Characteristics and scalability of blockchain technology
Content
Out of the exquisite admiration of the Bitcoin blockchain design ideas, the above shared a lot of details of the Bitcoin blockchain operating mechanism. But in fact, the lack of understanding of some details does not affect the analysis of blockchain technology and its application. Moreover, some settings in the Bitcoin blockchain system, such as generating a new block every 10 minutes, and each block having a size of 1M, are not principles that must be followed in the design of the blockchain system. When discussing the blockchain technology At that time, we should still start from the core characteristics and innovation of technology.
In fact, blockchain is not a single-direction technological innovation, but a fusion innovative solution based on the original cryptography, distributed database, P2P communication and other technologies. Its biggest innovation can be said to be the introduction of a kind of application. A group of random individuals replaces the traditional central unit in charge of the consensus mechanism and reward mechanism for system operation.
To sum up, the basic characteristics, endogenous characteristics and important ductility of blockchain technology solutions are as follows:
Decentralization based on P2P communication technology and consensus mechanism
Different from the centralized network model, each node in the P2P network has the same network power, and there is no central server. All nodes share some computing resources, software or information content through specific software agreements. Before the advent of Bitcoin, P2P network computing technology has been widely used in the development of various applications, such as file sharing and download software, network video playback software, etc.
The core of the decentralization of blockchain technology is to enable individual organizations and individuals to improve collaboration efficiency in a distributed manner under the rules of a unified consensus through technical means. The main value of decentralization lies in: 1. Reduce transaction information transfer process and improve transaction processing efficiency; 2. Eliminate the cost burden of central organization operation; 3. All nodes on the network participate in the verification and recording of transactions equally, eliminating Risks controlled by any central organization.
Trust-free based on cryptography-the essence is that information can be objectively recorded and cannot be tampered with
In fact, decentralization and trustlessness are inseparable from each other. It is in a transaction network without central authority guarantee (or because of the need to overthrow the dependence on central authority guarantee), we need to solve the trust problem through technical means. And if trustlessness cannot be achieved, the decentralized network will lose the basis for its operation.
De-trusting means using technical rules to boost credit and self-discipline through algorithms. Any malicious deception of the system will be rejected by other nodes. Its essence in the blockchain is that all transaction information can be effectively confirmed and objectively recorded, and historical transactions can be traced and cannot be tampered with. This mainly depends on the asymmetric cryptographic algorithm (private key and public key) and hash algorithm mentioned in the previous article.
All nodes in the entire system can automatically and safely exchange data in a self-trusted environment, which saves the cost of trust establishment; after the information is confirmed, it is permanently recorded and cannot be tampered with, which greatly improves the security of data storage and traceability. ability.
Distributed network based on distributed database
The blockchain distributed network is a topological network composed of many nodes running blockchain clients and connected to each other.
In this network, each node shares an open database, that is, each node stores and updates data synchronously. Its main value lies in: 1. Distributed data structure makes full use of the storage and computing resources of each node, avoiding huge investment in the software and hardware of central computing equipment; 2. Each node has a database backup, and a single node is attacked. The resulting information damage or loss does not affect the security of the overall data; 3. Based on the data sharing of each node, interoperability between nodes can be realized, and resource utilization can be improved.
Endogenous characteristics of blockchain technology: privacy protection
What needs to be emphasized here is that privacy and transparency in the blockchain network do not conflict. Transparency mainly refers to the sharing and openness of transaction data history, that is, the visibility and traceability of data operation behavior, focusing on compliance with operation behavior The common supervision of sex; and privacy refers specifically to the protection of account identity information-understood from two aspects, on the one hand, it means that the account identity is not linked to the real citizenship (in China’s current regulatory policies, the real name system for bitcoin transactions is required) , The other layer means that the information data in the account identity authority only supports the operation of the account holder, while the central unit in the traditional centralized network has the right to browse and adjust each account information.
The privacy of account information is also realized based on cryptography. The information content under any public key address can only be interpreted or authorized by the corresponding private key holder, which forms a strong security guarantee for private information network transmission. In an environment of open sharing of information, the controllability of information transmission objects is enhanced.
Important scalability of blockchain technology: automation brought by smart contracts
As early as 1994, cryptographer Nick Sabo proposed the concept of smart contract. A simple understanding is that the content of the contract is digitally encoded to generate a computer program. When a preset condition is triggered, the smart contract can automatically execute the contract. Terms. However, in the past centralized system, the significance of smart contracts is not obvious, because the contracts stored in the central system can be modified or even deleted by the system owner at any time.
Blockchain-based smart contracts are fully equipped with autonomous and self-sufficient capabilities. Starting from the two parties reaching a contract agreement, by writing the content of the contract into a computer program and storing it in the blockchain, the parties involved in the contract will have the right to be in the district. The implementation of the contract is tracked and monitored on the blockchain. Once the agreed conditions are met, the contract can automatically execute the delivery of rights and obligations. If the blockchain that transmits Bitcoin realizes the direct exchange of digital currency between any nodes, then the blockchain that transmits smart contracts realizes the decentralized transaction of any programmable smart assets. For example, a pre-established smart contract can automatically execute the contract after someone has repaid all the mortgage, and automatically transfer the mortgaged house ownership from the bank to the individual's name.
The increasingly sophisticated smart contracts will produce more automated agreements based on the characteristics and attributes of the transaction objects, which eliminates unnecessary manual participation and saves a lot of contracting costs and performance costs, especially involving a large number of, high-frequency, low-value transactions. The economy is particularly prominent.
