Bharat Bhise on Blockchain and What You Need to Know about It

Bharat Bhise attributes the security of cryptocurrencies—and many of the things that make them “cool”—to blockchain technology. If you’ve been reading on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a while, you may have heard of the term. In the off-chance that you’re not yet familiar with what it is, here’s a brief 411 on blockchain.

The best way to look at blockchain is to compare it to a ledger that’s managed by many different users across the globe. It is a decentralized system, which means there is no central clearing system. All transactions, from fund transfers to voting, pass through the ledger and are open for all users to see and confirm.

Blockchain uses a network composed of millions of computers. When an action, say a fund transfer, is initiated, a block is created. This block is verified by millions of computers, giving it a unique record, before it is stored in the net as part of a chain. Falsifying a transaction would mean falsifying the entire chain and the unique records stored in it. This makes blockchain extremely secure. Bharat Bhise says that although blockchain is used prominently in cryptocurrencies, it has uses in other fields, too—it can be used for all manners of financial transactions, such as credit card purchases.

But the biggest benefit of blockchain—and perhaps its greatest downside—is that it’s free. It allows users to perform monetary transactions at no cost, essentially disrupting the business model of middlemen who earn through the fees for these transactions. For instance, the widespread implementation of blockchain would allow you to find and pay for lofging without going through AirBnB or get a ride by bypassing Uber. This makes services even cheaper, but the risk of many businesses losing their revenue could discourage many brands from supporting the technology.