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Many business use cases can be improved and/or solved by using distributed ledger technology. It can be used in many cases where trust services are needed by business applications. This can be utilized by using blockchain technology as an application platform to build the underlying trust infrastructure of the system.

Although Bitcoin, the first real implementation of blockchain, is a decentralized currency and payment system, the underlying constructs that form the basis of the system do not have to be limited to payment transactions, accounts, balances or users. Instead, blockchain technology in Bitcoin is nothing more than transactions secured and executed by a scripting language using cryptographic methods. This means that blockchain is a platform with a scripting language that can solve many use cases other than just cryptocurrencies.

This property of blockchain led to smart contracts, an innovation presented by the cryptocurrency known as Ethereum. In the case of Ethereum, developers can create private cryptocurrencies and contract-based applications using a Turing-complete language, which allows businesses to use this language to set their own rules and policies in such applications.

The distributed ledger technology used in blockchain offers multiple benefits to businesses that make a difference when implementing a solution that requires a high degree of trust for business transactions. Using the technology offers the possibility to reduce costs and offers the opportunity for businesses to build and maintain an infrastructure that delivers capabilities at lower expenses than traditional centralized models.

Blockchain can process transactions faster because it doesn’t use a centralized infrastructure. Although there is no system totally secure from cyberattacks, the distributed nature of blockchain provides an unprecedented level of trust. The unchangeable property of blockchain and its public availability among its users, whether in a public ledger or a private one, provides transparency. Any user of the system can query transactions on a real-time basis.

Blockchain For Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin was the first implementation of a cryptocurrency based on distributed ledger technology. It was invented in 2009. and since then, it has been gaining popularity and traction by business owners seeking a distributed trust model. The Bitcoin consensus algorithm is based on proof of work (PoW). In PoW, transactions are collected into blocks by miners and added to the blockchain only if the miner can solve a cryptographic challenge that requires much computational power to be solved. The cryptographic challenge can only be solved by guessing, ensuring neutrality.

Other forms of proofs have been invented and incorporated into other solutions, such as the proof of stake in Ethereum and proof of elapsed time introduced by Intel.

Bitcoin and blockchain solved a very old digital currency problem that many other digital currencies tried to solve in the past known as the double spending problem. Double spending means spending the same digital currency twice, and Bitcoin solved this by ensuring distributed consensus.

Another cryptocurrency benefit that blockchain technology provides is that transfers can cross national boundaries in seconds, with minimum fees, and without going through third-party entities such as banks.

Read entire article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/05/07/blockchain-as-an-application-platform/#e679c405576e