The progressive success of decentralized technology is bringing new ways to achieve business goals by providing transparency & security to your digital assets.

Overview

It is nowadays very important to make business processes transparent and secure. As business operations are getting tricky so, there is a high chance of fraud or misrepresentation. In traditional systems, data is centralized and hence, at risk of a power outage or data loss. Therefore, distributed ledger technology is the best solution to make your digital transaction safe and reliable. DLT technology offers a shared system for storing records information where all the data is decentralized. Everyone maintaining the node in a blockchain can trace any digital transaction along with the complete history associated with that transaction. Further, this approach is highly secure as it is decentralized and hence, there is no central database/server open for attackers. It is cost-effective as there is no need to hire a central authority or technical person to look after the decentralized infrastructure. However, decentralized technology appears as a solution to such challenges.

In this article, we will cover the following points.

What is Distributed Ledger Technology?

Blockchain is a particular type of decentralized database that stores data in the form of blocks. These blocks are linked with one another to form a chain where every block contains the address of its previous block. Therefore, the user can trace all the blocks in order to make sure the data is integrity. Most of the time, Blockchain is being used as a digital ledger to record digital transactions. On the other hand, it can be used to store any kind of data. Data stored in the blocks is immutable and cannot be altered.

There is a complete process that runs upon every transaction. Whenever transactions take place, new blocks are added up into the blockchain with the agreement of all the nodes active on the network. In addition, all the nodes build an agreement with the help of a consensus algorithm. There are three types of consensus algorithms in this distributed ledger technology.

  • Proof of Work: In this consensus algorithm, miners compete and solve a puzzle that requires huge computational power. Once they find a solution that means they have the proof in shape of hash, their block is varified by all the nodes active in the network and hence, blockchain adds that block into the chain.
  • Proof of Stake: Ethereum uses this consensus algorithem. In this approach, instead of using computational power, validators put thier coins on stake to reach on an agreement.
  • Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance: According to this consensus algorithem, nodes in the network process the transactions and share with one an other. An agreement heppens on the base of total decisions from all nodes.

Moreover, smart contracts are the code snippets that control and govern all digital transactions. Anyone can do smart contract development and deploy this decentralized infrastructure on the network.

Use Cases of Blockchain?

In this section, we will go through the use cases of DLT technology. There are many use cases of this decentralized infrastructure. However, we will see some of the practical use cases of Blockchain.

Supply Chain Management: By shifting the supply chain on Blockchain can give a great competitive edge to a business organization. Therefore, all the actors involved can check and track all the information about the products.

Healthcare: Blockchain-enabled medical system enables the doctors to track the medical history of the patients.

Identity Management: Blockchain can digitize identities. Moreover, people can have full control over their personal information and can share their information with any other party with complete privacy.

Intellectual Property: Placing a Blockchain-based system can mitigate legal disputes. Further, everyone over the Blockchain network can track ownership and rights.

Voting System: Digital voting using Blockchain technology can bring transparency into the system. Above all, participants can track votes and voter information in this distributed ledger technology.

Pros and Cons of Blockchain?

In this section, we will explore the pros and cons of decentralized technology.

Pros

  • Transparency: Data is verified and shared.
  • Open source: Blockchain is entirely open source.
  • Better Security: Blockchain uses cryptography to encrypt the blocks.
  • Availability: Blockchain is always available and anyone can pull the latest data.
  • Peer to Peer Network: There is a consistent exchange of information among all the nodes.
  • Decentralized: Blockchain resides over a distributed network.
  • Reliable: There is no chance of data loss.

Cons

  • Storage Issues: As Blockchain grows, storage issues may occur.
  • Complexity: Blockchain is a little complex infrastructure as compared to the conventional approach.
  • Lack of Awareness: As this technology is at its early stage, you may not find many developers specialized in Blockchain.
  • No Reversals: There is no way to modify or reverse digital transactions that have been recorded.
  • Key Management: Key management is the critical part because, once you lost your private key, you just lose all of your assets.

Conclusion

The advent of Blockchain for business is no less than a surprise. This modern approach has brought massive potential into the tech industry with its innovative and promising features related to data transparency and security. Decentralized infrastructure has brought up many opportunities. Fortunately, there is a very vibrant community backing up this revolutionary approach in the world of decentralized technology. In fact, users, investors, businesses, and software developers can find a bunch of supporting documents and material regarding smart contract development, mining, and other aspects. So, if you are serious about shifting your business digital transactions on the blockchain then it is high time to choose an open source platform available in the “Explore” section below.

Furthermore, distributed ledger technology has a number of use cases and organizations are seriously considering it while formulating business strategies. Lastly, containerize.com has been working to extend the list of open source Blockchain Platforms. Therefore, please stay connected with the Blockchain Platforms category for regular updates.

Explore

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