The term 'Blockchain' is meaningless

There seems to be no single clean definition of what “Blockchain” actually means. There are a lot of woolly statements, several of which are clearly either wrong or too narrowly focused. This article goes into some of the different definitions and why they are wrong and then the implications of this from a business but also a legal perspective.

I personally think the definition by Mike Gault, CEO of Guardtime, is the closest:

“Blockchain is an append-only data structure that contains data records that are cryptographically linked together. Data records are added to the data structure when multiple distributed parties come to consensus based on pre-agreed rules.”

Links

‘Blockchain’ is meaningless

Random Posts

Black Mirror - technology ethics and can it be used for wrong?

  • November 27, 2018

Nearly every technology that has been developed has been used for both good and bad. Developments that look like they could have a massive impact on civilization have usually also spun off a side effect that has a detrimental effect. This could be the latest technologies such as genetic engineering and artificial intelligence or older technologies such as the automobile.


Read More

Life changer

  • July 7, 2023

I was fortunate enough to meet someone who dramatically changed my life but didn’t know it. And when I met them I didn’t even get the chance to speak to them or say thank you.


Read More

Context switching and code reviews

  • January 1, 2025

You are deep in a piece of work and making great progress when a phone call or message breaks you train of thought and derails you. Context switching can have a huge impact on productivity.


Read More