Blockchain technology is in a bubble. Investors continue to throw money at projects exploring this technology regardless of whether or not those businesses can succeed. Despite the growing interest, there are a lot of things people still do not know about blockchain, even in 2018.
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5. Accountability Is Its Main Selling Point
The term blockchain is used very loosely these days. Companies claim to be exploring this technology without actually knowing what it can mean for their businesses and day-to-day operations. Accountability is the main selling point of the blockchain, as it removes the potential for machine error or transactions taking place without parties signing off on them.
4. Hard Forks Affect Blockchains
Although hard forks are quite common in the cryptocurrency world, few people realize that they are effectively changes introduced to the underlying blockchains. Hard forks have also gotten a bit of a bad reputation, even though they primarily facilitate software updates and upgrades. A blockchain can undergo a hard fork as a way to make its infrastructure a lot more robust.
3. Creating and Cutting Jobs
Once the blockchain starts to affect people’s daily lives, there is a good chance that some jobs will be made obsolete. This is the natural order of business where any form of technology is concerned, as technology advances so much that it becomes capable of doing basic human tasks. This change will be facilitated by blockchain, though it is not the only driving force in this regard.
At the same time, blockchain will help create a lot of jobs. This has become apparent from all of the companies exploring this technology. Hundreds of job openings can be found on job recruitment portals, although finding employees with the right expertise is still a very big problem for a lot of companies.
2. Limitless Use Cases
Despite the limited adoption of blockchain technology at this stage, there are unlimited use cases waiting to be explored. They range from financial services to managing power usage and offering transparent content creation solutions. Whether or not any of those concepts will be commercialized is a different matter altogether.
1. Blockchain Isn’t a Database
It is very important for companies and projects to carefully determine whether they need a blockchain or a database. They are not simply the same concepts in different formats. While a blockchain can be used to record information, it is not centralized like a database. It also requires some effort to keep specific details private from prying eyes. Most companies are better off with a database rather than a blockchain, unless they have a long-term plan and infrastructure in place already.
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