Demystifying Blockchain and Consensus Mechanisms – Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Never Told by: Andre Boaventura

It is likely that you’ve heard at least one description of what blockchain is, and that description probably had something to do with money due to many popular technologies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and many others currently available in the cryptocurrency marketplace. Blockchain has received a lot of attention for its “distributed ledger” technology, which is the basis for buying or selling cryptocurrencies and other assets through private markets. However, Blockchain technology has broader applications than cryptocurrencies. Today, blockchain is being already adopted as part of many everyday business-to-business transactions, including those powered by enterprise applications such as ERP, Supply Chain, Financial Services, etc.

The Blockchain is an undeniably ingenious invention – the brainchild of a person or group of people known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. But since then, it has evolved into something greater, and the main question every single person is asking is: What is Blockchain?

By definition, Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. It is "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way". For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks, which requires collusion of the network majority. Read the complete article here.

For more information please see the Blockchain partner resource kit here.

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