[2017-03-20] NDTV: Unblocking Blockchain: The Challenges and Their Solutions

Unblocking Blockchain: The Challenges and Their Solutions

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/opinion/unblocking-blockchain-the-challenges-and-their-solutions-1671423

The humble transaction ledger is an unlikely object of excitement. But that’s exactly what it is today, thanks to blockchain. This is a distributed (digital) ledger or database of transactions shared by a network of members, who are allowed to see existing transactions and record new ones, but cannot alter what’s already in there. This means the transactions are absolute, irrefutable, and secure, and therefore require no central supervision. That’s a huge departure from the way transactions have historically been stored and validated.

Blockchain started out as the technology underlying a digital currency called Bitcoin. While Bitcoin faced skepticism from banking circles, the underlying blockchain technology is capable of revolutionising almost any transaction from end to end. Globally, most banks have some blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) project going today.