You’ve heard the word “blockchain” many times now, but probÂaÂbly not quite as many as you’ve heard the word “bitÂcoin.” Yet you sureÂly have a sense that the refÂerÂents of those two words have a conÂnecÂtion, and even if you haven’t yet been interÂestÂed in either, you may well know that blockchain, a techÂnolÂoÂgy, makes BitÂcoin, a curÂrenÂcy, posÂsiÂble in the first place. Their sheer novÂelÂty has already givÂen rise to a mini-indusÂtry of explainÂer videos, more of them dealÂing directÂly with bitÂcoin than blockchain, but in time the latÂter could potenÂtialÂly overÂtake the forÂmer in imporÂtance, to the degree that it becomes as vital to sociÂety as the proÂtoÂcols that underÂgird the interÂnet itself.
Or at least you could come away conÂvinced of that after watchÂing the blockchain explainÂer videos feaÂtured here. The shortÂest of the three, the one by the InstiÂtute for the Future at the top of the post, attempts to break down, in just two minÂutes, the prinÂciÂples behind this techÂnolÂoÂgy, still in its infanÂcy, in which so many see such revÂoÂluÂtionÂary potenÂtial.
“Blockchains store inforÂmaÂtion across a netÂwork of perÂsonÂal comÂputÂers, makÂing them not just decenÂtralÂized but disÂtribÂuted,” says the video’s narÂraÂtor. “This means no cenÂtral comÂpaÂny or perÂson owns the sysÂtem, yet everyÂone can use it and help run it.” And accordÂing to blockchain’s boostÂers, that very decenÂtralÂizaÂtion and disÂtriÂbÂuÂtion makes it that much more trustable and less hackÂable.
In the Wired video just above, blockchain researcher BetÂtiÂna WarÂburg explains her subÂject in five difÂferÂent ways to peoÂple at five difÂferÂent stages of life, from a five-year-old girl to a fulÂly grown acaÂdÂeÂmÂic. ActuÂalÂly, that last interÂlocuÂtor, an NYU hisÂtoÂriÂan named Finn BrunÂton, does much of the explainÂing himÂself, and right at the beginÂning of his segÂment (at 9:48) rolls out one of the clearÂer and more intriguÂing runÂdown of the nature of blockchain curÂrentÂly floatÂing around on the interÂnet:
A techÂniÂcal defÂiÂnÂiÂtion of blockchain is that it is a perÂsisÂtent, transÂparÂent, pubÂlic, append-only ledger. So it is a sysÂtem that you can add data to, and not change preÂviÂous data withÂin. It does this through a mechÂaÂnism for creÂatÂing conÂsenÂsus between scatÂtered, or disÂtribÂuted, parÂties that do not need to trust each othÂer. They just need to trust the mechÂaÂnism by which their conÂsenÂsus is arrived at. In the case of blockchain, it relies on some form of chalÂlenge such that no one actor on the netÂwork is able to solve this chalÂlenge more conÂsisÂtentÂly than anyÂone else on the netÂwork. It ranÂdomÂizes the process, and in theÂoÂry ensures that no one can force the blockchain to accept a parÂticÂuÂlar entry onto the ledger that othÂers disÂagree with.
BrunÂton also emphaÂsizes that “almost every aspect of it that is conÂnectÂed with the conÂcept of monÂey” — includÂing but not limÂitÂed to BitÂcoin — “is wildÂly over-hyped.” Those who can look past the Gold Rush-style balÂlyÂhooÂing of those earÂly appliÂcaÂtions of blockchain can betÂter grasp what role the techÂnolÂoÂgy, which essenÂtialÂly enables the buildÂing of sysÂtems to secureÂly exchange inforÂmaÂtion over the interÂnet that no one perÂson or comÂpaÂny owns, might one day play in many parts of our lives, from finance to enerÂgy to health care. “CredÂit scores that aren’t conÂtrolled by a handÂful of high-risk, data-breach-prone comÂpaÂnies,” promisÂes CarisÂsa Carter of StanÂford’s d.school, “credÂiÂble news sysÂtems that resist cenÂsorÂship; effiÂcient powÂer grids that could lowÂer your powÂer bills.”
Before it can bring those wonÂders, BitÂcoin must first overÂcome forÂmiÂdaÂble techÂniÂcal limÂiÂtaÂtions: as ComÂputÂerÂworld’s Lucas MearÂiÂan writes, for instance,” the BitÂcoin blockchain harÂnessÂes anyÂwhere between 10 and 100 times as much comÂputÂing powÂer comÂpared to all of Google’s servÂing farms put togethÂer.” But then, few of the first develÂopÂers of the techÂnoloÂgies that driÂve the interÂnet could have imagÂined all we do with them across the world today, and those who did must have had a solÂid underÂstandÂing of its most basic eleÂments. How do you know when you’ve attained that underÂstandÂing? “If you can’t explain it simÂply, you don’t underÂstand it well enough,” as Albert EinÂstein once said, and as Citi InnoÂvaÂtion Lab CTO Shai Rubin quotes him as sayÂing at the beginÂning of his own blockchain explainÂer, perÂformed in less than fifÂteen minÂutes using no pieces of techÂnolÂoÂgy more revÂoÂluÂtionÂary than a whiteÂboard and markÂer.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
What ActuÂalÂly Is BitÂcoin? Princeton’s Free Course “BitÂcoin and CurÂrenÂcy TechÂnoloÂgies” ProÂvides Much-NeedÂed Answers
BitÂcoin, the New DecenÂtralÂized DigÂiÂtal CurÂrenÂcy, DemysÂtiÂfied in a Three Minute Video
BitÂcoin and CrypÂtocurÂrenÂcy TechÂnoloÂgies: A Free Course from PrinceÂton
The PrinceÂton BitÂcoin TextÂbook Is Now Free Online
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities and culÂture. His projects include the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.