Blockchain - The Revolution of Community-based Decentralized Open Ledger Technologies

Abstract

Cryptocurrencies as applications on the Blockchain and community based decentralized open ledger technologies have been very controversial issues ever since they have come into existence. The underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, the Blockchain, may be an as disrupting technology leap as the invention of the Internet. In simple terms, Blockchain technology is a concatenation of blocks of information – transactions in the case of cryptocurrencies – with certain hashing algorithms using the hash values of previous blocks in the following ones. A copy of the entire Blockchain is stored on each participant’s computer. In case any Blockchain copy is manipulated, for example by changing the transactions data, the other participants will notice this manipulation and overwrite the faulty information. Blockchain technology is claimed to be a very secure technology for storing information. The aim of this paper, which is part of the research for my doctoral thesis, is to create a deeper understanding of what the Blockchain actually is and how its technology is capable of changing the way people interact with each other without a centralized trusted third party.