What is blockchain?
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
Why is blockchain important?
Business runs on information. The faster information is received and the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared, and observable information that is stored on an immutable ledger that only permissioned network members can access. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. And because members share a single view of the truth, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving you greater confidence, and new efficiencies and opportunities.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
Why is blockchain important?
Business runs on information. The faster information is received and the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared, and observable information that is stored on an immutable ledger that only permissioned network members can access. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. And because members share a single view of the truth, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving you greater confidence, and new efficiencies and opportunities.
Tutorial
IBM Blockchain 101: Quick-start guide for developers
Build a kick-starter blockchain network and start coding with IBM’s next-generation blockchain platform.
Related content
- Register for the guide on sustainability trends
Key elements of a blockchain
Distributed ledger technology
All network participants have access to the distributed ledger and its immutable record of transactions. With this shared ledger, transactions are recorded only once, eliminating the duplication of effort that’s typical of traditional business networks.
Immutable records
No participant can change or tamper with a transaction after it’s been recorded to the shared ledger. If a transaction record includes an error, a new transaction must be added to reverse the error, and both transactions are then visible.
Smart contracts
To speed transactions, a set of rules that are called a smart contract is stored on the blockchain and run automatically. A smart contract defines conditions for corporate bond transfers, include terms for travel insurance to be paid and much more.
How blockchain works
As each transaction occurs, it is recorded as a “block” of data
Those transactions show the movement of an asset that can be tangible (a product) or intangible (intellectual). The data block can record the information of your choice: who, what, when, where, how much. It can even record the condition, such as the temperature of a food shipment.
Each block is connected to the ones before and after it
These blocks form a chain of data as an asset moves from place to place or ownership changes hands. The blocks confirm the exact time and sequence of transactions, and the blocks link securely together to prevent any block from being altered or a block being inserted between two existing blocks.
Transactions are blocked together in an irreversible chain: a blockchain
Each additional block strengthens the verification of the previous block and hence the entire blockchain. Rendering the blockchain tamper-evident, delivering the key strength of immutability. Removing the possibility of tampering by a malicious actor, and builds a ledger of transactions you and other network members can trust.
Benefits of blockchain
What needs to change: Operations often waste effort on duplicate record keeping and third-party validations. Record-keeping systems can be vulnerable to fraud and cyberattacks. Limited transparency can slow data verification. And with the arrival of IoT, transaction volumes have exploded. All of this slows business, drains the bottom line, and means that we need a better way. Enter blockchain.
Greater trust
With blockchain, as a member of a members-only network, you can rest assured that you are receiving accurate and timely data. And that your confidential blockchain records are shared only with network members to whom you granted access.
Greater security
Consensus on data accuracy is required from all network members, and all validated transactions are immutable because they are recorded permanently. No one, not even a system administrator, can delete a transaction.
More efficiencies
With a distributed ledger that is shared among members of a network, time-wasting record reconciliations are eliminated. And to speed transactions, a set of rules that are called a smart contract can be stored on the blockchain and run automatically.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
Why is blockchain important?
Business runs on information. The faster information is received and the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared, and observable information that is stored on an immutable ledger that only permissioned network members can access. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. And because members share a single view of the truth, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving you greater confidence, and new efficiencies and opportunities.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.
Why is blockchain important?
Business runs on information. The faster information is received and the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared, and observable information that is stored on an immutable ledger that only permissioned network members can access. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. And because members share a single view of the truth, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving you greater confidence, and new efficiencies and opportunities.
Tutorial
IBM Blockchain 101: Quick-start guide for developers
Build a kick-starter blockchain network and start coding with IBM’s next-generation blockchain platform.
Related content
- Register for the guide on sustainability trends
Key elements of a blockchain
Distributed ledger technology
All network participants have access to the distributed ledger and its immutable record of transactions. With this shared ledger, transactions are recorded only once, eliminating the duplication of effort that’s typical of traditional business networks.
Immutable records
No participant can change or tamper with a transaction after it’s been recorded to the shared ledger. If a transaction record includes an error, a new transaction must be added to reverse the error, and both transactions are then visible.
Smart contracts
To speed transactions, a set of rules that are called a smart contract is stored on the blockchain and run automatically. A smart contract defines conditions for corporate bond transfers, include terms for travel insurance to be paid and much more.
How blockchain works
As each transaction occurs, it is recorded as a “block” of data
Those transactions show the movement of an asset that can be tangible (a product) or intangible (intellectual). The data block can record the information of your choice: who, what, when, where, how much. It can even record the condition, such as the temperature of a food shipment.
Each block is connected to the ones before and after it
These blocks form a chain of data as an asset moves from place to place or ownership changes hands. The blocks confirm the exact time and sequence of transactions, and the blocks link securely together to prevent any block from being altered or a block being inserted between two existing blocks.
Transactions are blocked together in an irreversible chain: a blockchain
Each additional block strengthens the verification of the previous block and hence the entire blockchain. Rendering the blockchain tamper-evident, delivering the key strength of immutability. Removing the possibility of tampering by a malicious actor, and builds a ledger of transactions you and other network members can trust.
Benefits of blockchain
What needs to change: Operations often waste effort on duplicate record keeping and third-party validations. Record-keeping systems can be vulnerable to fraud and cyberattacks. Limited transparency can slow data verification. And with the arrival of IoT, transaction volumes have exploded. All of this slows business, drains the bottom line, and means that we need a better way. Enter blockchain.
Greater trust
With blockchain, as a member of a members-only network, you can rest assured that you are receiving accurate and timely data. And that your confidential blockchain records are shared only with network members to whom you granted access.
Greater security
Consensus on data accuracy is required from all network members, and all validated transactions are immutable because they are recorded permanently. No one, not even a system administrator, can delete a transaction.
More efficiencies
With a distributed ledger that is shared among members of a network, time-wasting record reconciliations are eliminated. And to speed transactions, a set of rules that are called a smart contract can be stored on the blockchain and run automatically.
![[ℕ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣] 𝕊𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕠𝕚𝕟 - Sell Into "The Gospel of Greed"](https://cdn.bulbapp.io/frontend/images/7691d4fc-7dcc-4144-acbf-12397f6d0ba3/2)
