There's a new technology that has the power to revolutionize how you, businesses,

and the world interact!

You've probably heard of it: it's called Blockchain!
But what is it? How does it work? How does it affect you?
Hearing the word "blockchain" is comparable to hearing the word "internet" in the
early 90s.
It seemed elusive, like something that wasn't going to impact your daily life.
But here we are, more than 20 years later. Think about how the Internet has
transformed businesses, commerce, communication, even music and video.
And that's not even touching on how the Internet has affected you.
We all carry the Internet in our pocket.
We can transfer money at the touch of a button, check the weather, get directions,
and even have food delivered to our door.
The next technology to have that kind of impact isn't some of the buzzwords you
hear.
It's not big data. It's not artificial intelligence. It's not even social media.
It's BLOCKCHAIN!
Now, let's discuss the vast promise blockchain has for every business, every
society, and for everyone listening today.
And let's begin with an example we are all familiar with.
When you attach a file, a Word document, an Excel sheet, a PDF to an email, you
aren't sending an original.
You are actually sending the recipient a copy, and that's a great way to move
information around.
But it's not so great when it comes to things like money, stocks and bonds, music,
loyalty points, intellectual property, tickets to a game or concert.
Then, sending a copy is suddenly a very bad idea.
Let's look at an example.
If I send you tickets to a concert, it's important that I don't send you a copy.
You now own the original asset and I can no longer use or sell those tickets.
Similarly, if I send you $100, it's important that I still don't own the $100, or
have the ability to send it to anyone else.
Both of these examples illustrate a double spend problem, and those can be
eliminated with blockchain.
So now, in this exciting time in history, every kind of asset, from tickets, to
money, to music, can be stored, moved, exchanged, and transacted without an
intermediary.
People everywhere can transact peer-to-peer and trust each other by using
collaboration and cryptography.
How did we get here, to this place of trust and collaboration?
It began when Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity is still unknown, released a
white paper in 2008, introducing a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash
known as Bitcoin.
It is here that blockchain technology made its debut.
Even today people believe Bitcoin and blockchain are one and the same.
They are not!
Bitcoin, another alternative currency, utilize blockchain technology.
While an important one, Bitcoin is only one use case for blockchain.
Blockchain allows people to exchange assets and perform transactions without a
third party.
Imagine a world where you don't need intermediaries.
While traditionally we have needed central authorities to trust one another and
fulfill contracts,
blockchain makes it possible to have our peers guarantee that for us. But how?
Assets, like we've discussed, are no longer stored in a central place, but
distributed across a global ledger, using the highest level of cryptography.
When a transaction is conducted, it's posted across tens of thousands of computers
around the globe.
These transactions are recorded as blocks.
Let's imagine a sheet of paper that has 25 lines.
When a sheet is filled up with 25 transactions, the block is validated via group
consensus.
Once the page has been validated, it is added to a stack of previously validated
sheets.
Each sheet on the stack can be assumed to be trustworthy because, once a sheet is
validated, it can't be changed.
Because at this point, all the sheets are linked together.
And to link our sheets together, we embed information from the previous sheet of
paper into the new, recently validated sheet.
In blockchain, our sheet of paper is equal to a block.
The act of embedding a previous block of information into the current block of
information is called chaining, hence, the name blockchain.
In order to compromise or hack a blockchain network, someone would have to gain
control of the majority of computers in that network.
This is extremely difficult to do.
There is no longer a single point of failure, and this is what makes blockchain
infinitely more secure than what we have today.
Blockchain isn't just for assets, though. It extends to contracts.
These are called Smart Contracts.
And what are they exactly? What they sound like.
A smart contract self-executes and handles enforcement, the management, and
performance of agreements between people.
Examples of smart contracts include insurance policies, copyrighted content, escrow
and lending, wills, and trusts.
Smart contracts will revolutionize how we do business.
There are so many possibilities with blockchain; not just in the now, but with
things we haven't begun to think about yet.