MICROARTICLE #Networks
Blockchains
By: BB2040 Editorial Team
MICROARTICLE Networks Wissensstadt Berlin 2021
Published on June 26, 2021
In 2017, Adam Greenfield wrote this was the first information technology that he had encountered in his adult life that was just fundamentally difficult for otherwise intelligent and highly capable people to comprehend [1]. Although many more people are familiar with the word “Blockchain” today, thanks to cryptocurrencies or NFTs, – and Berlin being a “global hotspot” [2] for Blockchain business and innovation; – the difficulty to fully grasp this technology remains.
So how do Blockchains work?
The Blockchain is a distributed [3] chain of stored data that anyone can see and verify; and yet, because this information is stored in different servers simultaneously, it is extremely difficult to alter it, therefore making it highly trustworthy [4]. Even though today’s hype comes from imagining a monetary system without centralized third-parties like banks, the blockchain could also be used as a digital and safer version of the ledgers that merchants and traders have used throughout history, making them the best way to successfully track the provenance of every material involved in a supply chain [5]. This would allow more transparency to these processes, providing the consumers with enough information to better inform their purchases, for example with unalterable “clean material” certificates.
[1] Greenfield, A. (2017) Cryptocurrency. The Computational Guarantee of Value. Radical Technologies. Apple books, p. 117.
[2] Business Location Center Berlin (n.d.) Berliner Blockchain Ökosystem. https://www.businesslocationcenter.de/ikt/blockchain/ [Accessed 22.06.21]
[3] Eagar, M. (2017) What is the difference between decentralized and distributed systems? Medium.
https://medium.com/distributed-economy/what-is-the-difference-between-decentralized-and-distributed-systems-f4190a5c6462 [Accessed 22.06.21]
[4] (2019) Blockchain: Technology of the Future. ARTE https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/086130-016-A/blockchain-technology-of-the-future/ [Accessed 22.06.21]
[5] New Blockchain Project has potential to revolutionise seafood industry. WWF. https://www.wwf.org.nz/what_we_do/marine/blockchain_tuna_project/ [Accessed 22.06.21]
System Logics © Own Graphic based on Paul Baran
BB2040
[EN] Berlin Brandenburg 2040 was initiated by the Habitat Unit in cooperation with Projekte International and provides an open stage and platform for multiple contributions of departments and students of the Technical University Berlin and beyond. The project is funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation.
[DE] Berlin Brandenburg 2040 wurde initiiert von der Habitat Unit in Kooperation mit Projekte International und bietet eine offene Plattform für Beiträge von Fachgebieten und Studierenden der Technischen Universität Berlin und darüberhinaus. Das Projekt wird von der Robert Bosch Stiftung gefördert.
