Jared Dillon is currently majoring in Business Administration at Arkansas State University – Mountain Home and has already received a degree in Programming/Mobile Development. He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and is enrolled in the Fran Coulter Honors Program. After graduating, Jared plans on starting a career researching and developing new computer technologies.
What do you think of when you hear the term Blockchain? Do you think of it as synonymous with Bitcoin? Do you think that it is just an internet fad that should die out? There is an existing stigma against the term blockchain when there really should not be one. Blockchain technology would be incredibly useful in many fields, however some people and businesses shy away from it because they do not understand what it is and how it works.
The largest reason for individuals holding a stigma against blockchain technology is because of Bitcoin. Bitcoin and the blockchain were both created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto at the same time, so it is understandable why the reputations of both would be linked together. Bitcoin has had its fair share of criticisms throughout its lifetime. First, Bitcoin is a preferred payment method of criminals on the dark web, as it is semi-anonymous. Second, there are environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin, as mining for coins takes an incredible amount of energy to produce. Third, most people see Bitcoin as a form of investment instead of a currency and associate it with people making money quickly. These are just a few examples of Bitcoin’s negative reputation, which has also rubbed off onto the public’s view of Blockchain technology.
A blockchain is a “decentralized ledger that keeps a record of each transaction that occurs across a network, which enables a decentralized exchange of trusted data” (Zur & Lacity, 2021). It is decentralized, which means that instead of a single entity controlling it, it is controlled by a large number of various nodes. These nodes all have a copy of the blockchain in order to keep each other synchronized. This makes it incredibly secure and difficult to hack or put false data onto the blockchain. Despite its popularity in the public space with cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology can also be used in the private sector, such as in healthcare. Previously this was done using privatized blockchains, but it was very expensive. There is a recently developed way that businesses can utilize public blockchains using layer two solutions as opposed to the previous private-permissioned blockchains. This can still keep the data private, while also reducing costs and their environmental impact. Looking at this description, it is easy to see how this could be used in a general sense and be applied to almost any sort of online database.
With all of these benefits, why are more corporations not seeking the uses of blockchain technology? According to Sean Williams, there is a “catch-22” of blockchain technology. Businesses are hesitant to utilize a new technology that already has a sort of negative connotation towards it until its usefulness is proven. However, showing the strengths of blockchain technology on a large scale cannot happen until more businesses utilize it. With these factors in mind, it is difficult to tell how long it will take for this to become more widespread across the industry.
If more people become educated about what a blockchain is and how it works, while also disconnecting it from cryptocurrencies and the negative press surrounding it, we could see an amazing expansion into more and more industries that would greatly benefit from its implementation. From verifiable credentials, to focusing on currencies to smart contracts, the practical uses of blockchain technology are only just being discovered, and all it will take is time along with businesses willing to research and understand it before we see it more in the online space.