It is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as the block, of the public in several databases, known as the ‘chain,’ in a network connected through peer-to-peer nodes. Typically, this storage is referred to as a ‘digital ledger.
Key Concepts:-
- It works on a decentralized Database, meaning the information flow and regulation are not controlled by any organization but a method of consensus reflecting all stakeholders.
- These data entries or Blocks are described by the data it stores the Hash of the block and the hash of the previous block that builds a chain. Hence block Chain.
- New data can be added, but deletion is difficult if not impossible due to time complexity and the need for consensus by other developers, hence gaining a majority for the edited block to be included in the chain.
Blockchain was developed in 2008 and was first used for creating Bitcoin, but it has proven to be so versatile and secure that it is being used by enterprises in various industries even the defense sector shows potential for its use.
Intellectual property and privacy security are the major challenges in today’s digitized world, hence there is a need for strong cybersecurity frameworks. There are various applications for them being in use:
- Cisco plans to use Blockchain to secure IoT devices as ledger technology eliminates single point of failure and encryption helps secure data.
- The Australian government has plans to develop a cybersecurity network based on DLT. The government has also partnered with IBM to secure the storage of government documents with the creation of a Blockchain ecosystem.
- China’s government and the military are attempting to secure vital government and military information, and intelligence information using Blockchain cybersecurity.
By 2023, global spending on Blockchain solutions will increase from 1.5 billion in 2018 to 15.9 billion. Also, the value of Blockchain technology in the commercial world will exceed $3 trillion by 2030, according to Gartner.
56% of Indian businesses are moving towards Blockchain technology, making it a part of their core business. The National Informatics Centre has established a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology, which operates as a coordinated, interoperable Blockchain ecosystem around the nation.
The development of Blockchain-based applications such as smart contracts, dApps, and cryptocurrency has given rise to its demand and, in turn, increased its overall value.
Although concepts like the Metaverse and NFT market are still far-fetched from the perspective of the general public, it has become a reason for technological enthusiasm among the youth of the country. The development of Polygon(which has garnered support from various Ethereum-based projects worldwide) by three Indian developers has curbed the biggest con of the Ethereum Blockchain of processing timing by making scalability easier using Polygon EVM.
Crypto Currencies
Cryptocurrency provides a decentralized way of transaction and finance, which is in contradiction to the most well known financial systems in the country and a big blow to the global Economic hold by Influential countries like America.
One such border political conflict had arisen lately pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine War. Though there is a global backlash on the side of Russia being the aggressor. Russia’s central bank assets have been frozen, to stop it from using its $630bn (£470bn) of foreign currency reserves.
This caused the rouble to fall 22% in value, pushing up the price of imported goods and leading to a 14% rise in Russia’s inflation rate. The rouble has since recovered, but mainly due to measures by Moscow to prop it up.
Moreover, fintech has removed access to Russian financial services, the biggest example being Swift which is a powerful International Financial system thus delaying transactions to Russia for energy exports. Again, cryptocurrencies being decentralised in nature are almost immune to the political sanctions and such has been seen in this case also, many major cryptocurrency exchanges put forth defiant statements this week when Ukraine asked them to freeze any accounts belonging to Russians, with some exchanges calling upon crypto’s history of libertarian ideals to back up their decisions.
Hence, It is not far-fetched that the International powers will be entering the cryptocurrency Blockchains to become part of the consensus ecosystem that can in turn show the effect of the country’s influence on cryptocurrency. This garners a modicum of economic security at the International Level.
Cryptocurrencies in India are a hot topic, which is still unresolved and unprecedented after more than a decade of their introduction. India recently decided to tax digital assets like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT) with a 30-per cent tax on the transfer of such assets as well as a 1-per cent tax deduction at source (TDS) on every transaction, but that still doesn’t make its position clear on cryptocurrencies rather experts believe that India has vetoed its decision to see what the world response will be about cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology is a rapidly growing area with many unexplored prospects waiting for grabs. The digital revolution has brought forth the need of a more independent and highly connected form of technology which the technology promises to provide. This is the era of transition for the world into a new technology sphere which will not only provide a number of avenues for research and development of new projects. But at the same time it will also play a vital role in the future war fares with utilization of Blockchain technology.