, each block is equal, and the damage of a single block does not affect the security of the entire system, so the blockchain has decentralized characteristics.

Similarly, since each block contains all the information of the system, the authenticity of the information can be cross-verified. Only by breaking through more than 51% of the nodes can the information be tampered with. In a large enough blockchain system , the cost is extremely high, it can be considered that the information in the blockchain is true, so the blockchain has the characteristics of trustlessness.

Most people’s understanding of blockchain begins with Bitcoin. The relationship between the two is that blockchain is the underlying technology and concept, and Bitcoin is only the most popular application of blockchain at present. .

Maybe the above is not popular enough. Finally, let me summarize, what do you think the blockchain is?Is it a disruptive new technology? NO! According to Xue Hongyan (Hong Yanweiyu), a senior researcher at Suning Financial Research Institute, blockchain is not so much a new technology as it is a new ideological concept. The information encryption and other technologies included in the blockchain have been around for a long time, and it is more of a conceptual innovation. This is also the reason why the blockchain has a huge impact. New technologies will be surpassed sooner or later, ranging from one or two years to four to five years; only innovative ideas have enough energy to affect all aspects of the economy and society.

| Blockchain is expected to change the underlying rules of the financial system

In applications in the financial field, blockchain will change the transaction process and record keeping methods, thus significantly reducing transaction costs. It has significantly improved efficiency and is considered to have a broad market environment in digital currency, cross-border payment and clearing, bill trading, securities issuance and trading, property rights transactions, customer credit reporting, anti-fraud, and anti-money laundering.

Such a good technology is naturally sought after by everyone. Like many traditional financial people, Hong Yanweiyu resisted it at first, thinking that this thing was not that great, and did not do any research specifically. Later, as the research on financial technology gradually deepened, it was discovered that blockchain was an obstacle that could not be bypassed, because whether it was robo-advisory, big data risk control or online lending, they were only technological innovations at the financial business level and risk control level. It has not penetrated the bottom layer of the financial system. What is the underlying layer of the financial system? Naturally, it is payment and settlement, transaction rules and system interaction. What the blockchain changes is precisely the underlying rules.

Therefore, throughout the world, financial institutions are the most active in researching blockchain. If nothing else, they are really afraid. After the decentralization and trustless features of the blockchain are fully utilized, what else will the intermediaries of financial institutions do? It is estimated that this is also the first feeling of many people who have a preliminary understanding of blockchain.

In this article, Hong Yanweiyu focuses on pouring cold water on this view.

| Subverting the financial system, blockchain still faces two mountains

Marxist dialectics tells us that everything has two sides. The more prominent the advantages, the more obvious the flaws. It’s just the perspective. Just different. The two major problems with blockchain subverting the financial system lie precisely in the two major advantages of decentralization and trustlessness.

First, let’s talk about decentralization. First, we need to clarify a truth. Does centralization necessarily mean low efficiency? Of course not. Within a specific scope, the concentration of resources brought about by centralization can greatly improve efficiency. This is also the reason why human beings evolve from individuals to villages to tribes and then to countries in the process of evolution. Take UnionPay as an example. UnionPay is the clearing and settlement center for the domestic banking industry. After UnionPay is established, each bank only needs to connect with UnionPay to realize transactions with all banks. If it is decentralized, without UnionPay, each bank will need to When communicating with all counterparties, which one is more efficient? Therefore, there is no need to beat centralization to death with a stick. The decentralization characteristics of blockchainSymptoms are destined to only play a role in specific fields (that is, fields that are not suitable for centralization). How can it subvert everything?

Furthermore, it is a matter of trust. There is nothing wrong with detrusting itself, but the technical logic behind it is deeply flawed. Blockchain relies on universal accounting to achieve trustlessness, that is, all transaction information is retained in each block for system cross-verification to identify authenticity. Here comes the problem. Each block retains all transaction information. There is no problem on a small blockchain. However, as more and more information is added, it will inevitably lead to an explosive growth of transaction information and will also bring information. Dramatic increase in storage costs. At the same time, the greater the amount of information, the longer cross-validation takes and the lower the efficiency. Therefore, the blockchain solves the trust problem, but it brings about rising costs and declining efficiency.

Nothing in the world is perfect, and the same is true for blockchain.

As a conclusion, Hongyanweiyu wants to clarify that blockchain, as a conceptual innovation, does have great value and can also have a disruptive impact in specific fields. However, the current one-sided thinking about blockchain is problematic. Eastern wisdom tells us that "the most brilliant and the golden mean", in the face of anything, it is wisest to maintain the golden mean.

(Text/Xue Hongyan, senior researcher at Suning Financial Research Institute; WeChat public account: Hongyan Weiyu)

As early as a few years ago, the word "mining" came with Bitcoin is well known for its popularity. Many people know about Bitcoin first and then the blockchain, and they even don’t know about the blockchain yet. By definition, blockchain is a series of data blocks generated using cryptographic methods. Each data block contains information about a Bitcoin network transaction, which is used to verify the validity (anti-counterfeiting) and generation of its information. Next block.

I am not a computer technology expert. The following introduction to blockchain comes from reading and comments from expert friends and is for reference only.

If you want to use one word to explain blockchain, it is: distributed accounting.

To understand what this word means, you need to first understand that traditional accounting has a center. For example, in a bank, when you withdraw money from a bank deposit or lend money to others through the bank, the bank is the center, and all these transactions are based on the bank's credit. What if the bank cheats? Or is it more serious, is the country cheating? The Kuomintang's indiscriminate issuance of gold yuan coupons at the end of its rule in mainland China, as well as the hyperinflation in Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe, which made the currency less valuable than toilet paper, are very famous examples.

Golden Yuan Coupons

This is the problem that blockchain is aimed at. They believe that decentralized accounting is non-modifiable and non-repudiable. How to achieve decentralized accounting? The basic idea is that all users store all transaction records, and through mathematical methods, let non-It becomes very difficult to legally amend the ledger. In this way, the reliability of the ledger is guaranteed.

Specifically, all users exhaustively enumerate random number variables, and the first user to obtain a specific required hash function value (Hash) will have the right to record this round of transactions and obtain the corresponding Bitcoins award. It is transmitted in the form of data blocks, and the data blocks are connected into a chain by appending at the end, so it is called a block chain.

After listening to the introduction, you may feel that this idea is interesting, but it is not as exciting or revolutionary as advertised. Your feeling is right. In fact, the basic logic of blockchain has some unavoidable problems.

For example, the current size of the complete Bitcoin public ledger has exceeded 150 G, and is rapidly increasing at a rate of tens of G per year - just to support 5 million users and 30 million transactions per year. If its processing volume is one day comparable to that of Alipay, the size of the Bitcoin ledger will increase by more than 500 terabytes per year. This is equivalent to backing up the Alipay server's storage data on all users' personal computers. Do you think this is a good idea?

For another example, in the traditional banking system, if you lose your password, it is no big deal. Just report it to the system in time, and your wealth will not disappear. But in the blockchain system, if you lose your password, it will be a huge trouble, and your currency will not be recovered. Not happy? Is it surprising?

Blockchain is a new application model of computer technologies such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, and encryption algorithms. The so-called consensus mechanism is a mathematical algorithm that establishes trust and obtains rights and interests between different nodes in the blockchain system

In layman’s terms, it is playing mahjong. Four people can take turns to be the banker, and each other can shoot four people. They all have their own ledger records, but if you want to modify the ledger, you must have more than 50% of the modification rights, so the cost of cheating on the ledger is very high.

In the future, blockchain will be used more in finance to combat money laundering and fraud, because all information can be traced, and in culture it can be used for copyright protection, etc.

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I have seen a lot of people’s explanations of blockchain in official terms, and some may not even be clear to the person explaining it. I will explain blockchain in vernacular below to ensure that everyone can read it. Gotta understand.

What is blockchain? Let me give an analogy. In 50 years, you can buy an electric fan from the supermarket. This electric fan will automatically mine coins for you when it is blowing. You can mine coins automatically while using the electric fan. When you use this electric fan, When the fan breaks down, you can use the mined coins to repair the electric fan. Of course, you can also use the mined coins to buy a new electric fan. Many people think wrongly! Wouldn’t the profits of merchants be less? I giveEveryone talks about a certain brand. When the products of this brand are sold to you, the products themselves may even be sold to you at a loss. But once the number of users becomes large and the users become more sticky, you can pay for it through membership fees or service fees. Small fees or other ways to make money. Just like this, the mined coins can be purchased and repaired. Although the merchant's profit may be reduced, the merchant has gained more users and greater user stickiness. By this time, it only takes a minute for the merchant to make money.

And the electric fan you bought is equivalent to winding it up for you. What is winding up? If you put your electric fan on the street now, and 10 people come to snatch it, you have no way to prove that the ownership of this electric fan is yours. Once you put it on the chain, it is equivalent to being tied to you. Once it’s settled, you can prove it.

Therefore, the essence of blockchain is to help make people’s lives more convenient. It is equivalent to upgrading on the basis of the Internet, making it safer and more convenient. This is blockchain! It's that simple.

The security of the blockchain is reflected in its irreversibility and the data cannot be tampered with. We all know that in today's society, any data can be modified and conquered by hackers, but the data in the blockchain is impossible to change. Once generated, it cannot be modified unless all users in the blockchain work together. Agree to modify the data, but this is unlikely to happen.

At present, the blockchain is still very immature, just like the Internet bubble burst in 2000. When the bubble bursts, a truly valuable blockchain Internet will be hatched. company.

The wheel of history will not go backwards. Many people are unwilling to accept blockchain. Just like telling you that you can shop online 20 years ago, this is the same ridiculous thing. Time will eventually prove it. .

1. The main function of blockchain is to store information. Any information that needs to be saved can be written to the blockchain and read from it, so it is a database.

2. Anyone can set up a server, join the blockchain network and become a node. In the world of blockchain, there is no central node. Every node is equal and stores the entire database. You can write/read data to any node, because all nodes will eventually be synchronized to ensure that the blockchain is consistent.

3. Everyone works on the same blockchain, everyone publicly shares the current state of the blockchain, everyone agrees on the rules for new data submission and tampering with the blockchain is prohibited. It is difficult to operate in terms of computing power.

If we assume that the database is an account book, reading and writing the database is an accounting behavior:

Anyone can access this public accountThis can be verified, but no single user can control it. Participants in the blockchain system will jointly maintain the update of the ledger: it can only be modified according to strict rules and consensus, and there is a very exquisite design behind this.

(1) Accounting, the system will find the person with the fastest and best accounting within a period of time, let this person do the accounting, and then broadcast the information on this page of the account book to everyone else on the entire network. node, which is equivalent to changing the database record; (consensus mechanism, cryptography)

(2) Verification, other valid nodes in the entire network check the correctness of the block accounting, and stamp the time Stamp to confirm that the block is legal; (timestamp, mathematics)

(3) Form a single chain, that is, compete for the next block after the previous legal block; (smart contract, encryption technology)

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(4) Storage, the account book is stored in blocks. As transactions increase, new data blocks will be appended to the existing chain to form a chain structure; (distributed structure, information technology) < /p>

(5) Backup, every participating trader is a node of the block network, and each node has a complete backup of the public account book, which is a distributed ledger.

Features

1. The blockchain has no administrator and is completely centerless. It is precisely because it cannot be managed that the blockchain cannot be controlled. Without an administrator, everyone can write data into it. In order to ensure the trustworthiness of the data: the technology of blockchain makes it impossible to tamper with the data once it is written.

2. Close to zero trust cost.

The cycle time required for Internet companies to build their credit is extremely long. For example, Taobao often takes several years to build its credit. In the blockchain, everyone trusts the code, algorithm and rules, so the cost of trust is extremely low.

3. The marginal cost of constructing and trading assets approaches zero.

If traditional assets are to be used for trading, they need to rely heavily on third parties, such as investment banks, banks, securities firms, etc., for packaging and endorsement, and the fees and thresholds are extremely high. With blockchain, these will not be a problem, and the cost is extremely low.

The value transfer attribute of the blockchain also naturally solves the payment problem, and has the genes to support global payments.

According to my current understanding

1. Blockchain is an outlet.

Everyone is talking about blockchain. Whether they have read it or not, whether they understand it or not, many people are forwarding blockchain articles in their circle of friends. The only new WeChat group is Blockchain related groups.

Investors are talking, entrepreneurs are talking, almost every major Internet company is talking about it, government departments are taking a stand, and tens of thousands of vertical media focusing on blockchain are quickly born.

It seems that if you don’t join any currency circle or chain circle, you will be completely OU.T. Even the well-known investment tycoon Zhu Xiaohu was unilaterally declared to belong to the old world by the rising star Chen Weixing.

2. Blockchain represents the story of sudden wealth.

Although ICO has been stopped by the national level, the most popular word-of-mouth about blockchain is still the increase in wealth by hundreds or thousands of times. Coins that were bought for a few cents or a few dollars are now worth dozens or hundreds of dollars. Everyone is talking about value-added stories.

There are Bitcoin and Ethereum. If you download a digital currency trading platform APP, the various currency codes composed of densely packed letters will feel like a stock exchange.

3. Blockchain is not only a technology, but also a belief at the conceptual level.

The basic layer, application layer, and a lot of blockchain knowledge seem to have a lot to do with the hot artificial intelligence.

Many people say that blockchain technology is mature, but applications have barely found an entrance. We can all shout loudly: Artificial Intelligence +, but if you shout "Blockchain +" now, it's not enough and you will be laughed at. The application scenarios are still being explored.

As for the previous Internet, it was an Internet of confidence. With the addition of blockchain, it became an Internet of value.

Such similar concepts are people’s good expectations for blockchain technology to solve the trust problem. If it is so easy to implement, blockchain can subvert finance, e-commerce, and many intermediaries. But why has the Internet not been subverted for so many years and real estate still relies on intermediaries?

4. Blockchain already has a history, so don’t think it is too new.

Just as many people claim that artificial intelligence is so new that it is a joke, its history can be traced back to the 1950s.

The blockchain is marked by the birth of Bitcoin, which was 10 years ago. There is also a still mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, who seems to have a Japanese name, and some say he is from the United States. From the Security Bureau, I think it can also be interpreted as "Chinese people are inherently smart", of course the latter is just a joke.

The reason why it has become so popular is because of the skyrocketing price of various digital currencies in 2017, which skyrocketed thousands of times in a few months and days. How could there be such an amazing speed in the past?

5. Blockchain is a knowledge system.

For me, whether it is a trend, whether it is a wealth game, or whether it is technology, we cannot ignore it or ignore it.

I started to make two columns to understand the blockchain from the perspective of characters, stories and characters. One is "Blockchain 100 People (Industry People)" and the other is "Blockchain 100 Investors". (Viewpoint)” Learn and spread at the same time.

As for related books, of course, I will accept them all as ordered. I can only be a follower of various trends and follow suit.

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The biggest mistake is not how we criticize the blockchain, but when we see it has a huge bubble and the crowd is enthusiastic about it, we ignore it, and we think we are noble and stay away from it.

The only way we have left is to be willing to be students, learn, and learn again.

Literal meaning: block, chain, using a chain to connect each block.

Blockchain = distributed data storage + point-to-point transmission + consensus mechanism + encryption algorithm

What is data storage? For example, a supermarket must have a ledger to record the entry and exit of various goods and transactions. This is storage.

What is distributed storage? It is the account book of this supermarket. Every employee has a copy. Every time there is something that needs to be recorded, it will be recorded in everyone's account book in a timely manner. Distributing each ledger (storage) to countless people (places) is distributed storage. (The supermarket employees here can be understood as blocks, and the ledger is the chain)

What is point-to-point transmission? In the same supermarket, there is no yogurt at the front desk. The shopping guide reports it to his superiors, and then reports it to his superiors.... Finally, he reports it to the warehouse. The warehouse records the accounting records in the ledger, and then transfers the goods to the front desk. As for point-to-point transmission, if there is no yogurt at the front desk, the shopping guide directly tells the warehouse, and the quantity sent by the warehouse to the shopping guide is recorded in the ledger. Everyone knows how many goods the warehouse has sent to the front desk. This is point-to-point transmission. There is no intermediate link, but the accounts can be made public for everyone who holds the ledger to see.

What is consensus mechanism? The consensus mechanism mainly includes two points. In a simple summary, the minority obeys the majority and everyone is equal. Similarly, the positions in this supermarket may be high or low, but everyone’s account books are indeed the same and equal. If someone makes a false account, then this person's account must be different from other people's accounts. At this time, it depends on whose account is remembered by more people. In theory, as long as the blockchain is large enough, then there is no need to make false accounts. Limit reduction! Because of the "minority obeys the majority" mechanism, if you want to make false accounts, then the number of false accounts you need to make must be at least greater than 50% of the total! On a network, if you need to change a piece of data, you must control at least 50% of the total number of computers to succeed.

The encryption algorithm is easy to understand. That is, when you go to the warehouse to adjust goods, the system will protect your privacy very well. It will only record the time, location, and person with a certain number who went to adjust the yogurt. It couldn't be the time, place, or Zhang San went to mix the yogurt. Taken together, this is the core component of the blockchain.

Personally, I think its main function is to decentralize and protect data from being tampered with! Decentralization and data protection are actually related. A supermarket only has one ledger, and any scheduling needs to go through the person who manages the ledger. If you need to make false accounts, you only need to control the person who manages the ledger. And if that supermarket uses blockchain technology, then he will make false accounts. If so, justYou need to control more than 50% of the people who hold that supermarket’s total ledger. Obviously, controlling so many people will be almost impossible as the number of holders increases.