Blockchain News
While it may have started as a crypto currency, blockchain is a powerful tool for imposing transparency and trust without the need for a central authority. By securing data through an immutable and traceable chain of records, blockchain is becoming the go-to solution for businesses and governments looking to operate more securely, efficiently and cost-effectively with fewer intermediaries.
Essentially, blockchain is a way to store files that are grouped together into small units called blocks. Each block has a record of the files it contains, a timestamp and a link (or “merkle root”) to previous blocks in the chain. Computers running the blockchain network then compare these hashes to see if the new block matches the ones in the rest of the chain. If it does, the new block is added to the chain; if not, it’s rejected.
This chain of records is what makes it hard for people to tamper with. Blockchain was first outlined in 1991, but it didn’t gain traction until Bitcoin was launched in 2009. The technology has since been used to make everything from food safety recalls to digital voting more transparent and secure.
In a world where Freedom of Information requests, leaks and whistleblowers have become less common, blockchain is increasingly seen as the silver bullet that could change the way we work. But it will take a radical restructuring of news business models to realize this potential.
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