The history of blockchain dates back to the early 1990s and since then has had a remarkable effect on the way digital currencies work. A blockchain is a form of public ledger, striving towards the working of cryptocurrency in the digital era. As it grows, blockchain technology proved itself to be one of the most prominent innovations of the 21 century, broadening the concept of coin payments and strengthening the finance sector. From manufacturing to tech, cryptocurrency can be seen everywhere and with that comes the equal popularity of blockchain.
Not only being diverse, blockchain history consists of a majority of unknown facts, which might be beneficial for potential investors today. To understand the blockchain industry, it is crucial to analyse the history and basic aspects.
WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN?
The term “blockchain” refers to a distributed database, shared among multiple nodes in a network. Majorly popular for their role in cryptocurrency, data is stored digitally through this innovative technology. From maintaining public security to the decentralised transactions record, the sector guarantees the safety of digital data and enables more and more people to adopt blockchain. Key factors being, security and digital maintenance, blockchain does not rely upon any form of the third party.
HISTORY OF BLOCKCHAIN
The Early Stage –
Developed by research scientist Stuart Haber and W. Scott Strornetta in 1991, the initial stage was constructed on the belief to introduce a practical solution based on computer technology for time-stamping online documents in order to prevent backdating and tampering. This technology was developed based on a “cryptographically secure chain of blocks” that allows the storage of time-stamped documents. The main reason behind this early step was the popularity and public usage of blockchain in the early stages.
A cryptographic activist and computer scientist, Hal Finney then introduced “Reusable Proof of Work (RPoW)” – a system working as a prototype for online cash. The system worked through non-exchangeable and non-fungible Hashcash based work tokens. This early yet significant step in 2004 encouraged solving the double-spending problem by making the token ownership registration only on a trustworthy portal. RPoW enabled users to verify correctness and integrity in real-time.
Merkle Tress introduced the incorporation of a design, the following year. In 1992, Mekle made blockchain much more efficient by introducing the concept of “allowing multiple documents collection in the single block”. A secured chain of blocks was created which stored data series, connected. Though this technology was shut down in 2004, the latest record consisted of the history of the entire chain. Again, blockchain gained incredible popularity in 2007 when Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the concept of “bitcoin” as a decentralised form of digital currency, which continued to achieve popularity even today.
Not only did Satoshi conceptualise distributed blockchain theory but also enriched the design in a more distinctive manner adding blocks to previous chains without the access of any other party. A peer-to-peer network was used for verifying, with no central authority taking control over the procedure. Blockchain is referred to as the backbone of cryptocurrency through these advancement processes made in the early stages by Satoshi and other potential activists and scientists.
THE THREE STAGES OF BLOCKCHAIN EVOLUTION
1. 2008-2013 (PHASE 1) Blockchain 1.0
At the stage when Bitcoin was introduced in the sector, Satoshi released a whitepaper representing its potential and underlying elements. Forming the genesis block, several other blocks were mined through, making the largest chains of connected blocks holding multiple data and transactions. After which, the currency continued to hit the roof along with blockchain with full capability.
2. 2013-2015 (PHASE 2) Blockchain 2.0
Also known as the stage of “ethereum development”, top developer Vitalik Buterin understood bitcoin limitation and felt the need of introducing another form of crypto. To move the process and to make bitcoin stronger, Ether was launched in 2015 and has become the biggest application of blockchain with smart functions and higher transactions rate.
3. 2015-2018 (PHASE 3) Blockchain 3.0
New blockchain applications were introduced including NEO, IOTA etc. NEO was launched in China, in order to accelerate the development, IOTA came in, boosting the sector to higher rates.
SUMMARY:
PHASE 4 – 2020
With a bright future, blockchain has increased its demand among professionals as big investors are looking towards innovation, enhancing altcoinsidekick.com.
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