What does blockchain mean to you?

Dear BlockchainCG Members,

As discussed on the call we would like to have an ongoing though not overwhelming discussion on what we all understand through blockchain. We definitely need some glossary, that will help us communicate. 

1) Here is a one liner provided by David:

 an immutable distributed permissioned transparent ledger with scalable storage, computing and workflow capabilities that enables permission real-time interactions, configurable consensus and replaces implicit trust with cryptographic proofs.


2) Victoria proposed to start with characteristics: 
There is as yet no universally agreed definition of blockchain technology, but it is often described as a distributed ledger that maintains a continually growing list of publicly accessible records secured from tampering and revision.[1]  The blockchain’s key technical features include:

 

·       Tracking of transition from one state to another, e.g., the ownership status of digital currency.[2]

·       A distributed consensus mechanism, comprised of computers, called “nodes”, in the network that arrive at an agreement about the validity of transactions.[3] 

·       Use of cryptographic hashes in the processing of transactions, which enables transparency without exposing content.

·       Packaging of transactions into blocks (from which comes the name “blockchain”) chained in chronological order and distributed across a number of different servers.[4]

·       A digital currency – i.e., a cryptographic token like Bitcoin or Ether – that represents actual value and is integral to the operation of the consensus mechanism that determines the validity of transactions.

 

Over time, the blockchain is said to create a persistent, immutable, and ever-growing, public ledger that continually updates to represent the latest state.[5]

 

Although the above bullets comprise the key features of blockchain technology, there are non-trivial variations among blockchain platforms (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Hyperledger and others).  These include underlying code, consensus mechanisms, type of digital currency, and application layers. This makes any generalizations about the technology a challenging proposition.  This variety is to be expected of a technology that is still so new, however.  


[1] See, for example, The Economist article. Op. Cit. 

[2] Ethereum whitepaper

[3] S. Nakamoto, 2008, October 31.  Bitcoin: A Peer-to-peer Electronic Cash Sytem. Retrieved March 18, 2016, from http://www.cryptovest.co.uk/resources/Bitcoin%20paper%20Original.pdf

[4] Ethereum Whitepaper

[5] Ethereal Whitepaper


3) I suggest that while we throw around ideas we focus on use cases, choose the ones we will find most interesting, and with that it will emerge what blockchain is for w3c. 

4) Some good resources:
https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-glossary
http://www.blockchaintechnologies.com/blockchain-glossary

5) While we discuss I would like to differentiate between A blockchain as in blockchain technology, and The Blockchain as in Bitcoin Blockchain.


I encourage you to share what is your definition of blockchain

Have a great day,
m


—
Security Architect @ Blockstream

mp@blockstream.com

+491703311307 (Germany)
+14159608938 (U.S.)
Signal, Wickr (martap)

Received on Tuesday, 4 October 2016 10:01:41 UTC