How it works and how it is changing everything!

Blockchain is not just a wide-reaching name, but also a revolutionary technology with ample competence to overcome extensive digitalisation challenges for industries worldwide. From automobiles to telecom and bitcoin to medicine, this technology is bringing ground-breaking positive changes that every business is looking forward to.

Blockchain technology is a digital ledger that records transactions of all kinds in a way safer than the safest databases. The blocks in a blockchain created after every transaction are duplicated and distributed over the entire network, making them more secure and reliable for industries to deal with others without involving a third party.

How does it work?

A blockchain starts with the creation of the first block, where the owner registers a product along with all appropriate product details. The block by default contains a Time Stamp that records the date and time of the transaction.

Further, it also contains a Hash — an encrypted key particularly generated for the block, the Root key, and the body where the product details are stored. The product details along with the details of the manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and others involved in a supply chain, make any product trackable and traceable.

After the creation of the first block, the second, third, and other henceforth transactions too get stored as blocks, which are linked to one another through the ‘Hash’, making a blockchain. The most special feature of blockchain technology is that with each transaction, the existing and the new blocks are duplicated and distributed throughout the network in a way that each individual involved in the transaction has a notified copy of all transactions they are involved with. This makes it impossible to hack into blockchain technology making it secure.

The information in the block is accessible to all individuals in real-time but can be mutated by only those with the ownership. Since it is impossible to hack into blockchain, no third person can alter the details or status of any of the products. This makes the details and authenticity of products foolproof.

Thus, accessibility and immutability are a few among other key features of the blockchain technology.

With all these perplexing features of the technology, any industry aspiring growth would definitely jump into enabling the same!

Blockchain has widespread applications over the globe.

- Its Track and Trace solution offers better visibility on the functioning of the product supply chain by displaying all the necessary details related to the product right from its manufacturing unit to its final stop. The customer has to just scan the product code through blockchain application, and the application confirms the originality of the same. This has helped elevate the trust in brands among customers and profited organisations from a wider perspective.

- Any product that does not belong to the brand it claims, or any product copied, scanned twice, is immediately brought to the notice of the customer. Thereby, eliminating counterfeit products and elevating the brand revenue.

- If an original product is stolen from the person with ownership and sold by some other person at some other place, blockchain application can highlight the issue immediately after the product is scanned. Since it displays the original owner's name and store address, it makes the customer aware that the ownership of the product lies elsewhere and that it might be stolen, thus preventing fraud and theft.

- With the blockchain technology being a secure and reliable digital ledger, any business transaction can be carried out directly devoid of the involvement of trusted third parties, hence saving time, resources and energy. This has increased trust between parties, improved their transactional communication and widened their network. With wider connections, collaboration, and partnership, businesses could see substantial growth within.

- The blockchain technology can digitalise assets and hence not only protect the ownership of the same but also keep a well-maintained record of all details involving the asset. Blockchain also enables certain assets to move swiftly across digital platforms, thereby increasing the liquidity of the asset and making the transfer of ownership quite easy. Asset digitalisation is hence, one of the most promising applications of blockchain technology.

- Programmable contracts that get executed when the predefined conditions are met, curb challenges such as delays, inefficiencies and frauds between two parties. Blockchain Smart Contract is the most reliable digital contract deployed by many business bodies that have proved to be highly efficient to them. Smart contracts are time-saving, efficient, and help keep transactions fair and transparent between the involved parties.

These marketable applications of blockchain technology and its remarkable features make it stand out. With more industries deploying this propitious solution to their businesses, the world is heading towards a digital transformation.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

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