Italian Government has recently signed the Blockchain Partnership Initiative (BPI), an EU protocol we were still out from!
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Italy focuses on emerging technologies and we will bring our vision in Europe through a strong decentralization character of the Blockchain and the Italian excellence that operate with this technology in various areas from public services to the protection of Made in Italy. The future starts now!”. This declaration was issued in September 2018 by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Luigi Di Maio
Also in 2018, the term #Blockchain was included in the prestigious Treccani dictionary with the following definition: Technology based on a chain of blocks that record and manage accounting operations accessible only to users of each node, to ensure traceability.
The following is instead the definition on Wikipedia: the blockchain is a shared and “immutable” data structure. It is defined as a digital register whose entries are grouped into “blocks”, concatenated in chronological order, and whose integrity is guaranteed by the use of cryptography.
Although its size is destined to grow over time, it is immutable in the concept of “how much”. Its content, once written through a regulated process, is no longer modifiable or eliminable unless the entire process is invalidated.
The term Blockchain has therefore entered forcefully into everyday language and is often used to indicate the solution to this or that problem. So let’s try to understand more since the aforementioned definitions at first reading do not seem to be easy to understand.
Blockchain technology consists of a ledger or a distributed digital ledger that is shared and immutable over time, in which blocks of data are created and transactions are recorded. Participants in the ledger are called “nodes”, which typically adhere to a common “protocol”. Blockchain nodes are often computers that perform basic networking functions.
If these are new terms for you, don’t worry! Let’s start with some definitions:
- blockchain: this technology is essentially a type of database called a “digital book”, but it stores information differently, in distributed blocks;
- nodes: in a blockchain, data is stored within data blocks and those data blocks are stored in nodes; think of a tiny server where all nodes are connected so that you can continuously share information across the blockchain.
The blockchain is completely #decentralized, which means that a single individual or entity cannot control it. The great strength of this technology is that it is managed by a peer-to-peer (P2P) network which eliminates the need for intermediaries. The ledger is hosted on a network of computers around the world. After a transaction has been posted, no participant can alter or tamper with a transaction. Blockchain technology also includes aspects of cryptography that help keep the network safe.
A blockchain can be considered an ever-changing database that, compared to traditional databases, stores information very differently. The Blockchain collects data in the form of “blocks”, chained together in an immutable sequence.
Nodes participating in a blockchain network can independently verify transactions, and these transactions are accessible to everyone. Although the data is public, it does not include personally identifiable information. For transaction validation, nodes are rewarded with the native currency (token) of that particular blockchain.
These nodes work together to confirm and verify transactions, but blockchains can often differ in how they agree on the information. Many blockchains have various “consensus protocols”, which determine how the network agrees on a transaction. Some blockchains get a consensus through #mining, while others use a #staking method.
Transactions on a blockchain take place and are recorded by addresses. Each sender and recipient require an address.