Transparency: The public transparency holds ALL business to a higher standard of ethics and reliability.
Security: Once a transaction or contract is entered into the blockchain, it becomes permanent/public record. Made possible through mathematics and is virtually irreversible.
Improved traceability: A product ordered through blockchain technology would have a public record detailing the life of every aspect of your order until you, and eventually afterwards.
Increased efficiency and speed: Blockchain eliminates the need for 3rd party agreements by allowing both immediate parties to transact outright. Tracking and transparency removes this entire step from the process.
Reduced cost: By eliminating all middlemen and 3rd parties, through blockchain thereâs no need for bank fees, real estate costs, ATMâs fees, or fee associated with currency exchange.
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Transparency â Public transaction ledger, which adds accountability.
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Security â Transactions are encrypted and permanently engraved on blockchain. Also, the network is decentralized.
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Improved Traceability â Blockchain provides an audit trail for the transactional history of the goods/services/**
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Increased efficiency and speed â Efficiency and speed increased because middlemen are not needed. Businesses are directly transacted between the parties.
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Reduced cost â The benefits of the four things mentioned above bring lower cost of labor, lower risk of potential loss damages, and other business operation costs, all lower the cost of goods/services provided.
Transparency: everyone can look at it so everyone on the blockchain must do their job properly without cheating.
Security: impossible to hack because of how the blockchain is made and how everything is connected.
Improved traceability: you can verify exactly where everything come from.
Increased efficiency and speed: no middlemen are required
Reduced cost: no middlemen / third parties for transactions - people/companies are connected directly
- Transparency: The public ledger is accessible to anyone at any time for viewing. This decentralized system is available even when one node fails because each node has the same ledger.
- Security: Blockchain is based on a consensus algorithm and not trust which eliminates fraudulent or cyber attacks.
- Improved traceability: Once a transaction is on the blockchain, it can be traced back to its origin. All transactions can be viewed in real-time.
- Increased efficiency and speed: Decentralization removes third parties and can facilitate cross-border payments with little to no costs through digital currency.
- Reduced cost: Transactions are immutable and this decreases chargeback when there are fraud claims. Mathematical protocols prevent manipulation by humans.
Transparency: Allows everyone involved to see the entire process and transaction history in terms of cryptocurrency. When applied in different fields it can provide a backlog of all a companies history leaving nothing to be questionable
Security: The security of it is that it is peer to peer, once the transaction is made it is done and cannot be changed, each transaction is linked to the previous transaction and cannot change one without changing all which would lead to an endless cycle never ending.
Improved Traceability: This allows full view of the history and where/who that particular item/currency came from. it can show proof of ownership, authenticity as well as all ingredients it took to get it to that point.
Increased efficiency and speed: Less hands in the pot, you only need to worry about you and the person on the other end. No need for a middle person to push the transaction through which in turn would end up costing more fees as well, less moving parts, less maintenance and fees.
Reduced cost: basically follows increased efficiency and speed. Less people, organizations or banks involved less fees needing to be paid to push the transactions along. Peer to peer transaction in Cryptocurrency allows direct transactions with no extra moving parts to worry about no additional fees from banks or organizations.
Transparency is built in to blockchain because anyone can scan the ledger and see the recorded block of transaction.
Every recorded block is encrypted and contains link to previous transaction making it hard to be replicated.
Each block recorded will make the transaction traceable since once it is written/committed it will never be removed.
Removing several processes in between transactions increases the blockchain efficiency and speed, if a financial transaction will require counterparties to confirm or match transactions blockchain eliminates those in between processes thus also speeding up the transactions.
If there are less parties involved or processes it will reduced transaction costs. Imagine tracing a supply chain logistics of the raw materials of a product, it will certainly involved several systems but if we can utilized blockchain technology we could reduced the cost to implement a project for supply chain monitoring.
Transparency removes the need for trust for the business and the end user. This will improve the quality of products and services for everyone involved.
Security is a huge benefit to the business and the end user for the same reasons. For the business they would need to spend less money protecting the users information and for the end user, knowing their transaction is secure gives them the confidence to interact safely.
Improved traceability benefits both as stated previously by removing the need for trust
Increased efficiency and speed the term is the benefit
reduced cost can save the business revenue and be passed along to the end user so that products and services are cheaper to produce and consume.
Transparency - The transaction ledger on the blockchain can be accessed by anyone with access to internet.
Security - The blockchain ledger is a more secure system because it is encrypted and linked to the previous transaction.
Improved traceability - When goods are traded on the blockchain, the blockchain verifies the
origins of the goods being exchanged. This function of the blockchain can help supply chains with tracing merchandise for authenticity.
Increased efficiency and speed - Using the blockchain is faster because there are no middlemen to deal with when transacting with someone across borders. You can transact globally person to person instantly.
Reduced cost - Transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, meaning that charge backs can not be processed. This is what makes the transactions trustless on the blockchain network and makes it possible to have no trusted middlemen taking their piece of the pie from the consumer.
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Transparency: clear, visable accountability with enforced integrity - no longer need to rely on someoneâs reputation and hope the information is correct.
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Security: information is stored in a way that makes it incorruptible - blocks of information are built and connected to the one before and after it, forever creating a ledger of transactions. Being decentralized helps parties do business freely without the worry of risk of broken contracts or cheating.
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Improved traceability: the blockchain ledger keeps an immutable accounting of where goods have come from and where they are going. Audit trail is automatic, as is verification of authenticity. Use cases in all industries including medicine, art, logistics, construction, the list goes on endlessly.
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Increased efficiency and speed: middlemen (often more than one) are removed for many many transactions, removing the extra time and expense they bring to the transaction. Smart contract automate many processes previously open to human error and delays in both processing and payments.
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Reduced cost: Accounting is automatic, reducing the need for accounting professionals by a great number - you will likely still need accounting types to âreadâ the blockchain and help make sense of the data. Auditing firms are much the same - they may only be needed to read the data on the ledger, and provide summaries or commentaries. Iâm thinking more forensic accounting / auditing actions than what we currently think of as day to day accounting needs
Explain with your own words, why these are the benefits of using a blockchain.
- Transparency:
- Security:
- Improved traceability:
- Increased efficiency and speed:
- Reduced cost:
Benefits Of The Blockchain Technology
Introduction
By the writing of this assignment, it is irrefutable to state that Bitcoin (BTC) is the pioneer of decentralised peer-to-peer electronic cash system allowing direct payments bypassing financial institutions i.e. banks, credit lines, brokerage firms, etc. (Nakamoto, 2008). However, the success of the technology underlying BTC has been the one that caught the attention of various industries propelling adoption and integration into their existing infrastructuresâthat is the Blockchain Technology.
Blockchain Technology is a decentralised process of managing ledgers (database) by deploying mathematical algorithms and protocols i.e. code. This process relies solely on the network to track, verify and transfer value. In the Blockchain network, nodes (computers) verify transactions, maintain and update records in the ledger, and even adjust inflation. It is important to mention that once the ledger is updated, the records are made public and cannot be removed or edited. This is achieved through a process known as mining.
Mining activity is encouraged by monetary incentives for the work/energ input (proof-of-work (PoW)) into the network. In turn, monetary incentives result in increasing network security rendering malicious activities e.g. corruption, fraud, manipulation, etc. to become impossible and hopefully obsolete.
Blockchain is a technology that comprises of the following elements:
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Peer-to-peer network (nodes)
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Cryptography (secure data and communications)
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Consensus algorithm (PoW, PoS, etc.)
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Reward & Punishment (follow the rules (game theory approach))
Reward (coins/tokens allocation)âgiven to those who play by the rules
Punishment (coins/token removal)âgiven to those who try to manipulate the system -
Market adoption (the higher the adoption the higher is the value of the reward).
The challenges facing Blockchain creation are indeed daunting. However, Ethereum (ETH) seems to be the most effective solution integrating all five Blockchain elements mentioned aboveâit is a Do It Yourself (DIY) Blockchain where all five elements are already set up. It only requires developers to build the right solution on top of it (99 Bitcoins, 2021a). Anyway, Ethereum is a whole another topic and it is not covered on this assignmentâfind out more about ETH at Ivan On Tech Academy.
Although Blockchain is an innovative way to implement decentralisation, some argue that despite its infancy Blockchain is inefficient and slow, and it should only be used for decentralised purposes.
In a nutshell, BTC is the first implementation of Blockchain Technology. Blockchain is a decentralised system that is publicly maintained, there is no central authority involved and therefore its records cannot be falsified.
This assignment aims to evaluate the benefits of using Blockchain Technology and potential adoption across industries and government bodies.
Benefits of Blockchain Technology
- Transparency
Blockchain solutions such as transparency, helps to tackle issues around security and traceability i.e. provenance. Provenance is the ability of auditing products, services, and respective supply chain network across various industries e.g. finance, technology, agriculture, transport, etc.
Transparency is what makes Blockchain ledger to be public. Although challenging this might be for certain industries, market demand will have its final sayingââin retrospect, it will be inevitableâ (Musk, 2021).
Consequently, transparency is a driving force to accountability and responsibility prompting companies to act with integrity as well as taking into account environmental-social-economic responsibilities.
Bitcoin (BTC) is a decentralised financial system and therefore an open book. Anyone can access the code, review, join the BTC Blockchain network and even contribute with no permission to be asked. BTCâs history records are open to the world. This makes BTC resistant to malicious activities e.g. corruption, fraud, manipulation, etc. (Held, 2019a).
It is on the best interest of companies to integrate the benefits of transparency to its modus operandi. Thus, enabling real-time data sharing across the network as well as the creations of smart contracts and even a record of claimsâtransparency adoption has gradually been implemented in Finance, Insurance, Agriculture, Clothing, Transport and Government.
- Security
Evidence shows that the larger the Bitcoin (BTC) network grows, the more secure the network becomes. As mentioned above, the security of the BTC Blockchain network results of mining activity. Once the ledger is updated, the records are made public and cannot be removed or edited, hence increasing security.
On the Blockchain each transaction is encrypted and linked to the previous ledger. Blockchain immutable characteristic doubles down on security and there is no need for trust from the parties involved in order to perform a transaction.
As previously mentioned, BTC security model is protected by game theory and physics i.e. reward & punishment and consensus (PoW), respectively. This means that participants are incentivised to play by the rules otherwise they are subject to consequencesâthe higher the mining activity the higher the value of BTC. In turn, the more expensive becomes to attack the network. Meaning, the security budget protects the network (Held, 2019b).
BTC clients (bitcoiners) are strongly encouraged to observe higher security practices. Although the network allows traceability, coins that once were stolen not always are recovered. Some suggest the following should be implemented by default (1) encryption on BTC wallets, (2) BTC wallets should comprise of savings and spending sections in order to safeguard funds by malicious attacks, (3) software should not be able to run inside the wallet without authorisation and (4) built-in backup mechanism in the wallet (99 Bitcoins, 2021b)
Despite the unfortunate experiences some bitcoiners might have gone through, the Blockchain network has proven to be robust and resilient to malicious activities. By all means, bitcoiners should observe the highest security practices including cold storage.
- Improved traceability
As a result of its immutable characteristic, Blockchain ledgers cannot be deleted or edited. This makes Blockchain traceability i.e. digital provenance, highly desired by the supply chain sector. This solution is attained through decentralisation by employing a network of public ledgers (databse) to track and verify transactions across various industriesâaudit of products, services, and respective supply chain network.
Traceability in the Blockchain network is accomplished by deploying mathematical algorithms and protocols i.e. code. This process relies solely on the network to track, verify and transfer valueâno need for intermediaries. Moreover, Blockchain traceability breaks information silos and allows more transparency and accountability.
This process helps improving security and fraud prevention by verifying authenticity of traded assets, for example in medicine the supply chain network can be tracked from manufacturer to distributer or in arts traceability provides undeniable proof of ownership (Koksal, 2019).
Although traceability is one of the solutions presented by the Blockchain network, there are yet issues in tracking lost coins. Contrary to stolen coins, lost coins leave no trace in the Blockchain. Meaning, a Bitcoin (BTC) that is not lost looks exactly the same as a lost BTC. This makes harder to measure the amount of lost Bitcoins in the network (Held, 2019a).
However, an assumption can be made that unspent BTCs for more than 5 years to be considered lost (Held, 2019a). Although sources indicate that Satoshi Nakamoto (the creator of BTC) has not yet spent the BTCs that were mined ca. 12 years ago; the mystery about Nakamoto still remains despite the high value of the BTC and the disruption caused in the financial systemâwould the creator of BTC loose his coins?
- Increased efficiency and speed
There are several aspects of Bitcoin (BTC) Blockchain efficiency and speed worth of consideration: product, services and processes. By now, we all agree that (1) BTC Blockchain Technology produces tokens/coins i.e. product, (2) BTC Blockchain Technology manages and maintains its network i.e. services and (3) this is accomplished by deploying codeâmathematical algorithms and protocols i.e. processes. This section will solely focus on the BTC Technology efficiency and speed of services.
As a result of the decentralised characteristic of Blockchain, the need for the middlemen services becomes obsolete. The code efficiently and swiftly handles all the processes required by the network e.g. management of transactions, recordkeeping, smart contracts, etc. (Koksal, 2019). The efficiency and speed of the Blockchain work output and effectiveness obliterates human work output and performance, for example, BTC Blockchain Technology operates 24/7/365 worldwide.
In short, Blockchain Technology astronomically increases productivity. In the financial industry alone, Blockchain Technology has the ability to transform the entire landscapeânamely, faster payments, speed up administration work, and improve the quality and security of data.
- Reduced cost
Compiling all the benefits of the Blockchain Technology mentioned above, the reduction of cost and the increase of productivity becomes inevitable in particular when it comes to cut down workforce population. Yang, (2018) indicates that 40% of jobs either repetitive manual or repetitive cognitive are potentially subject to automation. This clearly means that smart technologyâBlockchain/automation/artificial intelligenceâwill dramatically reduce and replace the workforce population across various industries, sectors and departments.
The economic benefits of Blockchain Technology in various industries are vast. The following are just brief examples:
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Few but well paid job positions in specific industries
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Highly competitive prices of goods and services
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Optimisation of processes (automation)
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Higher profits and productivity
Indeed market demand, supply and cost are some of the economic driving forces behind automated processes.
Concluding remarks:
The challenges to re-imagine the future and re-construct a new society are by all means exciting. Especially when taking into account the dramatic effects of climate change, social-economic injustice, identity, community and purpose.
Technological development is what ignited the progress of civilisations throughout human history. Although, progress is met with resistance and scepticism, as a survival mechanism Luddites later realise that it is of self-interest to adapt. Adaptation was always the force behind necessity and innovation; hence the expressionâânecessity is the mother of inventionâ.
- Transparency:
Information added to blockchain is available to be reviewed by any party. You donât have to go through a 3rd party for transactions and they are visible on the block chain. - Security:
Information added to the blockchain is held by multiple computers on the network, making it difficult or impossible to all be hacked or manipulated. - Improved traceability:
As the information is added and updated to blockchain , the origination and path of information can be viewed or tracked. - Increased efficiency and speed:
With blockchain transactions can take place between parties with little or no âmiddle manâ so making it more efficient and faster transactions. - Reduced cost:
Less parties involved reduces cost in fees for transactions or services that arenât needed.
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Transparency: A blockchain being a decentralized ledger, means it is an open source network for data transactions to everyone, so all network individuals share the same documentation which enhances the transparency.
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When using a blockchain, you put your trust in math and the physics of the universe. When thinking about security in a blockchain, you know your trust is in a network and not an organization.
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Because the blockchain network is open to everyone, all transactions are easily traced, due to the fact all the data can be viewed in real-time.
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Everything is more efficient using blockchain because everyone has the same ledger which makes accessing information data more easily accessible.
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This is caused by cutting out centralized organizations which means no one is losing cost. Everyone has the same standard while in a blockchain network, so no type of fee or documentation is necessary.
Benefits of using a blockchain:
Transparency: since it is a public ledger that can only be added but cannot be removed, this adds layer of accountability for all parties involved in transaction
Security: blockchain transaction is immutable and cannot be reversed or altered. Decentralized nature of blockchain and its consensus mechanism enable trustless transaction in which improves security.
Improved traceability: Provenance is achieved by open/public ledger that is open to viewing and cannot be altered or removed. This again provides trustless environment.
Increased efficiency and speed; Provenance is built into blockchain in which combines accounting and transaction and this will eliminate the need of verification or audit. Trustless environment enables peer to peer transfer and eliminates the need of middlemen. Network of computers in blockchain is available 24/7/365.
Reduced cost: With its traceability nature, blockchain reduce in fraud in exchange related businesses. With its decentralized trustless nature, blockchain eliminates middlemen in peer to peer transactions. Blockchain cannot be altered and is transaction immutable, it cannot be hacked. Blockchain transaction once approved is final, and this eliminates charge backs. All of these leads to reduced cost for businesses and individuals.
Transparency: The blockchain technology enables to track, verify and audit every transaction made in the blockchain at real time. This makes it impossible to lie or cheat transactions that were made. Also, as the ledgers are open to the public everyone can know the status of the transaction or product. Therefore blockchain technology facilitates the process of auditing a person or company.
Security: The blocks that are made in the blockchain can have different amounts of transactions, every transaction itâs linked to previous transactions made and this continues through all transactions in the future. As they are linked to each other it creates a powerful and complicated chain that makes secure the network because everything can be trackable. Besides, each block is created from miners that use electricity so itâs physically impossible to change any transaction. Also, in order to permit one block to enter the blockchain has to be allowed for every node in the blockchain. All of these elements make blockchain technology extremely secure.
Improved traceability: All transactions made in the blockchain are connected by a union between them because every transaction is linked to the previous one. These processes created a chain of transactions that make possible the verification of them since you can search the provenance of each transaction.
Increased efficiency and speed: The transaction realized and approved by the nodes can be done with persons in different countries around the world without third parties or intermiders. Therefore the entire process is more quickly and efficiently.
Reduced Cost: The blockchain protocol allows transactions Person-To-Person (P2P) without intermiders. These characteristics eliminate cost implicit in fees that a third party could charge for using his services. Also eliminate the possibility of overcost for possible refunds. Furthermore the protocol reduces the time cost for doing proper research, in order to review the information of a transaction, because public ledgers have the information in one place.
Thanks for sharing this can help others, you explained it very good.
A public block chain can be checked by anyone and all the data stored on it is not modifiable. These are properties that make a block chain transparent and secure. Traceability is other befit which derives from block chain, due to its structure of one block after the other where the new one has all the past info plus new transactions. This increase efficiency because all data is in one place, the lattes block has all the past info, so you dont have to search exhaustively for a particular piece of info, which reduce time and resources that can be used in other areas.
Transparency: Most blockchain networks are public, the transactions are added and stored on a block and cannot be changed or deleted. Everyone has access to the transaction information.
Security: Blockchain Networks are hard to hack, and every transaction is added on a block and cannot be deleted or changed. Majority of the Blockchain Networks are public networks, it remove trust for strangers to make buisness with each other, because they trust the network who works on specific rules.
Improved traceability: On a public Blockchain network you can track every transaction what was done in the history, that give you a view of everything. Example: tracking supply fĂźr the production of food or medicine.
Increased efficiency and speed: On a public Blockchain Network you remove a third party. Buisness between each other get easier and faster and you can track all transactions on the Blockchain.
Reduced cost: Removing a third party save you money, tracking your items on the blockchain save your money, hard to hack the public blockchain save your money.
Transparency: Blockchainâs transaction ledger is publicly available to every user.
Security: All new transactions are encrypted and linked to previous transactions. All transactions are stored withing a network of computers making it secure against hacks.
Improved traceablilty: Blockchain automatically provides an audit trail such that the supply chain can be entirley tracked anytime.
Increased efficiency and speed: Blockchain allows P2P transactions worldwide without the need of third parties being involved.
Reduced cost: Trustless network, no third parties needed.
- Transparency - Being an open public ledger it provides greater accountability
- Security - The immutable and incorruptible nature of the blockchain make it safe from hacks.
- Improved Traceability - all transactions are stored in blockchainâs ledger and all new transactions will verify ownership
- Increased Efficiency and Speed - Faster transactions by allowing P2P cross-border transactions.
- Reduced cost - No need for a 3rd party
Transparency: data stored on blockchain is available in real-time for anyone with internet access
Security: Decentralized nature provides a layer of security, because there is no central authority that can temper with the data. On top of that data on blockchain cannot be altered once itâs recorded
Improved traceability: All transactions on blockchain are connected together, so it is possible to trace origins of transactions
Increased efficiency and speed: Blockchain allows transactions without a need of a third party, thus making it faster
Reduced cost: On tracking and involving third parties in the transactions