What’s Blockchain? The technology that will revolutionize the world

We've all heard of Bitcoins, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts, but only industry experts know what we're really talking about. The basis of these new systems is the Blockchain, the technology that is preparing to revolutionize the digital world and has already begun to simplify many aspects of our lives.

Let's find out what it is and above all make it easy to understand.

To begin, it’s necessary to know that the Blockchain is part of the Distributed Ledger technologies, systems based on a distributed database that can be read and modified by multiple nodes of a network. In order to validate changes to registers, nodes must reach consensus. The ways in which consensus is reached and the different structure of the register differentiate the many technologies belonging to the Distributed Ledger.

The Blockchain is part of these technologies, it is therefore a subfamily, in which the register is structured as a chain of blocks containing the transactions and the consensus is distributed on all nodes of the network. All nodes can participate in the process of validating the transactions to be included in the register.

The main features of the Blockchain, regardless of its field of application are:

1.Decentralization
Information is recorded and distributed across multiple nodes to ensure IT security and system robustness;

2. Traceability

Every element on the register is traceable in every part, so much so that it is possible to trace the exact origin;

3. Disintermediation
The Blockchain platform allows transactions to be managed without intermediaries, or without the presence of trusted central entities;

4. Transparency and verifiability
The content of the register is transparent and visible to all and is easily consultable and verifiable;

5. Immutability of the register         
Once written to the registry, the data can not be edited.

It is clear that Blockchain applications, being characterized by the lack of intermediaries and a centralized database, allow, potentially, to do without banks, notaries, financial institutions and so on. Also the government sector is starting to approach the issue, supporting legislative efforts in research activities and projects to understand how to use Blockchain and Distributed Ledger in the public sector.