区块链运行速度,区块链多少年了
区块链技术在过去几年中取得了长足的发展,它的运行速度和拓展能力也越来越强大。本文将介绍区块链的三个关键词:分布式账本技术、智能合约技术和共识机制。
分布式账本技术分布式账本技术是区块链技术的核心,它是一种分布式数据库技术,可以记录所有参与者之间的交易信息。该技术的特点是,它利用分布式节点的网络,将数据存储在多个节点之间,从而实现安全、可靠的数据存储。由于数据存储在多个节点之间,因此它可以更有效地防止数据丢失和篡改,从而提高了数据的安全性。
智能合约技术智能合约技术是区块链技术的一种重要组成部分,它是一种可以在区块链网络上执行的自动化合约。智能合约技术可以让参与者在无需第三方介入的情况下安全地进行交易,并且可以自动执行订单,从而提高了交易的效率。此外,智能合约技术还可以有效地防止交易双方之间的纠纷,从而保护参与者的利益。
共识机制共识机制是区块链技术的一种重要组成部分,它是一种可以在分布式网络中实现共识的机制。共识机制的目的是确保网络中的所有节点都能够一致地接受和执行交易,从而保证网络的安全性和可靠性。目前,最常用的共识机制是工作量证明(PoW)和权益证明(PoS),它们可以有效地保护网络免受恶意攻击,从而提高网络的安全性。
从以上内容可以看出,分布式账本技术、智能合约技术和共识机制是区块链技术的三大关键技术,它们可以有效地提高区块链的运行速度和拓展能力,为参与者提供安全、可靠的交易环境。
请查看相关英文文档
㈠ What blockchain apps are there
Blockchain apps include: NetEase Planet Base, Shulian App, Lianxiang Finance, Shijilin Blockchain Trading Platform, District Blockchain electronic wallet, Ostrich Blockchain, GXS Wallet, Coin Wallet, Youling Wallet.
5. Youling Wallet
Youling App creates a personal-centered value exchange network and ecology, and creates decentralized interactive entertainment and zones for all. Blockchain new economic platform.
Youling App adopts a decentralized open model, allowing individuals (third-party developers) to develop various applications based on the Youling open platform. Each user can freely choose applications to build their own homepage, including but Not limited to: souvenirs, live broadcasts, sharing, communities, service sales, and product sales.
㈡ How is the blockchain developing now?
In 2020, the blockchain was included in the category of "new infrastructure" by the country, and at least 7 provinces introduced blockchain support policies . In the same year, blockchain technology was gradually moving from concept to implementation, with many application scenarios blooming. "Blockchain+" various industry applications have become a symbol of the continuous maturity of blockchain.
The development status of "Blockchain+" in 2020
In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic swept the world, and the uncertainty of world economic development increased significantly. Governments and enterprises of various countries are exploring the use of emerging technologies to reduce economic and social operating costs, improve the operating efficiency of the real economy, and further find new growth points for economic development.
Currently, blockchain is cross-innovating with new technology infrastructure such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. More and more vertical fields of the real economy are showing the development pattern of "blockchain +" and "escape from reality". The good momentum of "Towards Reality".
In order to avoid turning reality into fiction, in addition to continuing to severely crack down on speculation, we must also guide the deep integration of blockchain technology with practical application scenarios. Therefore, "blockchain+" various industrial application scenarios have become one of the inevitable trends in the development of blockchain.
According to the "Blockchain White Paper (2020)" recently released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as of October 2020, more than 262 listed companies have been involved in the blockchain field, each from insurance , real estate, commercial department stores, security equipment, packaging materials, telecommunications operations and other 39 fields. In the blockchain information service registration list released by the State Internet Information Office, there are 45 listed company blockchain projects.
Among them, finance is the most explored scenario among blockchain technology application scenarios, with specific projects implemented in subdivisions such as supply chain finance, trade finance, payment and settlement, and fund management. The white paper shows that as of November 2020, among the domestically registered blockchain information services, the number of projects in the financial (including supply chain finance) field ranks first, accounting for as high as 36%.
As the implementation of blockchain applications accelerates, the “blockchain+” business has become the backbone of Internet companies entering the blockchain industry.In addition to financial business, it is actively deploying applications in the Internet, traceability, supply chain & logistics, digital assets, government affairs and public services, intellectual property, law, medical and other fields.
At the same time, the industry is gradually understanding that blockchain is the basic component of trusted transactions, but this does not mean that blockchain can conquer the world. Blockchain needs to be combined with other technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, 5G, etc. to use synergy to form integrated solutions to jointly promote digital transformation.
According to relevant data, the current application of blockchain is mainly in the field of certificate storage. Blockchain has entered into how to make it better from an engineering perspective, more credible, more stable, and more scalable. Well, a stage that can accommodate more nodes. He Baohong, director of the Institute of Cloud Computing and Big Data of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, believes that this process will continue for some time or longer. In the next step, blockchain technology competition will shift from engineering optimization and improvement to technology ecology and business ecology.
In addition, it is understood that the blockchain industry is improving in the long term, and industry cognition has returned to rationality. With the central government's planning and guidance for the development of blockchain technology, my country's blockchain has clarified the development ideas based on the alliance chain, focusing on serving the real economy and optimizing public services, and the direction of industrial development has become clearer. At this stage, the confidence of the majority of practitioners in blockchain continues to improve, and the long-term strategic value of blockchain is generally recognized.
What is the prospect of "Blockchain+" in 2021?
As my country’s blockchain industry chain gradually improves, most blockchain companies not only focus on one aspect, but also show a trend of coordinated development in multiple fields. According to statistics, among the 801 blockchain information service registration lists released by the Cyberspace Administration of China, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shandong are the provinces and cities with the most registered companies.
The core role of blockchain corresponding to its technical characteristics is mainly reflected in the three aspects of certificate storage, automated collaboration and value transfer. As its value potential is constantly being explored, application scenarios have evolved from the breakthrough point of finance. , and gradually expanded into many fields such as the real economy, government affairs and people's livelihood.
The core value of blockchain for the real economy is to promote efficient collaboration between upstream and downstream industries and improve the efficiency of industry-finance integration. In the early stages of development, the blockchain application model mainly focused on the storage of documents, contracts, etc. At this stage, blockchain industry applications are gradually moving towards automated collaboration and value interconnection such as government data sharing, supply chain collaboration, and cross-border trade.
2020 is the warm-up for 2021. In 2021, the use of blockchain, distributed ledgers, and smart contract tools will continue to grow as it did in 2020. With the continuous deepening of blockchain technology, the foundation of the blockchain industry will become better and better, the industrial ecology will also develop rapidly, and the industrial chain will become increasingly widespread.
From the perspective of industrial structure, the blockchain industry is mainly divided into four parts: underlying technology, platform services, industrial applications, and peripheral services.
The first three parts show a relatively obvious upstream and downstream relationship, respectively.The underlying technology part provides the necessary technical products and components of the blockchain. The platform service part builds a blockchain platform that can run corresponding industry applications based on the underlying technology. The industrial application part is mainly developed using blockchain technology based on the actual scenarios of each industry. Industry applications to achieve innovation in business collaboration models within the industry.
The peripheral services part provides supporting services to the industry, including industry organizations, market research, standard formulation, system evaluation and certification, industry media, etc., to provide impetus for the development of industrial ecology.
Among them, as far as the industrial application of blockchain is concerned: Blockchain is the innovative development result of information technology, and it is also a major booster for the reconstruction of business processes and the innovation of industrial interaction models in various industries.
Blockchain has gradually expanded from the initial digital finance to supply chain finance, product traceability and other fields. Now it has been explored and applied in government affairs, people's livelihood, industrial management and other industries, and its application scenarios are becoming increasingly rich, presenting It has shown a development trend of deep integration with other industries.
At present, domestic enterprises are focusing on the development of applications related to serving the real economy and improving government affairs and people's livelihood. Among them, supply chain finance and product traceability have accounted for half of all applications. Others, such as government affairs and people's livelihood, have become the future of manufacturers. Key layout areas are about to experience explosive growth.
After blockchain investment cooled down in 2020, the blockchain industry may begin to gradually become more rational in 2021. However, a relatively complete industrial chain and active market entities provide a good foundation for the integrated development of the blockchain industry. The blockchain industry will also show a positive development trend in terms of policy support, ecological construction, platform services, application implementation, and integrated innovation.
㈢ One article to understand the Internet blockchain
One article to understand the Internet blockchain
One article to understand the Internet blockchain. To understand the blockchain, We have to study the brief history of blockchain technology development starting from the birth of the Internet, discover the motivations for blockchain, and infer the future of blockchain. Let’s understand the Internet blockchain in one article.
Understand the Internet blockchain in one article 1The originator of blockchain is mahjong, and the earliest blockchain was invented by the Chinese! The blockchain is just like Mahjong, except that Mahjong has fewer blocks. Mahjong only has 136 blocks. The rules of Mahjong vary from place to place and can be regarded as a hard fork of Bitcoin.
As the oldest blockchain project, Mahjong has a team of four miners. The first one to dig out the 13 correct hash values will get the accounting rights and rewards. It adopts the method of being willing to admit defeat and not cheating. Thousands of consensus mechanisms!
Mahjong is decentralized, everyone can be the banker, and it is completely peer-to-peer.
Mining pool = commission from the boss of the chess and card room.
It cannot be tampered with, because convincing the other three people requires too much computing power and physical strength.
A typical value Internet. The value in my pocket didn’t last eight rounds before it went into their pockets..
The Chinese are basically good at playing mahjong. In terms of blockchain, they produce 70% to 80% of the world’s mining machines and have the most computing power in the world, accounting for about 77% of the computing power.
Mahjong is actually the earliest blockchain project:
1. A group of four miners. The miner who first collides with the correct hash value of 13 numbers can obtain the accounting rights. and get rewarded.
2. It cannot be tampered with. Because convincing the other three people requires too much computing power and physical strength.
3. Typical value Internet. The valuable digital currency www.gendan5.com/digitalcurrency/btc.html in my pocket ran into their pockets after eight rounds.
4. Decentralization, everyone can be a banker, it is completely peer-to-peer.
5. UTXO, unspent transaction expenses.
There is another blockchain method of credit, assuming that everyone has no cash
Let’s take a closer look. When everyone reaches a consensus, we see There is no intermediary or third party to judge C’s win, and the rewards given to C do not need to be transferred to C through a third party. They are all direct peer-to-peer transactions. This process is decentralized, and players (miners) record their own records. After recording the results of the first game, B Dahu drew thirteen pieces, and B drew Jia Dongfeng. After the record is completed, a complete block is generated, but remember, this is only the first game. In the entire blockchain , this is just one node. After the 8 rounds mentioned at the beginning, there are 8 nodes (blocks). The 8 blocks are connected together to form a complete ledger, which is the blockchain. Because everyone has one of this ledger, it is a distributed ledger. The purpose is to prevent someone from tampering with the record. At the end of the game, it is clear who wins and who loses.
Four men (A, B, C and D) got together to play mahjong for money. None of them brought any cash, so they asked a beautiful woman (centralized) to use a book to keep records and record who won and how much money they won in each round. , Who lost how much? At the end of the day, everyone uses Alipay or WeChat to pay and settle the ledger. However, if this beauty made a mistake in accounting or was bribed by one of the four people in advance to make a mistake on purpose, there is no guarantee that the outcome of this game will be fair, just, and reasonable. ,dont you agree? then what should we do? If you "play mahjong", you can use "blockchain" as the game rules and adapt it as follows:
Four men (A, B, C and D) got together to play mahjong for money. No one brought any cash. B said Let the beauty she brought keep accounts. A said that none of us knew this beauty, so the four of them, A, B, C, and D, agreed that everyone would keep accounts at the same time (decentralized) on their mobile phones (blockchain nodes) for each game. ), after finally playing mahjong and paying with electronic money directly on the mobile phone, everyone checked the accounting results. The accounting results should have been the same.
Assume that the original result is the account recorded on A’s mobile phone: BI owe A 10 yuan. However, the record on B's mobile phone shows that there is no debt, but the other two people (C and D) have the same accounting as A, so the settlement is still based on the majority rule. In addition, everyone has a bad impression of B's integrity. Next The first time I play mahjong, I won’t take B to play with me.
Unless B bribes two people (C and D) in advance to deliberately cheat, but the cost of B bribes them is 100,000 yuan (10,000 times the default of 10 yuan), then in common sense, B only You can choose to give up because the cost of counterfeiting is too high.
Assume that even if B is secretly willing to pay a high price of 100,000 yuan to buy C and D to do this silly cat transaction with huge losses during the card game, the rules of the blockchain are to keep accounts based on timestamps. Yes, it turns out that B owed A 10 yuan when debiting the account at 1 p.m., that is, when C and D changed the account at 3 p.m., time is irreversible and they can only record 3 p.m., which does not comply with the rules of the game. .
In fact, in 2017 the blogger has developed a set of Mahjong coins
China’s earliest blockchain project: a group of four miners, first starting from 148 random numbers The miner who collides with the correct hash value of 14 numbers can obtain an accounting right incentive. Since distributed accounting requires the consensus of several other miners, each accounting transaction takes about ten minutes.
Understanding the Internet Blockchain in One Article 21. Before the birth of Bitcoin, 5 Internet technologies that will have a significant impact on the future of the blockchain
In 1969, the Internet was born in the United States. Since then, the Internet has expanded from four research institutions in the United States to the entire planet. In terms of application, it has expanded from the earliest military and scientific research to all aspects of human life. In the nearly 50 years since the birth of the Internet, five technologies have been of particularly great significance to the future development of blockchain.
1. The TCP/IP protocol born in 1974: determines the position of blockchain in the Internet technology ecosystem
In 1974, the most critical step in the development of the Internet was taken by The TCP/IP protocol, the core communication technology of the Internet jointly developed by American scientists Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn, was officially launched.
This protocol enables the transmission of information between different computers and even different types of networks. All computers connected to the network can communicate and interact as long as they comply with this protocol.
In layman's terms, Internet data can travel tens of thousands of kilometers to reach the computer users who need it. This is mainly because the Internet world has formed a unified information dissemination mechanism. That is to say, Internet devices follow a unified law-TCP/IP protocol when disseminating information.
Understanding the TCP/IP protocol is of great significance to mastering the Internet and blockchain. After the invention of TCP/IP in 1974, the entire Internet was between the underlying hardware devices, the intermediate network protocols and the network Addresses have always been relatively stable, but endless innovations are emerging at the top application layer.Applications, including news, e-commerce, social networks, QQ, WeChat, and blockchain technology.
In other words, in the technical ecology of the Internet, blockchain is a new technology at the top layer of the Internet - the application layer. Its emergence, operation and development have not affected the underlying infrastructure and communication protocols of the Internet. , is still one of the many software technologies that operates according to the TCP/IP protocol.
2. Cisco router technology born in 1984: an imitation of blockchain technology
In December 1984, Cisco was established in the United States. The founder was a professor from Stanford University. A couple, Leonard Posak, director of the computer center, and Sandy Lerner, director of the business school's computer center, designed a networking device called a "multiprotocol router" that was placed on the Internet's communication lines to help data Get from one end of the Internet to the other thousands of kilometers away accurately and quickly.
In the entire Internet hardware layer, tens of millions of routers are busy working, directing the transmission of Internet information. An important function of Cisco routers is that each router saves a complete Internet device address table. Once something happens Changes will be synchronized to tens of millions of other routers (theoretically), ensuring that each router can calculate the shortest and fastest path.
When you see the operation process of the router, you will feel very familiar. That is the important feature of the blockchain later. The significance of understanding the router lies in the important features of the blockchain. It has been implemented on the router in 1984. For the router, even if the node device is damaged or attacked by hackers, it will not affect the transmission of the entire Internet information.
3. The B/S (C/S) architecture that was born with the World Wide Web: the opponent of the blockchain and the target of attempted subversion
The World Wide Web is referred to as the Web and is divided into Web clients and server. All updated information is only modified on the Web server. Thousands, tens of thousands, or even tens of millions of other client computers do not retain the information and only obtain the information data when accessing the server. This structure is often called the Internet B/S architecture is a centralized architecture. This architecture is also the most important architecture of the current Internet. Internet giants such as Google, Facebook, Tencent, Alibaba, and Amazon have all adopted this architecture.
Understanding the B/S architecture will be of great significance to the subsequent understanding of blockchain technology. The B/S architecture is that data is only stored in the central server, and all other computers obtain information from the server. Blockchain technology has tens of millions of computers without a center, and all data will be synchronized to all computers. This is the core of blockchain technology.
4. Peer-to-Peer Network (P2P): Blockchain The father of the chain and its technical basis
Peer-to-peer network P2P is another Internet infrastructure corresponding to C/S (B/S). Its characteristic is that multiple computers connected to each other are connected to each other. atIn a peer-to-peer position, there is no distinction between master and slave. A computer can be used as a server, setting up shared resources for use by other computers in the network, or as a workstation.
Napster is one of the earliest P2P systems, mainly used for music resource sharing. Napster cannot be regarded as a true peer-to-peer network system. On March 14, 2000, a message was posted on the mailing list of the underground hacker site Slashdot in the United States, saying that AOL's Nullsoft department had released Gnutella, an open source Napster clone software.
In the Gnutella distributed peer-to-peer network model, each networked computer is functionally peer, serving as both a client and a server, so Gnutella is called the first true peer-to-peer network model. Network Architecture.
In the past 20 years, some Internet technology giants such as Microsoft and IBM, as well as liberals, hackers, and even criminals who infringe intellectual property rights, have continued to promote the development of peer-to-peer networks. Of course, those on the Internet want to strengthen information sharing. The idealists also put a lot of enthusiasm into peer-to-peer networks. Blockchain is a software application based on a peer-to-peer network architecture. It is a benchmark application for peer-to-peer networks trying to break out from the silence of the past.
5. Hash algorithm: the key to generating Bitcoin and tokens (tokens)
The hash algorithm converts numbers of any length into fixed-length values using a hash function. Algorithms, famous hash functions such as: MD4, MD5, SHS, etc. It is a member of the family of cryptographic functions defined by the American National Institute of Standards and Technology.
This family of algorithms is crucial to the functioning of the entire world. From Internet application stores, emails, anti-virus software, to browsers, etc., all of them are using secure hashing algorithms. It can determine whether Internet users have downloaded what they want, and it can also determine whether Internet users are involved in man-in-the-middle attacks or network attacks. Victim of a phishing attack.
The process of blockchain and its application to generate new coins from Bitcoin or other virtual currencies is to use the function of the hash algorithm to perform operations to obtain numbers that meet the format requirements, and then the blockchain program gives Bitcoin rewards.
Mining, including Bitcoin and tokens, is actually a small mathematical game built with a hash algorithm. However, because of the fierce competition, people all over the world used powerful servers to perform calculations in order to get the rewards first. As a result, many computers on the Internet participated in this little mathematical game, which even consumed more than 40% of the electricity in some countries.
2. The birth and technical core of blockchain
The birth of blockchain should be the most unusual and mysterious invention and technology in the history of human science, because apart from blockchain, So far, there is no major invention in the history of modern science whose inventor cannot be found.
On October 31, 2008, Bitcoin was foundedSatoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym) published a paper on the cryptography mailing group - "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System". In this paper, the author claims to have invented a new electronic currency system that is not controlled by governments or institutions. Blockchain technology is the basis for supporting the operation of Bitcoin.
The preprint address of the paper is at http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. From an academic point of view, this paper is far from a qualified paper. The main body of the article is composed of 8 flow charts. It is composed of corresponding explanatory text, no nouns and terms are defined, and the format of the paper is also very irregular.
In January 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto released an application case of blockchain on the SourceForge website - the open source software of the Bitcoin system. After the release of the open source software, it is said that Satoshi Nakamoto mined approximately 1 million bits. Coin. A week later, Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 Bitcoins to cryptography expert Hal Finney, which became the first transaction in Bitcoin history. With the booming development of Bitcoin, research on blockchain technology has also begun to show explosive growth.
It is indeed difficult to fully and clearly explain the blockchain to the public. We use Bitcoin as the object to introduce the technical characteristics of the blockchain as simply as possible but in depth.
1. Blockchain is a peer-to-peer network (P2P) software application
As we mentioned before, at the beginning of the 21st century, the Internet formed two major types of applications. Architecture, centralized B/S architecture and non-centered peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture. Many Internet giants such as Alibaba, Sina, Amazon, etc. all have centralized B/S architecture. Simply put, it is data Put it in a giant server, and our ordinary users can access the servers of Alibaba, Sina and other websites through mobile phones and personal computers.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been many software applications for freely sharing music, videos, and paper materials. Most of them use a peer-to-peer network (P2P) architecture, that is, there is no central server, everyone's personal computer They are all servers and clients, with equal status. However, this type of application has never become popular. The main reasons are large resource consumption and intellectual copyright issues. Blockchain is a software application in this field.
2. Blockchain is a peer-to-peer network (P2P) software application that synchronizes information across the entire network
Peer-to-peer networks also have many application methods. In many cases, everyone is not required to Each computer keeps the same information. Everyone only stores the information they need, and downloads it to other computers when needed.
However, in order to support Bitcoin financial transactions, the blockchain requires that every transaction that occurs must be written into historical transaction records and change information be sent to all computers with Bitcoin programs installed. Every computer with Bitcoin software installed maintains the latest and complete Bitcoin historical transaction information.
BlockThe characteristics of the chain's network-wide synchronization and network-wide backup are often referred to as blockchain information security, and the source cannot be changed. Although it is still not absolutely safe in practice, when the number of users is very large, it does have certain security advantages in preventing information tampering.
3. Blockchain is a peer-to-peer (P2P) software application that uses a hash algorithm to generate "tokens" to synchronize information across the entire network
Area The first application of the blockchain was the famous Bitcoin. When discussing Bitcoin, a term that is often mentioned is "mining". So what exactly is mining?
The metaphor is that the blockchain program gives the miners (players) 256 coins, numbered 1, 2, 3...256. Each time a Hash operation is performed, it is like tossing a coin. 256 coins are thrown at the same time. After landing, if all the coins with the first 70 numbers happen to be heads. The miner can tell the blockchain program this number, and the blockchain will reward the miner with 50 Bitcoins.
From the perspective of software programs, Bitcoin mining is a mathematical game built using the hash SHA256 function. The blockchain first stipulates a winning mode in this small game: a 256-bit hash number is given, but the last 70 bits of the hash number are all 0, and then the player (miner) continuously enters various numbers. Give the hash SHA256 function and see if you can use this function to get a number with 70 zeros. If you find one, the blockchain program will reward the player with 50 Bitcoins. Actual mining and rewards are more complex, but the above example expresses the core process of mining and obtaining Bitcoin.
When Bitcoin was born in 2009, each bounty was 50 Bitcoins. Ten minutes after its birth, the first batch of 50 Bitcoins was generated, and the total currency amount at this time was 50. Subsequently, Bitcoin increased at a rate of about 50 every 10 minutes. When the total amount reaches 10.5 million (50% of 21 million), the bounty is halved to 25. When the total amount reaches 15.75 million (new output is 5.25 million, which is 50% of 1050), the bounty is further halved to 12.5. According to the design of the Bitcoin program, the total number of Bitcoins is 21 million.
From the above introduction, Bitcoin can be seen as a guessing game based on a peer-to-peer network architecture. The Bitcoin information rewarded for each correct guess will be transmitted to all players and recorded. into each player's history database.
4. Smart contracts, tokens, ICOs and blockchain basic platforms generated by blockchain technology due to the rise of Bitcoin
From the above introduction, Bitcoin technology It is not a new technology falling from the sky, but a clever combination of various original Internet technologies, such as peer-to-peer network architecture, network-wide synchronization of routing, and network security encryption technology. It can be regarded as a combination of innovative algorithm games. .
Due to the operation of Bitcoin, it can be exchanged for legal tender and purchased in kind.The whole world is not calm about making huge profits through appreciation. With the attitude that if you can do it, I can do it, many people have created their own imitation Bitcoin software applications. At the same time, taking advantage of the difficulty for the government to regulate peer-to-peer networks, various altcoins exploded together with Bitcoin. There have been many incidents of fraud and absconding, which have gradually attracted the attention of governments around the world.
Blockchain basic platform: It is still quite technically difficult to create currency using the blockchain technology framework. At this time, basic technology platforms such as Ethereum, the blockchain basic platform, have emerged, making it convenient for ordinary people. Create a "Bitcoin"-like software program, each showing its magical powers, inviting people to join the game to mine coins, speculate on coins, and gain profits from it.
Pass or token: If each "Bitcoin" or "Altcoin" uses a hash algorithm to create a guessing game and generates its own "currency", this "currency" is collectively referred to as " "Certificate" or "Token".
ICO: Since Bitcoin and Ethereum have been exchanged with the legal currencies of various countries, when other new virtual currencies are issued, only Bitcoin and Ethereum are allowed to purchase the new issued coins. This process of issuing coins It’s called ICO. The emergence of ICO has amplified the transaction volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum. At the same time, many ICO projects are completely based on nihilistic projects, resulting in a large number of frequent fraud cases. This further deepens society’s negative understanding of virtual currencies generated by blockchain.
Smart contract: It can be seen as a software function on the blockchain. It is a program that assists various virtual currency transactions on the blockchain. The specific function is like the fund custody of Alipay on Taobao. When a user receives goods and confirms them on Alipay, the funds are automatically paid to the buyer and owner. Smart contracts also assume this intermediary payment function in blockchain applications such as Bitcoin.
3. The historical status and future prospects of blockchain technology in the Internet
1. Where does blockchain stand in Internet technology? It is a new software and architecture at the top level.
We mentioned in the previous introduction to TCP/IP that blockchain, like browsers, QQ, WeChat, online game software, mobile APPs, etc., is a software form of the top layer of the Internet - the application layer. . Its operation still relies on the TCP/IP architecture system to transmit data. But unlike most application layer software, it does not adopt the central software architecture of C/S (B/S). Instead, an unusual peer-to-peer network architecture is adopted. From this point of view, blockchain cannot subvert the Internet infrastructure.
2. Who does blockchain want to subvert? Want to subvert the B/S (C/S) structure of the World Wide Web.
It attempts to subvert the B/S, C/S structure of the World Wide Web, which was born in 1989. Said before. Since 1989, European physicist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and gave up applying for a patent. In the past 30 years since then, companies including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba, Internet, Tencent and other companies have used the B/S (C/S) structure of the World Wide Web to grow into an InternetInternet giant.
In their headquarters, a powerful central server cluster was established to store massive amounts of data. Hundreds of millions of users obtained the data they needed from the giant servers. This also led to the emergence of cloud computing, and then the Internet giants Open up your unused central server resources to further absorb data from enterprises, governments, and individuals. Centralized Internet giants have an increasing influence on the world, countries, and Internet users.
The goal of blockchain is to try to reduce the influence of Internet giants by distributing data to each Internet user’s computer. It can be seen that the real opponent of blockchain and what it wants to subvert is the 1990 The B/S (C/S) structure born in 2007. But whether it can be subverted depends on its technical advantages and bottlenecks.
3. Technical flaws of blockchain: dilemmas caused by the pursuit of complete equality and freedom
The technical flaws of blockchain first come from its peer-to-peer network architecture. For example For example, Taobao currently has a B/S structure, and massive data is stored in the Taobao server cluster computer room. Hundreds of millions of consumers access the Taobao server website through their browsers to obtain the latest information and historical information.
If blockchain technology is used, hundreds of millions of people will retain a complete Taobao database on their personal computers or mobile phones. Every time a transaction occurs, it will be synchronized to hundreds of millions of other users. This is completely unachievable in reality. The amount of data transferred and stored is too large. It is equivalent to setting up and running hundreds of millions of Taobao websites at the same time.
Therefore, blockchain cannot be applied to projects with large amounts of data, and even smaller website projects will have difficulty using blockchain. By 2018, Bitcoin had been running for nearly 10 years, and the accumulated transaction data had brought the entire system to collapse.
So the blockchain has adopted many alternative methods, such as establishing relay nodes and lightning nodes. These two concepts can also make people confused. In layman’s terms, the blockchain will ask it for The subversive object B/S structure has been studied, and a data server center has been established to become the relay node of the blockchain, which can also be accessed with a browser-like terminal. This is the lightning node of the blockchain.
This change can alleviate the technical shortcomings of the blockchain, but it does make the blockchain what it opposes, centralization. It can be seen that pure blockchain technology has major flaws due to its technical characteristics and cannot be widely used like the World Wide Web. If the technology is upgraded and some parts adopt a B/S (C/S) structure, the blockchain will become centralized. The information node no longer maintains the dream when it was born.
4. Looking at the future prospects of blockchain from the Internet brain model
We know that the Internet generally refers to the Internet that connects computer networks around the world. On this basis The development of a global Internet network covering the whole world is called the Internet, which is a network structure that is interconnected.
Since the birth of the Internet in 1969, humans have developed in the Internet field from different directions.There is no unified plan to build the Internet into a structure. When the wheel of time reaches 2017, with the vigorous development of science and technology such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, robots, virtual reality, and industrial Internet, , when human beings raise their heads and look at the giant system they have created, the model and architecture of the Internet brain have become increasingly clear.
Through nearly 20 years of development, relying on the B/S and C/S structures of the World Wide Web, Tencent QQ, WeChat, Facebook, Weibo, and Twitter Amazon have developed structures similar to neuron networks. Internet devices, especially personal computers and mobile phones, map personal data and functional space on the giant's central server through the software on the device, allowing them to add friends, communicate and transfer information. Internet giants continue to optimize the software versions of hundreds of millions of terminals through software upgrades in central server clusters. In the neurological system, this is a standard central nervous system structure.
The birth of the blockchain provides another neuron model. Instead of uniformly managing neurons in the centralized services of giants, each terminal, including personal computers and personal mobile phones, becomes an independent neuron node. , retaining an independent data space and synchronizing mutual information. In the neurological system, this is a distributed neural structure with no center and multiple neural nodes.
Interestingly, these two different types of neural structures appear in the development of the nervous system. In lower organisms, blockchain-like neural structures have appeared. There are multiple ganglia with the same functions, all of which can command body activities and reactions. However, as organisms evolve, these ganglia gradually merge. When they evolve into higher In biology, the central nervous system appeared, which contains a large number of neurons that interact with each other.
4. Judgment on the future status of blockchain in the Internet
1. Understanding of Bitcoin: a guessing game based on peer-to-peer network architecture (P2P), Through clever financial and public opinion operations, it has become a "world currency" that is not subject to government supervision.
2. Understanding of blockchain: a peer-to-peer (P2P) software application that uses hashing algorithms to generate "tokens" to synchronize information across the entire network.
3. Blockchain has specific uses, such as large-scale election voting, large-scale gambling, financial transactions that circumvent government financial supervision, etc. It still has irreplaceable uses.
4. In more cases, blockchain technology will rely on the B/S and C/S structures of the Internet to achieve functional expansion, but overall it is still a supplement to the existing technology of the Internet. Most of the application scenarios currently envisaged by blockchain can be implemented using B/S and C/S structures, with higher efficiency and more mature technology.
5. Whether from the perspective of information transmission efficiency and resource consumption, or from the evolution of the nervous system, blockchain cannot become the mainstream architecture of the Internet, let alone a subversive and revolutionary leader of the future Internet.
6. Of course, Internet giants developed from B/S and C/S structures also have their problems, but these can be gradually solved through commercial and political methods in the future.
㈣ What is blockchain
Let’s talk about some basic concepts first.
The network said that blockchain is a new usage model of computer technologies such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanisms, and encryption algorithms. It is essentially a decentralized database, and as the underlying technology of Bitcoin, it is a series of data blocks generated by cryptography.
We try to translate "what is blockchain" into "human language".
The definition refers to the "decentralized database" nature of blockchain3354. This is very different from the traditional "centralized database" in storage, update and operation.
A centralized database can be thought of as having this shape:
For example, if I want to use Alipay to pay a Taobao seller, all data requests from when I make money to when he receives the money will be centrally processed by Alipay. The advantage of this data structure is that as long as Alipay is responsible for the efficient and safe operation of the system, others can unconditionally believe it without worrying; the disadvantage is that if there is a problem with Alipay, such as being hacked, the server being burned, a traitor appearing, and the company running away (Of course, the possibility of the above is extremely low), the balance details and other information in our Alipay will be confused.
Then some people think that this kind of low-probability event can use any technical means to avoid individual risks, and not only hand over the data to a centralized organization. For example, everyone can store and process data.
The database structure may look like this:
This picture is a schematic structural diagram of a "distributed database". Each point is a server, they all have equal rights to record and calculate data, and information is spread point-to-point. At first glance, it seems that it can indeed resist the risk caused by the crash of a certain node, but it is also very confusing and inefficient intuitively. Who will handle my information, and who has the final say on the results?
At this time, the "consensus mechanism" in the definition of blockchain comes into play. The consensus mechanism mainly "stipulates" the following things: who will process a data request (what qualifications are required); who will verify the results (to see if he has handled it well); how to prevent processors and verifiers from colluding with each other, etc.
Some people may like to be questioned when a "rule" is made. In order to form a stronger consensus, in addition to making the rules more reasonable, they must also be more attractive so that people are interested and motivated to participate in data processing. This involves the incentive mechanism of the public chain. We will start again later when we discuss the classification of blockchain and the role of digital currencies.
When we hand over a transaction to a distributed network, there is also a "psychological threshold": there are so many nodes that can process information, and I don't know any of them (unlike Alipay, if it hurts me, I can go and file a lawsuit against it). They all have my data, why should I trust them?
At this time, encryption algorithm (the last descriptive word in the definition of blockchain) comes on stage.
In the blockchain network, IThe data requests we send will be encrypted according to cryptographic principles into a string of characters that the recipient cannot understand at all. Behind this encryption method is the support of a hash algorithm.
Hash algorithms can quickly convert any type of data into hash values. This change is one-way irreversible, deterministic, random, and anti-collision. Because of these characteristics, the person handling my data request could record the information for me, but they had no idea who I was or what I was doing.
So far, the working principle of the decentralized network has been introduced. But we seem to have overlooked one detail. The previous diagram is a net. Where are the pulleys and chains? Why do we call it blockchain?
To understand this matter, we need to clarify a few knowledge points first:
The previous picture is actually a "macro" database perspective, showing the basic rules and processes of the blockchain system for processing information. . And specifically at the "micro" data log level, we will find that the ledger is packaged, compressed, stored in blocks, and strung together in chronological order to form a "chain structure", like this:
Figure Each ring in can be regarded as a building block, and many links are linked together to form a blockchain. Blocks store data, unlike ordinary data storage: on a blockchain, the data in a later block contains the data in the previous block.
In order to academically explain the fields of each part of the data in the block, we tried to use a book metaphor to describe what a blockchain data structure is.
Usually, when we read a book, we read the first page, then the second and third pages. The spine is a physical existence that fixes the order of each page. Even if the book is scattered, the order of each numbered page can be determined.
Inside the blockchain, each block is marked with a page number, the second page contains the content of the first page, the third page contains the content of the first and second pages. The tenth page contains the previous Nine pages of content.
It is such a nested chain that can be traced back to the original data.
This brings up an important attribute of blockchain: traceability.
When the data in the blockchain needs to be updated, that is when new blocks are generated in sequence, the "consensus algorithm" comes into play again. This algorithm stipulates that a new block can only be formed if it is recognized by more than 51% of the nodes in the entire network. To put it bluntly, it is a matter of voting, and it can be elected if more than half of the people agree. This makes the data on the blockchain difficult to tamper with. If I were to force a change, there would be too many people to bribe and the cost would be too high to be worth it.
This is what people often call the "non-tamperable" feature of blockchain.
Another reason why blockchain gives people a sense of trust is because of "smart contracts."
Smart contracts are commitment agreements defined and automatically executed by computer programs. It is a set of transaction rules executed by code, similar to the current automatic repayment function of credit cards. If you turn on this function, you don’t have to worry about anything. The bank will automatically deduct the money you owe when it is due.
When your friend borrows money from you but doesn't remember to pay it back, or makes excuses not to pay it back, smart contracts can prevent breach of contract. Once the terms in the contract are triggered, such as whatWhen it's time to pay back the money, or there is a limit in his account, the code will be executed automatically, and the money he owes you will be automatically transferred back whether he wants it or not.
Let’s briefly summarize. Blockchain technology is mainly decentralized, difficult to tamper with, and traceable, which represents more security and trustlessness. But it also brings new problems: redundancy and inefficiency, which requires many nodes to agree with the rules and actively participate.
This concludes the "drying" section. Next, let’s talk about unofficial history and the official history of blockchain.
A new technology is often used to serve a certain task.
Or goals. So where was blockchain first used, and who came up with it first?
Let's go back to 2008.
On September 21, Wall Street investment banks collapsed one after another, and the Federal Reserve announced that it would convert the only two remaining investment banks (Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley) into commercial banks; it hoped to survive the financial crisis by absorbing savings. On October 3, the Bush administration signed a $700 billion financial rescue package.
Twenty-eight days later, on November 1, 2008, a new post appeared in a cryptography mailing group: "I am developing a new electronic currency system that is completely peer-to-peer and does not require a third party. Three-party trust institution." The text of the post is a paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System", signed by Satoshi Nakamoto.
The paper explains the design of this peer-to-peer electronic cash system with a more rigorous logic. It first discusses the problem that financial institutions are subject to "trust based" (based on credit), and then explains step by step how to achieve "no third-party agency" , and cleverly solved the technical problems left by the predecessors.
Two months later, Satoshi Nakamoto released the first version of the open source Bitcoin client and mined 50 Bitcoins for the first time. The block that generated the first batch of Bitcoins is called the "Genesis block". The genesis block was compiled into block 0 and was not uploaded to the chain. It took Satoshi Nakamoto 6 days to mine this block. This also sparked discussion in the bitcointalk forum. Bitcoin "believers" thought of the Bible, "God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then rested on the seventh day."
Although concepts such as decentralized, token, and economy did not appear in the paper, Satoshi Nakamoto explained in detail the role of blocks and chains in the network. working principle. So, there is Block Chain.
This paper later became the "Bible" of the "Bit Cult", technology became the cornerstone of faith, and developer documentation became the "Code of Hammurabi".
After that, Bitcoin realized the first real-life payment by exchanging pizza, WikiLeaks, whose account was blocked by the US government, miraculously survived by relying on Bitcoin, and Satoshi Nakamoto’s "decentralization"A series of legends such as his retirement, true and false appearances, and refutation of rumors, etc., merged with the expectations, imaginations and speculations of later generations, and became "Bible stories".
There are also people who are not satisfied with the world described in the "Old Testament" and start new sects, write the doctrines into white papers, and tell the story of their faith in the ten years after Bitcoin. Just like the writing of the 66 books of the Bible spanned 1,500 years, and after 2,000 years of interpretation, Christianity has divided into 33,000 branches.
CoinMarketCap shows that there are more than 4,900 types of digital currencies, and the overall digital currency market size is nearly 140 million yuan. Bitcoin still leads the entire digital currency market with a market share of 66%, and the recent price has been hovering around US$7,200 per coin.
So many currencies have different functions and are divided into different categories: digital currencies represented by Bitcoin are positioned as "digital gold" and have certain value storage and hedging characteristics; Ethereum The digital currency represented by Bitcoin has become the "operational fuel" in its network system; the stable currency represented by USDT and Libra has good payment properties due to its low volatility; the digital currency issued by the central bank represented by DCEP will definitely To a certain extent, it replaces M0, allowing commercial institutions and ordinary people to receive and pay without delay when they are out of cash and disconnected from the Internet.
It can be seen that after 10 years of development of blockchain technology, the first and largest application is digital currency.
Digital currency has also become an attractive reward for participants to maintain the public chain.
So besides digital currency, where else can blockchain technology be used?
Let us recall what the essence of blockchain is—a decentralized database, and its corresponding characteristics: traceability, publicity, anonymity, and tamper-proofing. In theory, you can try to use blockchain to transform traditional scenarios that use centralized databases to see if they are suitable.
Next, let’s talk about several industries and scenarios where blockchain has been successfully implemented:
Blockchain can prove the existence of a certain file or digital content at a specific time through hash timestamps, providing judicial authentication, Identity proof, property rights protection, anti-counterfeiting traceability, etc. provide perfect solutions
In the field of anti-counterfeiting traceability, blockchain technology can be widely used in various fields such as food and medicine, agricultural products, alcohol, and luxury goods through supply chain tracking.
Give two examples.
Blockchain can allow government data to be run, greatly streamlining service processes
The distributed technology of blockchain can allow government departments to be centralized on one chain, and all service processes are delivered to smart contracts, and the workers only need to be in one department Through identity authentication and electronic signature, smart contracts can be automatically processed and transferred, and all subsequent approvals and signatures can be completed in sequence.
Blockchain invoices are the earliest use of blockchain technology in China. The tax department launched the "Tax Chain" platform for blockchain electronic invoices. The tax department, the issuer, and the payee join the "Tax Chain" network through unique digital identities, truly realizing "instant invoicing for transactions" and "instant reimbursement after invoicing" - in seconds Level invoicing and minute-level reimbursement recording significantly reduce tax collection and management.cost, effectively solving problems such as data tampering, over-reporting of one vote, tax evasion, etc.
Poverty alleviation is another practical application of blockchain technology. Utilize the characteristics of openness, transparency, traceability, and non-tampering of blockchain technology to achieve transparent use, precise investment, and efficient management of poverty alleviation funds.
Give two examples as well.
The eID network identity operation agency guided by the Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security is jointly developing a "digital identity chain" with Gongyilian, which will be issued to Chinese citizens based on the citizen's identity number as the root and cryptographic algorithm. Since it was put into operation, the eID digital identity system has served the full life cycle management of 100 million eIDs, effectively alleviating the problems of personal identity information being fraudulently used, abused and privacy leaked.
Odaily Planet Daily compiled 5 identity chain projects registered with the Cyberspace Administration of China
Blockchain technology naturally has financial attributes
In terms of payment and settlement, under the blockchain distributed ledger system, there are many markets Participants jointly maintain and synchronize a "general ledger" in real time. In just a few minutes, they can complete payment, clearing, and settlement tasks that currently take two or three days to complete, reducing the complexity and cost of cross-bank and cross-border transactions. At the same time, the underlying encryption technology of the blockchain ensures that participants cannot tamper with the ledger, ensuring that transaction records are transparent and safe. Regulators can easily track on-chain transactions and quickly locate high-risk capital flows.
In terms of securities issuance transactions, the traditional stock issuance process is long, costly and complicated. Blockchain technology can weaken the role of underwriting institutions and help all parties establish a fast and accurate information exchange and sharing channel. The issuer can handle the issuance on its own through smart contracts. , regulatory authorities conduct unified review and verification, and investors can also bypass intermediaries for direct operations.
In terms of digital bills and supply chain finance, blockchain technology can effectively solve the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is difficult for current supply chain finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises in the upper reaches of the industrial chain, because they often do not have direct trade relations with core enterprises, and it is difficult for financial institutions to evaluate their credit qualifications. Based on blockchain technology, we can establish a consortium chain network covering core enterprises, upstream and downstream suppliers, financial institutions, etc. The core enterprises issue accounts receivable vouchers to their suppliers. After the bills are digitized and uploaded to the chain, they can be uploaded to the supplier Transfer between them, each level of supplier can realize the corresponding amount of financing with the digital bill certificate.
Give me an example.
The China Enterprise Cloud Chain, jointly launched by ICBC, Postal Savings Bank of China, 11 central enterprises, etc., has covered 48,000 companies since its establishment in 2017, with the amount of rights confirmed on the chain reaching 100 billion yuan, and factoring financing of 57 billion yuan. , cumulative transactions reached 300 billion yuan. After receiving the loan application, financial institutions can verify the authenticity of the contract on the chain and whether the contract has been verified multiple times (multiple loans); the smart contract automatically clears and settles, reducing costs and increasing efficiency; at the same time, the accounts payable of core enterprises can have The corresponding vouchers will be split by the first-level suppliers and handed over to the second- and third-level suppliers in the chain to help them with financing; core enterprises can also use this to understand whether the entire chain is operating normally and avoid emergencies. Redemption pressure.
Blockchain technology will greatly optimize existing large-scaleData usage plays a huge role in data circulation and sharing
The aforementioned areas are areas that we are relatively familiar with. As more new technologies develop, blockchain may be able to be combined with them and play a role in unexpected cross-fields and new scenarios that are currently unforeseen.
In the future, the Internet, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things will generate massive amounts of data. The existing centralized data storage (computing model) will face huge challenges. Edge storage (computing) based on blockchain technology is expected to become a future solution. Furthermore, the non-tampering and traceability mechanism of blockchain ensures the authenticity and high quality of data, which becomes the basis for the use of all data such as big data, deep learning, and artificial intelligence.
Finally, blockchain can realize multi-party collaborative data calculations while protecting data privacy, and is expected to solve the problems of "data monopoly" and "data islands" and realize the value of data circulation.
In response to the current blockchain development stage, in order to meet the blockchain development and use needs of general business users, many traditional cloud service providers have begun to deploy their own BaaS ("Blockchain as a Service") solutions. The combination of blockchain and cloud computing will effectively reduce enterprise blockchain deployment costs and promote the implementation of blockchain usage scenarios. In the future, blockchain technology will also play an important role in many fields such as charity, insurance, energy, logistics, and the Internet of Things.
During this trial process from traditional technology to blockchain, we found that when certain scenarios have stronger demands for traceability, tamper-proofing, and decentralization, they also have problems with the weaknesses of blockchain (such as performance). , the requirements are not high, and this field is quite suitable for combining blockchain.
At the same time, in the process of blockchain evolution, it has also developed from a highly decentralized public chain accessible to everyone to a consortium chain with different permissions and maintained by multiple centers. Balances the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems.
Typical examples of alliance chains include: FISCO BCOS jointly developed by WeBank and the Golden Alliance Open Source Working Group, Fabric, a major contribution from IBM, and Ant Alliance Chain led by Ant Blockchain, etc.
These trustless systems represent more secure data authentication and storage mechanisms, where data is effectively authenticated and protected. Businesses or individuals can exchange or enter into contracts digitally, where these contracts are embedded in code and stored in transparent, shared databases where they cannot be deleted, tampered with, or revised.
It is boldly predicted that in the future, contracts, audits, tasks, and payments will all be digitized with unique and secure signatures. Digital signatures will be permanently identified, authenticated, legalized, and stored, and cannot be tampered with. There is no need for an intermediary to guarantee each of your transactions. You can conduct transactions without knowing the basic information of the other party. While improving information security, it effectively reduces transaction costs and improves transaction efficiency.
Generally speaking, there has been a lot of progress in the implementation of blockchain compared to two years ago.
Many improvements are at the bottom of the system. Users cannot directly see that blockchain is used, but they have actually benefited from it.; There are also some uses that are still on a pilot basis and users have not yet been able to experience them. In the future, blockchain is expected to be used on a large scale and become one of the Internet infrastructure.
I hope that after reading this, you have a general understanding of what blockchain is and what blockchain can do.
Related Q&A: What is blockchain
Blockchain is actually equivalent to a disintermediated database, which is composed of a series of data blocks. Each of its data blocks contains information about a Bitcoin network transaction, which is used to verify the validity of the information and generate the next block.
In a narrow sense, blockchain is a chain data structure that combines data blocks in a sequential manner in chronological order, and is cryptographically guaranteed to be non-tamperable and non-forgeable. distributed ledger.
In a broad sense, blockchain is actually a distributed infrastructure and computing method, which is used to ensure the security of data transmission and access.
Blockchain infrastructure:
Blockchain is composed of six infrastructures: data layer, network layer, consensus layer, incentive layer, contract layer and usage layer.
5 You talk about Bitcoin: The first year of Bitcoin, the first year of blockchain (A.D. 2009)
In November 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto announced the "Bitcoin" on the P2P website "Electronic Cash System" only attracted the attention of a small group of people at the time. After all, no matter how great an idea is, it only makes sense when it is realized.
The Bitcoin system is launched. The great idea was finally realized, and since the day Bitcoin was launched, there has been a computer on the network that has been running the Bitcoin mining program. This computer should belong to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Through peer-to-peer technology, users contribute the computing power of the CPU and run Bitcoin software to crack irreversible cryptographic problems. As a reward, these contributed computing power opportunities Earn Bitcoins based on the number of puzzles solved. The act of cracking passwords and getting rewards is called “mining.”
In the process of cracking calculations, the storage unit is called a block, which records the exchange information of all block nodes within a unit time. It is equivalent to every participating computer keeping accounts. A distributed accounting system is formed.
Blocks are linked through a hash algorithm. The hash algorithm is called a "digital fingerprint" because of its high security. The new block contains the encrypted hash of the previous block information. value. Satoshi Nakamoto called this "blockchain".
On January 3, 2009, the first block was born in the Bitcoin system, with the sequence number 0.
On January 9, 2009, the second block of the Bitcoin system was generated, with the sequence number 1; at the same time, the block with the sequence number 1 was connected to the block with the sequence number 0 to form a chain. This is the earliestThe formation of blockchain.
Simply put, the Internet + peer-to-peer technology + decryption algorithm + distributed accounting + encryption algorithm constitute the blockchain.
He has always kept a low profile and has never revealed his true identity to the outside world. His identity has not yet been determined. Perhaps the mystery will be solved over time or one day. But I think "he" is a pure person or team who is free from vulgar taste.
The difficulty of "mining" is dynamically adjusted according to the participating computing power
Regardless of 100 computers or 1,000 computers, in unit time The total number of Bitcoins earned is constant. The higher the computing power of the participating computers, the smaller the reward the computer will receive per unit of computing power. The smaller the computing power of the participating computers, the higher the reward the computer will receive per unit of computing power.
The "mining" reward decreases with the mining progress
The reward is reduced by 50% for every 50% reduction in the stock. .
For example:
The block reward before the Bitcoin mining volume reaches 50% is 50 Bitcoins.
After the total Bitcoin mining volume reaches 10.5 million The final amount is 25 Bitcoins.
After 50% of the stock (15.75 million) has been mined based on 10.5 million, the reward is halved again to 12.5
There is no essential difference between early Bitcoin and current Bitcoin, but at that time it was just a toy in the hands of computer enthusiasts or geeks (now it may be the most expensive toy they have ever played with), just a string of worthless coins. code. Bitcoin software is just one of thousands of weird software people download to test.
Maybe you have owned Bitcoin in the early years and are upset that you lost your password. Don’t worry, there are many people like you!
㈥ How will blockchain develop in 2021
Blockchain empowers the development of the real economy. With the development of blockchain technology, its application scenarios have become more in-depth, ranging from commodity traceability, judicial certificate storage, government affairs, supply chain finance, trade finance, and social welfare to industrial management, energy and power, data transactions, public resource transactions, digital Identity, medical and health and other fields. In the future, as blockchain technology further develops, especially in terms of performance, scale, and security, its application scenarios will become increasingly widespread.
1) Blockchain industry life cycle. By analyzing the market growth rate, demand growth rate, product varieties, number of competitors, entry and exit barriers, and technological changes of the blockchain industry,Research and judge the development stage of the industry based on innovation, user purchasing behavior, etc.;
2) Balance of market supply and demand in the blockchain industry. By studying the supply situation, demand situation, and import and export status of the blockchain industry, we can determine the supply and demand balance of the industry in order to grasp the degree of market saturation in the industry;
3) The competitive landscape of the blockchain industry. Through the analysis of the bargaining power of suppliers in the blockchain industry, the bargaining power of buyers, the ability of potential competitors to enter, the substitution ability of substitutes, and the current competitiveness of competitors in the industry, master the five factors that determine the profit level of the industry. power;
4) The economic operation of the blockchain industry. Mainly for data analysis, including the number of competing companies in the blockchain industry, number of employees, total industrial output value, sales output value, export value, finished products, sales revenue, total profits, assets, liabilities, industry growth capacity, profitability, repayment debt capacity and operational capacity.
5) The main market competition enterprise in the blockchain industry. Including the company's products, business status (BCG), financial status, competitive strategy, market share, competitiveness (swot analysis) analysis, etc.
6) Investment, financing and mergers and acquisitions analysis. Including investment and financing project analysis, merger and acquisition analysis, investment area, investment return, investment structure, etc.
7) Blockchain industry marketing. Including marketing concepts, marketing models, marketing strategies, channel structures, product strategies, etc.
The Xueshuo Innovation Blockchain Technology Workstation under Lianqiao Education Online is the only approved "Blockchain Technology Professional" pilot of the "Smart Learning Workshop 2020- Xueshuo Innovation Workstation" launched by the School Planning, Construction and Development Center of the Ministry of Education of China. workstation. The professional base is based on providing students with diversified growth paths, promoting the reform of the training model integrating professional degree research, production, and research, and building an applied and compound talent training system.
㈦ Blockchain technology concept
Blockchain technology concept
Blockchain technology concept, nowadays, blockchain has become the focus of most people In the field of blockchain, many companies have already studied this technology in depth, but there are still people who don’t know much about it. Below I will share an article about the concept of blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology concept 1Basic concepts and working principles of blockchain
1. Basic concepts
Blockchain is a distributed data storage, point-to-point New application models of computer technologies such as transmission, consensus mechanisms, 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.
Blockchain is an important concept of Bitcoin. It is essentially a decentralized database and serves as the underlying technology of Bitcoin. Blockchain is a series of data blocks generated using cryptographic methods. Each data block containsThe information of a Bitcoin network transaction is used to verify the validity and anti-counterfeiting of the information and generate the next block.
In a narrow sense, blockchain is a chained data structure that combines data blocks in a sequential manner in chronological order, and is cryptographically guaranteed to be non-tamperable and non-tamperable. Fake distributed ledger.
Broadly speaking, blockchain technology uses block chain data structures to verify and store data, uses distributed node consensus algorithms to generate and update data, and uses cryptography to ensure data transmission and access. It is a new distributed infrastructure and computing method that uses smart contracts composed of automated script codes to program and operate data securely.
2. Working principle
The blockchain system consists of data layer, network layer, consensus layer, incentive layer, contract layer and application layer. Among them, the data layer encapsulates the underlying data blocks and related basic data and algorithms such as data encryption and timestamps; the network layer includes distributed networking mechanisms, data dissemination mechanisms and data verification mechanisms; the consensus layer mainly encapsulates network nodes Various consensus algorithms; the incentive layer integrates economic factors into the blockchain technology system, mainly including the issuance mechanism and distribution mechanism of economic incentives; the contract layer mainly encapsulates various scripts, algorithms and smart contracts, and is the core of the blockchain The basis of programmable features; the application layer encapsulates various application scenarios and cases of the blockchain. In this model, the chain block structure based on timestamps, the consensus mechanism of distributed nodes, economic incentives based on consensus computing power, and flexible programmable smart contracts are the most representative innovations of blockchain technology.
Blockchain mainly solves the trust and security issues of transactions, so it proposes four technological innovations to address this issue:
1. Distributed The ledger means that transaction accounting is completed by multiple nodes distributed in different places, and each node records a complete account, so they can all participate in supervising the legality of the transaction and can also jointly testify for it.
Different from traditional distributed storage, the uniqueness of blockchain distributed storage is mainly reflected in two aspects: First, each node of the blockchain stores complete data according to the block chain structure. For data, traditional distributed storage generally divides the data into multiple parts for storage according to certain rules. Second, the storage of each node in the blockchain is independent and has equal status, relying on the consensus mechanism to ensure the consistency of storage, while traditional distributed storage generally synchronizes data to other backup nodes through the central node. [8]
No node can record ledger data independently, thus avoiding the possibility of a single bookkeeper being controlled or bribed to record false accounts. Also because there are enough accounting nodes, theoretically speaking, the accounts will not be lost unless all nodes are destroyed, thereby ensuring the security of the accounting data.
2. Asymmetric encryption and authorization technology, stored on the blockchainThe transaction information is public, but the account identity information is highly encrypted and can only be accessed with the authorization of the data owner, thus ensuring data security and personal privacy.
3. The consensus mechanism is how all accounting nodes reach a consensus to determine the validity of a record. This is both a means of identification and a means of preventing tampering. Blockchain proposes four different consensus mechanisms, which are suitable for different application scenarios and strike a balance between efficiency and security.
The consensus mechanism of the blockchain has the characteristics of "the minority obeys the majority" and "everyone is equal". "The minority obeys the majority" does not entirely refer to the number of nodes, but can also be the computing power and the number of shares. Or other characteristic quantities that the computer can compare. "Everyone is equal" means that when a node meets the conditions, all nodes have the right to give priority to the consensus result, which will be directly recognized by other nodes and may eventually become the final consensus result. Taking Bitcoin as an example, it uses proof of work. Only when more than 51% of the accounting nodes in the entire network are controlled, it is possible to forge a non-existent record. When there are enough nodes joining the blockchain, this is basically impossible, thus eliminating the possibility of fraud.
4. Smart contracts. Smart contracts are based on these trustworthy and non-tamperable data. Some predefined rules and terms can be automatically executed. Take insurance as an example. If everyone's information, including medical information and risk occurrence information, is true and trustworthy, it will be easy to implement automated claims settlement in some standardized insurance products.
3. Others
The Internet exchanges information, and the blockchain exchanges value. Human history and the history of the Internet can be understood in eight words: if they are divided for a long time, they must be combined. For a long time, they must be combined. In the era of long-term separation, all network information is scattered on the Internet. It is not easy for everyone to mine information. At this time, platforms such as Google and Facebook will appear. , the only thing it does is recombine all our information. In the Internet era, what the monopoly giants reorganize is information, rather than generating their own information. The information generated is entirely our own. Once the information is reorganized, a new monopoly giant will emerge, so it will be an era of long-lasting separation. Now, due to the emergence of blockchain technology, it has entered an era of integration and division. It is a new multi-centralization. After the new multi-centralization, new value will be generated. These data will be in our own hands, and personal data will generate value. It belongs to oneself. This is the most exciting era of this era.
What is the value of blockchain? A low-cost mechanism to establish trust, establish data rights, and resolve data property rights.
At present, blockchain technology continues to develop, including the current development of single chains to multi-chains, and the technology can be further expanded. I think there may still be disruptions in the future, especially in transactions and other aspects. , especially many disruptive scenarios for existing industries.
The essence of blockchain is to establish trusted information exchange on an untrustworthy network.
One Belt, One Road + One Chain. The bigger thing about blockchain is not to create trust, but to allow trust to be transmitted losslessly, reducing the friction cost of society as a whole, thereby improving the overall efficiency.
The blockchain itself is still in its initial stage, so it includes the information transmission and encryption of the blockchain. Quantum encryption and other encryption appear in this process, which actually attacks the encryption algorithm used by the blockchain itself. This phenomenon also occurs from time to time. Including blockchain is also a recognition of assets, a recognition of digital assets, but now many of us use cryptographic algorithms, or as the key for us to decrypt, but if you forget the password, it is very likely that your current assets will be lost. If you lose them, you won't be able to get back your original assets. Therefore, there are still some hidden dangers in asset management, including information transmission and some security aspects. Of course, from a technical perspective, the processing speed of our blockchain itself, or its scalability, is because from the perspective of the working mechanism, the entire ledger must be copied to all participants, so in the blockchain Its operational efficiency and scalability are still relatively limited. We feel that these still need further development in terms of technology.
The underlying technologies of the blockchain platform also form blockchain wallets, blockchain browsers, node elections, mining machines, mining pools, development components, development modules, technical communities and project communities. and a series of ecosystems. The perfection of these ecosystems directly determines the efficiency and effectiveness of the underlying platform of the blockchain.
4. Mundell’s Impossible Triangle
It is impossible to achieve the ultimate in decentralization, efficiency, and security at the same time.
Blockchain technology concept 2The essence of blockchain is a distributed accounting technology, as opposed to centralized accounting technology, which is widely used in our current lives. exist. Blockchain is a new application model of computer technology such as distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, and encryption algorithm.
Blockchain is an important concept of Bitcoin. It is essentially a decentralized database. At the same time, as the underlying technology of Bitcoin, it is a series of related cryptographic methods. Each data block contains a batch of Bitcoin network transaction information, which is used to verify the validity and anti-counterfeiting of the information and generate the next block.
In a narrow sense, blockchain is a chained data structure that combines data blocks in a sequential manner in chronological order, and is cryptographically guaranteed to be non-tamperable and non-tamperable. Fake distributed ledger.
Broadly speaking, blockchain technology uses block chain data structures to verify and store data, uses distributed node consensus algorithms to generate and update data, and uses cryptography to ensure data transmission and access. of AnIt is a completely new distributed infrastructure and computing method that uses smart contracts composed of automated script codes to program and operate data.
The popular understanding of blockchain technology is: connecting the front, back, left, and right blocks of "things" into a chain using one technology, but each block The original data of the block cannot be tampered with. It is a "linked module" technology in the field of Internet of Things that allows participants to trust. The application of blockchain technology is inseparable from the Internet and the Internet of Things. It is based on the integration and interaction of the two, but allows participants to remain independent, decentralized, and work together. With this set of value chain co-construction and sharing, technology.
Characteristics of blockchain: decentralization, openness, autonomy, information cannot be tampered with, and anonymity.
Blockchain is a network that can deliver value. The demand for a network that can deliver value is an important reason for the emergence of blockchain technology. Blockchain emerged driven by the need to protect information with ownership or other value. Through public and private key cryptography, distributed storage and other technical means, the blockchain ensures on the one hand the efficient transmission of valuable information, and on the other hand ensures that this information will not be easily copied and tampered with during the transmission process.
Understand the connotation of blockchain from the inevitability of its birth. Blockchain is a distributed accounting technology that solves the shortcomings of centralized accounting and solves the problem of distributed consistency. It is also The connected Internet is upgraded to a value network that ensures the safe and efficient transmission of valuable information.
Blockchain Technology Concept 3Blockchain: Blockchain is like a globally unique account book, or database, which records the history of all transactions in the network.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): It allows you to write more powerful programs on Ethereum and script programs on Bitcoin. It is also sometimes used to refer to the Ethereum blockchain, which is responsible for executing smart contracts and everything.
Node: You can run a node to read and write to the Ethereum blockchain, that is, using the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Full nodes require downloading the entire blockchain. Light nodes are still under development.
Miner: Mining, that is, the node that processes blocks on the blockchain. You can see some of the currently active Ethereum miners on this page: stats.ethdev.com.
Proof of Work: Miners are always competing to solve some mathematical problem. The first one to solve the problem (calculate the next block) will be rewarded with Ether coins. All nodes then update their own blockchain. All miners who want to figure out the next block have an incentive to stay in sync with other nodes and maintain the same blockchain, so the entire network can always reach consensus. (Note: Ethereum is planning to move to a proof-of-stake system (POS) without miners, but that is beyond the scope of this article.)
Ethereum: Abbreviation ETH. A way you canReal digital currency to buy and use. Here is a chart from one of the exchanges where Ethereum can be traded. At the time of writing, 1 Ether is worth 65 cents.
Gas: Executing programs and saving data on Ethereum consumes a certain amount of Ethereum. Gas is converted from Ethereum. This mechanism is used to ensure efficiency.
DApp: The Ethereum community calls applications based on smart contracts decentralized applications (Decentralized App). The goal of DApp is (or should be) to have a friendly interface for your smart contracts, plus some extras, such as IPFS, a decentralized network that can store and read data, not from the Ethereum team but in a similar spirit ). DApp can run on a centralized server that can interact with Ethereum nodes, or it can run on any Ethereum equal node. (Take a minute to think about this: Unlike ordinary websites, DApps cannot run on ordinary servers. They need to submit transactions to the blockchain and read important data from the blockchain rather than a centralized database. Compared to typical users When logging into the system, the user may be represented as a wallet address and other user data is stored locally. Many things will be structured differently from current web applications.)
Ethereum client, smart contract language
p>Writing and deploying smart contracts does not require you to run an Ethereum node. Browser-based IDEs and APIs are listed below. But if you are just learning, you should still run an Ethereum node to understand the basic components, and running a node is not difficult.
Clients available for running Ethereum nodes
Ethereum has many client implementations in different languages, that is, multiple methods of interacting with the Ethereum network, , including C++, Go, Python, Java, Haskell, etc. Why do we need so many implementations? Different implementations can meet different needs. For example, the goal of Haskell implementation is to be mathematically verifiable, to make Ethereum more secure, and to enrich the entire ecosystem.
At the time of writing this article, I am using the client geth (go-ethereum) implemented in the Go language. At other times, I also use a tool called testrpc, which uses the Python client pyethereum. Later examples will use these tools.
About mining: Mining is fun, a bit like caring for your houseplant, but also a way to learn about the entire system. Although the current price of Ethereum may not even cover the electricity bill, who knows in the future. People are creating many cool DApps that may make Ethereum more and more popular.
Interactive console: After the client is running, you can synchronize the blockchain and buildSet up a wallet to send and receive Ethereum. One way to use geth is through the Javascript console. In addition, you can use cURL-like commands to interact with the client through JSON RPC. The goal of this article is to take you through the process of DApp development, so I won’t go into details about this. But we should remember that these command line tools are useful for debugging, configuring nodes, and using wallets.
Running the node on the test network: If you run the geth client on the official network, it will take quite a while to download the entire blockchain and synchronize with the network. You can determine if synchronization has occurred by comparing the last block number printed in the node logs with the latest block listed on stats.ethdev.com. ) Another problem is that running smart contracts on the official network requires real Ethereum. Running the node on the test network does not have this problem. At this time, there is no need to synchronize the entire blockchain. Just create your own private chain, which saves time for development.
Testrpc: Use geth to create a test network. Another faster way to create a test network is to use testrpc. Testrpc can help you create a bunch of test accounts with funds at startup. It also runs faster and is therefore better suited for development and testing. You can start with testrpc, and then as the contract slowly takes shape, move to the test network created by geth - the startup method is very simple, you only need to specify a networkid: geth --networkid "12345". Here is the code repository for testrpc, we will talk about it again below.
Next, let’s talk about the available programming languages, and then we can start the real programming. Solidity is the programming language used to write smart contracts.
There are several languages to choose from for writing smart contracts: Solidity, which is somewhat similar to Javascript, has a file extension of .sol. Serpent, which is similar to Python, has a file name ending in .se. There is also a Lisp-like LLL. Serpent has been popular for a while, but now the most popular and stable one is Solidity, so just use Solidity. I heard you like Python? Use Solidity.
solc compiler: After writing the smart contract with Solidity, you need to use solc to compile it. It is a component from a C++ client implementation. Again, different implementations complement each other. Here is how to install it. If you don't want to install solc, you can also use a browser-based compiler, such as Solidity real-time compiler or Cosmo. The programming sections below will assume you have solc installed.
web3.js API. After the Solidity contract is compiled and sent to the network, you can use Ethereum's web3.js JavaScript API to call it and build web applications that can interact with it.
㈧ 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 read it.I understand, because these two points are so 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 been skeptical 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? Three is enoughYet? 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 questions and answers: 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, cryptography and smart contracts based on automated script codes 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 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.
"ThatDo many villagers still pay on credit? By the end of the year, are some of the accounts unclear and there are still many defaulters or those who refuse to acknowledge their accounts? " At this point, Ergazi got emotional and kept complaining that people are not as old as they used to be and business is hard to do!
"In the past, the operation mode of your canteen was a typical centralized one. You gave credit to the villagers and all the accounting was done. They are all directly connected to our villagers through you, and you are the center of all accounts. " Ergazi said he understood and let me continue.
I said: "If you fail one day, then all the debts will become dead debts? It is estimated that it will be difficult to get back the IOUs written in black and white. Forget about remembering those accounts orally, but the decentralization of the blockchain can solve this problem very 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 otherEasy to tamper with.
Ergazi was silent for a moment, as if he was digesting the example I just gave him, and I don’t know how much he can understand it. Not long after, he sent me another voice message on WeChat: "What does blockchain mean? In the past, when I bought goods online and paid for them, I had to go through Jack Ma's house. If there is a blockchain, can it be done directly?" When trading with sellers, bookkeeping is very safe anyway."
"Okay, Gazi, it's really clear. Blockchain is essentially a decentralized distributed ledger data cloud. Of course, it can be understood as you understand it. "." I am very happy that Ga Zi can roughly appreciate the true charm of blockchain. Fortunately, my words have not been in vain.
What is Bitcoin? (Picture quoted from the Internet)
"Then what is Bitcoin? What does it have to do with the blockchain?" Gazi asked.
I thought about it briefly and decided to continue explaining the story of the canteen to Gazi: "In your canteen, the villagers can't keep accounts for you for free all day long. Do you have to bring something to visit during the holidays? Yes, 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 must be a rule, right?" Gazi asked very puzzled.
I explained: "Zhang San went to your store to buy a pack of cigarettes on credit, but Li Si knew about it first and kept an account for you first. Then other people knew about it and started keeping accounts. Then Li Si could get A small red flower as a reward ~ This little 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 little red flower??"
"Then Bitcoin can be used as money Flowers? 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 the country as a credit guarantee, so they have value. Bitcoin is the Bitcoin network The value formed by consensus among users has tradable attributes, so it can be used to carry value." What is said here is a bit profound, I don't know if Gazi can understand it.
I continued to explain: "Banknotes can be printed infinitely. If you print too much, inflation will occur. When we were young, popsicles costing 1 cent were very good. Now we cannot eat them for 1 yuan. Of course, there are factors that affect inflation. A lot. The number of Bitcoins is fixed, and there is no possibility of unlimited over-issuance. However, different people have different judgments on their value, coupled with the influence of supply and demand and investor sentiment, so its price is always fluctuating. ."
What is the difference between Bitcoin price fluctuations and stocks?
"So speculation in Bitcoin is speculation in stocks? Can you understand it that way?" Ga Zi seems to know a lot.
"Actually, 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 the company, and there is government supervision in the stock market. And Bitcoin It has no value in itself. It is priced entirely based on supply and demand and player valuation. It is a barbaric growth and is completelyThere is no government regulation, so there may be 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? "When these words came out, I was extremely shocked. Now the so-called blockchain investment projects have actually reached fourth- and sixth-tier cities and small towns!
As of now, there are only three types of blockchain investments. Situation: Mining, currency speculation, 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 means mining by purchasing mining machines, etc. Equipment, mine virtual currency, and then sell it for cash to get returns. 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 only a very small number of investors who understand technology can play successfully. I My childhood friend Gazi obviously can’t play with 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 , but there is a huge difference. Ordinary investors cannot determine the value of a virtual currency itself, and 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 Irregularities, theft and hacker attacks often occur, and 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 disagrees with "coin speculation"!
"September 4th" It is illegal to issue virtual currencies
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 use various The packaging and inflammatory rhetoric attract investors into the circle, 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 ordinary people often call "empty gloves". These so-called "direct sales" or "marketing" activities often do not have any actual products to circulate, and rely more on the development of "offline" to ensure top-level profits. As the district 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 the question "Can blockchain projects be invested?" ”, I realized the seriousness of the problem. Gazi is a typical young man from a small town, and his wifeHis pursuit is to keep his children warm. 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 called Gazi and conducted the above analysis carefully??
㈨ After reading this article, you will have a thorough understanding of the blockchain
I am In this article, all the contents introduced are facts that have happened in the field of blockchain in today's world, not some imagination or opinions about blockchain. I think that as long as you read this article carefully, you will easily have a basic and accurate understanding of blockchain.
The main content of understanding blockchain in just ten minutes is divided into four sections. 21 topics and 4 sections are:
The first national strategy for blockchain.
Second, Bitcoin and its literal representation involve four topics.
Third, blockchain and its technical logic involve 13 topics.
Fourth, blockchain empowers the economy and society, involving three topics.
Let’s first look at the first part of the blockchain national strategy, the first part of the blockchain country. Everyone knows that we humans have experienced six information revolutions. Seven or eight years ago, the first information revolution created primitive language, social tacit understanding, and the second information revolution saw the emergence of writing. The third information revolution in feudal society invented papermaking and printing, and the fourth information revolution in the late 19th century invented radio.
In the fifth information revolution of the 20th century, television appeared again, and now in the sixth information revolution, computers and the Internet have appeared. The emergence of computers and the Internet has given rise to the rapid development of various new technologies. Especially in 2020, the digital economy has experienced epoch-making development.
Why do you say that? The characteristics of high bandwidth, low latency and large connections in the 5G era have enabled the implementation of the four major technologies of ABCD.
What are the four major ABCD technologies
The a here refers to Artificial Intelligence, which is artificial intelligence technology.
B refers to Blockchain, blockchain technology.
C refers to cloud computing cloud computing technology
D refers to big data technology.
The word blockchain,Now it is completely popular all over the country. On October 25, 2019, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee conducted a collective study on the current development status of blockchain technology. So the requirement of this meeting is to use blockchain technology as a core technology.
As an important breakthrough for independent innovation, it is necessary to accelerate the innovative development of blockchain technology and industry. On April 20, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission officially included blockchain into new infrastructure. Blockchain, why do you think it is so awesome? Let us say that blockchain is not an extension of the Internet, it is a subversion of the Internet. In the future, many, many technologies will grow on this blockchain and realize blockchainization.
So, how can we accurately learn and understand the blockchain?
We found that among the four major technologies of ABCD, only the block is naturally built-in It's financial. Therefore, we must learn and understand blockchain from the IT perspective and the financial perspective, and even learn and understand blockchain from the level of national governance. If you only study and understand blockchain from an IT perspective, it is impossible to understand the huge influence and influence of this technology. Then, your understanding of this will be biased. Even more, you may disapprove of blockchain technology. In addition, in the process of learning about blockchain, you should also pay attention to the fact that it has many new terms, so you need to concentrate on understanding it step by step.
Let’s first understand blockchain from a financial perspective.
Bitcoin and its birth performance
To understand the blockchain, it involves Bitcoin, and what about the birth of Bitcoin? , and it is inseparable from the evolution of currency. We know that currency is a special commodity that is separated from commodities and serves as a fixed general equivalent. In fact, we humans have used a lot of currencies, including physical currency, weighing currency, paper money, accounting currency, etc. As for accounting currency, it includes electronic currency and digital currency. Electronic currency itself is not a currency. It is just used to represent the same amount of currency. It is a token.
Then the total amount of his tokens will not increase due to the increase of electronic currency. Alipay, WeChat, payment, and online banking are typical electronic currencies. As for digital currency, it is itself a legal currency. The total amount of this fiat currency will increase with the increase of digital currency. We know that when it comes to physical currency, we humans have actually chosen many things as general equivalents.
Weighing currencies are some heavy metals. Later, people chose gold among the heavy metals. Why choose gold? Because yellowGold has the characteristics of rarity, divisibility, and the most stable chemical properties. What needs to be noted here is that gold is not issued by any country, it is provided by nature. Your country's total amount is as much as nature provides. Therefore, the country does not need to provide credit guarantees for the value of gold.
However, as for gold, it has some flaws in its use, and it is difficult to carry when you go out again, so there are descendants. Paper money appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, paper money was not currency in the current sense. The currency at that time was still gold, but we used paper money to represent gold. We called it the gold standard. The gold standard is the gold standard, which is a monetary system with gold as the standard currency. The core essence of the gold standard is that how much currency a country issues should be decided based on how much gold your country has. It does not mean you can issue as much currency as you want.
At that time, the Great Depression of the United States reached January 10, 1934. On this day, the newly elected President of the United States made a very important decision to abandon the gold standard and issue 3 billion US dollars. Think about it, abandoning the gold standard, in theory, means that he can issue as much currency as he wants. Even if there is no gold in the treasury, he can issue banknotes as long as he wants to. Then someone will ask, if you issue so many words, can you still exchange them for gold of equal value?
Look at the banknotes at this time, they have been separated from gold, and national credit has emerged. , this, we call it currency guaranteed by national credit. Now, when mainstream countries issue currency, they also issue it with national credit as a guarantee.
What are the benefits? The advantage is that it can regulate the economy. When the economy is not doing well, a little more hair can drive economic development. The increase or decrease in this variable will cause a chain reaction of the entire economic aggregate. This is the multiplier effect in economics. Once a country masters this thing, some countries will be fascinated by it. But if it is not well controlled, it will lead to national credit bankruptcy. As a result, many people began to reflect. This reflection is, when issuing currency, is it better to use national credit as a guarantee, or is it better to stick to the gold standard based on the total amount of gold. This question involves the birth of Bitcoin