Reading assignment: Benefits of the Blockchain technology

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#863

Transparency: unlike most centralised ledgers, blockchain is usually public - which means everyone can check at any given time the ledger and its history. There is no different copies but one shared ledger that cannot be modified unless all participants (miners) agree.

Security: there is no single point of failure since the ledger is decentralised, and shared by all the participants. Making a change to the ledger requires all miners to agree, so hacking one miner for instance would do nothing. Whereas centralised servers are single point of failure.

Improved Traceability: Since the ledger is transparent + and everyone can verify what it contains and its history + transactions are recorded in blocks as time goes by, so in order, it allows the tracing of transactions with time. This feature can be used in supply chains for example to trace each step and see where goods went before reaching a certain point.

Increased efficiency and speed: blockchain removes middlemen. There is a mathematical rule/ protocol that applies all the time and that cannot be changed.

Reduced cost: So you don’t need costly intermediaries which reduces cost and time.

#864

Transparency:

Through blockchain technology transaction histories are becoming more and more transparent. All users of for example bitcoin share the same distributed ledger. This way everyone shares the same documentation as individual copies of the ledger. Not a single transaction can be changed once confirmed into the blockchain. Therefore, data on a blockchain is more accurate, consistent and transparent compared to paper-heavy processes. In these longer and “older methods” certain participants who have permissioned access can change the data. So to change a single transaction record would require an alternation of all subsequent records and the collusion of the entire network.

Enhanced Security:

Blockchain is more secure than other record-keeping systems in several ways. Every transaction is confirmed before recorded to the ledger. Once a transaction is approved it is encrypted and linked to the previous transaction. Hackers are excluded in the use of blockchain due to all the information is stored on several computers holding their own copy of the ledger. Meaning a hacker might reach one computer but cannot change anything because the others will not see the changes as logical and exclude them from the ledger. Blockchain is a very logical way for companies holding important and valuable information to choose. For example, financial services, government, and healthcare. Blockchain then stops the risk of sharing critical information which in the end prevents fraud and unauthorized activity.

Improved traceability:

Tracing items that has gone through a complex supply chain today is incredibly hard if they are not using blockchain to do so. By using blockchain when exchanging goods, they are recorded and added to the blockchain, in this case you end up with an audit trail that shows where the product/asset came from including every stop it had along the way. By using this type of historical transaction data, it can help verify the authenticity of assets and prevents fraud.

Increased efficiency and speed:

If you are using a traditional process to trade, it is a time-consuming process that is prone to human error and often requires third-party meditation. This is where blockchain comes in, by streamlining and automating these tradition processes, transactions can be completed faster and more efficiently. All data is stored on a single record-keeping ledger, in which everyone has access to the same information. Having a system like this removes the trust factor due to its transparency. This makes the process more efficient.

Reduced costs:

Reducing cost is a priority for most businesses. With blockchain you get the opportunity to exclude all third parties to guarantee that the transaction is legitimate. In this case it does not matter if you trust your trading partner, instead you trust the data recorded on the blockchain. Through use of blockchain everyone is granted access to a single immutable version of the data.

#865

-Blockchain provides greater transparency because all participants share the same documentation in real time, vs. having individual copies of the data. These copies are more susceptible to incorrect information. If someone tries to change the data on the blockchain, either intentionally or unintentionally, they need consensus with the rest of the participants.
-Security is increased when using blockchain because of consensus. An attacker would have to corrupt the entire network, instead of just one computer or database. This would prove very difficult.
-Like Ivan’s depiction of the yogurt supply chain, blockchain will provide improved traceability by allowing every item in the supply chain to be documented on its journey, and recorded on the blockchain for all participants to view. It makes it much harder to cheat the supply line and make false claims about a product.
-By removing paper handling and human error, blockchain will provide efficiency and speed to any company by streamlining record keeping. Instead of monthly or quarterly audits, the data will be fixed in real time if there is an issue.
-Blockchain will reduce many costs in businesses by eliminating many costly human positions, errors, and third parties.

#866

1. Transparency:
Since all transactions recorded on a blockchain are open for everyone to view, this ensures that no information is kept in the dark, therefore cultivating trust to all users involved.

2. Security:
Any new transaction that is entered in the network needs to be verified by using mathematical equations and come to a consensus from all the users involved on whether it will be accepted or not. This ensures that data cannot be altered or forged.

3. Improved traceability:
As mentioned above in the security question, since no transactions can be forged or reversed this ensures that data which enter the database will stay there forever. This helps in tracing very accurately the origin of products through the different stages of the supply chain.

4. Increased efficiency and speed:
As there is only one ledger that uses an automated process to handle transactions this helps with speeding up the process and makes it more efficient.

5. Reduced cost:
Since there are no third parties or intermediaries between the stakeholders involved in a transaction, the only cost is the very low mining fee.

#867

Transparency: The ledger is public and non-cheatable.

Security: Information is enrypted and stored on the blockchain. Also it is very hard to hack.

Improved traceability: Exchanges on the blockchain can be traced and audited in real time. Fraud in a supply chain is much hared this way.

Increased efficiency and speed: The open ledger allows faster transaction mainly because human error is ruled out and no third-parties are needed.

Reduced cost: Because it’s a trustless system there is no need for as many middlemen. Also accounting and documentation become much easier / cheaper.

#868

Explain with your own words, why these are the benefits of using a blockchain.

Transparency: How do you act when you think someone is watching? If you think your actions are going to be monitored by god, for example, and you thought you had a series of values you believed or knew that god wanted you to follow, do you think you would you follow them? Transparency is a mechanism that provides for verification to all network participants. This has usefulness in the public domain, especially where politicians are concerned. Where does their funding come from? Where does the extortion money, taxes, go and how is it spent? These are perfect use cases for a transparent application that could act as money!

Security: If a transaction is not mutable then people feel secure about the network. Like the united states having the bill of rights, people feel secure that their freedoms will not be infringed. Although that is now changing since the network has been corrupted with parasites. I wonder if the security of a blockchain can be corrupted like the freedoms in the united states are being corrupted during this plan-demic event. We will see if the freedom network in the united states will continue to provide security. Will blockchain provide this security in the future or will it be coopted too?

Improved traceability: The Trace/Search function of a decentralized database are benefit of efficiency and tyranny. Depending on how it’s used! In the business world it could be used to trace a products components place of origin, which might be desirable to the end user. It could also be used to trace a politicians location at any given time which would give a lot of power to the general public, since this location information would forever linked in the blockchain database.

Increased efficiency and speed: If everyone is sharing linked on chain information that can be easily shared this would in theory remove the need for other systems such as paper heavy documentation. Example being an HVAC company that provides a tune up on your air conditioner and wants to leave you notes on the maintenance, the things that were done etc, could be easily shared with customers

Reduced cost: By all accounts many jobs will be made no longer necessary due to blockchain, such as lawyers, if you can write a smart contract, why would you need to get a with a greedy wordsmith to, say, draft a demand letter or draft a contract when someone with some basic programming skills could do for you at a fraction of the cost. Better yet, an application could be developed, with a nice GUI, that allows you to create your own contract between Party A and Party B without the need for ANY middlemen. Freedom of Contracts without a Lawyer from an App on your phone. Nice.

#869

Why “Transparency”, “Security”, “Improved Traceability”, “Increased Efficiency and Speed”, and “Reduced Costs” are the benefits of using a blockchain.

Transparency - because everyone has access to the same, readily available, continuously updated, information - and because everyone has to agree on any changes. This means people can easily check that their information is up-to-date and correct, and that there have been no unauthorised alterations to contracts etc.

Security - because information is stored across a network of computers it is difficult for anyone attempting to intercept or compromise the data, or to gain access to sufficient points in order to do so. Also, if an attempt is made, several parties are likely to become aware.

Improved Traceability - because every transaction is recorded on the blockchain there will be an audit trail showing where the product came from, where it is currently located and every place it has been to en route. This will prove or disprove its authenticity.

Increased Efficiency and Speed - this is a benefit because it means there will be less human error, and no third-party mediation. Also, because there will be just one ledger to update there will be no need for cross-referencing to ensure accuracy, or the duplication of records. Clearing and settlements will also become quicker as everyone has access to the same information.

Reduced Cost - because there will be fewer parties needing to make guarantees and/or charging commissions, and because there will be less need to review documentation because everyone will have identical copies.

#870

  1. Because there are multiple copies of the blockchain it is impossible for one individual to affect the network or enter false information. Once the computers/nodes agree on the information it is final and immutable and leads to a trustless network.

  2. Information is not stored merely in one place it is spread across multiple computers making it harder to hack. It is encrypted and only entered into the chain when it has been agreed upon by the community.

  3. Gives customers more informed buying options and allows them to know exactly where things have come from and the processes they have been through, It also prevents false advertising by companies and ensure supply chains stay honest and true to their word.

  4. Leads to less human error and manipulation, cuts out the middle man and people or companies who provide very little value in the supply chain but still manage to be a part of it and skim profits. Less paper and more digital storage are better for the planet.

  5. People are in business to make money so if you can reduce cost you can make more money.

#872

Explain with your own words, why transparency, security, improved traceability, increased efficiency and speed, and reduced costs are benefits of using a blockchain.

Transparency is a great benefit in blockchain networks because it allows all participants to have the same information at the same time on independent copies of the same ledger/transaction. Enabling a high level of trust, and requiring consensus for any proposed changes.

Security is a significant benefit in blockchain networks because it minimizes or eliminates fraud, unauthorized activity, and centralization/concentration risk of information by requiring consensus before recording, encrypting and linking data to prior transaction(s), and storing information across a distributed network of computers/nodes.

Improved Traceability in another significant benefit in blockchain systems because it is increasingly important to customers, regulators, financial managers, and operations managers, to audit and validate the pathway a good or service traveled in a given supply chain/network. This helps to verify and affirm that a product or service is comprised of elements as described and minimized fraud, improve processes and operations, and reduce theft or abuse that could otherwise occur more easily.

Increased Efficiency and Speed are significant benefits of blockchain systems because it potentially allows industry and government to meet or exceed customer expectations around the timing required to complete a transaction. Things such as the time it takes to transfer money, verify a counter party, validate reported information, time to process and issue or pay an invoice, etc. For those entities that are early adopters of blockchain systems I think they also have a chance to make this feature a competitive advantage until widespread adoption occurs by peer competitors.

Reduced Cost: the potential for reducing costs – significantly to massively – by incorporating a blockchain system is a very compelling benefit. Because of how blockchain systems operate and are structured many third parties involved in the process can be effectively eliminated. For example, a organization that normally spends a lot of money and employee time/productivity engaging in an audit can eliminate a lot of time and expense by building in smart contracting that meets industry and regulator accounting standards automatically. This example also allows significant amounts of employee time that is usually required for the audit to be reallocated to more fruitful, value add activities.

#873

Transparency: Transaction are very transparent and each participant has the same information

Security: Redundancy (data is stored across the whole network); Agreement is needed to make changes; Transactions are linked to precious transactions

Traceability: By using the blockchain technology it is possible to document each step in a supply chain in s transparent way and ensure the validity of this data.

Reduced cost: High degree of automation

#874

1. Transparency:
Blockchain technology is more transparent because every node in the network holds a complete identical copy of the transaction ledger. Further, transactions cannot be added to the chain unless there is and agreement, or consensus among multiple nodes. The Blockchain has a high degree of accuracy because, while theoretically it may be possible to modify records, in practical terms, the effort to do this would far outweigh any perceived benefit.

2. Security:
Security is achieved by the fact that transactions must be agreed upon by multiple nodes in the network before the record is committed to the Blockchain. When it is, it is then encrypted and linked to the previous record. In addition, every node contains a complete and identical record of the ledger making it hack proof for all intents and purposes, as I mentioned in point 1 above.

3. Improved traceability:
Traceablilty, or Provenance is very important especially in complex supply chain applications. Since the Blockchain holds every single transaction that ever happened, auditing the system and any particular point in time becomes easy.

4. Increased efficiency and speed:
When time consuming and error prone manual processes are removed from the system, there will be an increase in efficiency. Also, since there is only a single ledger (that everyone has a copy of), everyone has access to the same data and the need to reconcile multiple different systems goes away.

5. Reduced cost:
The biggest cost benefit comes from the removal of the need for auditors and manual auditing processes to ensure that the data between you and your trading partners is accurate. With Blockchain you just have to understand that the integrity of the data is guaranteed by the Mathematical protocol, combined with consensus and the fact that everyone has access to the same ledger.

#875

blockchain provides inproved transparancy, security, traceability ,and speed with less cost. Neato!

#876

Benefits of Blockchain:

Transparency:
Single version of the truth that cannot be altered that all network participants approved to begin with.

Security:
No single point of access/failure insures data does not reside in one place making it very secure.

Improved traceability:
All transactions (financial or otherwise) can be traced back in order with exact timestamp which will prevent fraud as well as tracking supply chain entries etc…

Increased efficiency and speed:
Greatly improved processes can be achieved with Blockchain automation. Single source digital ledger with no human error, no 3rd party required to mediate issues as everyone already agreed/approved data entry.

Reduced Cost:
Transparency, Security, efficiency and speed, all contribute to reduced cost. Network users already trust the Blockchain.

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#877

Why these are the benefits of the Blockchain.
Transparency, Block chain is a public ledger in which technology enables a trustless system which frees the need for a middleman.
Security in the use of a blockchain means that every transaction which is made of digital blocks and once the data is entered it cannot be changed.
Improved traceability, every transaction is open to the public
Increased speed and efficiency because the data is open to every computer and is tamper proof
Reduces costs by cutting out the middle man and also avoiding waste .

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#878
  1. everyone on the blockchain shares the same copy of the ledger which allows for more transparency and consensus will everyone for a change to happen.
    2 the fact you can only add blocks to the chain and the hash that is generated using the previous block allows the block-chain to remain tamper proof
    3 because every transaction has a previous block that it is linked to it is much easier to track transactions by seeing which wallet address the coin/token passed thru.
    4 the system is efficient because the transaction is the verification which then automatically get the change written on all the copies on the network instead of waiting for a third party to verify.
    5 no need for middle men and extra security which reduces cost
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#879

Blockchain helps to provide transparency since all records are kept on a publicly distributed immutable ledger with all participants sharing the same documentation thus there are no copies.

Blockchain helps to increase security since all transactions are only completed after the network comes to consensus. Also, since blockchain is a distributed ledger among network participants, it is harder for hackers to compromise as opposed to a single database stored on a central server.

Blockchain helps to provide improved traceability by providing an audit trail across complex supply chains.

Blockchain increases efficiency and speed of transactions because the network runs 24/7 365 days a year. Also, since it is a distributed network and everyone has the same copy of information there will be less of a need for third party auditors, it is digital so no paperwork, and since there are not as many steps blockchain can help reduce human error.

Blockchain helps to reduce costs by cutting out third parties, reducing paperwork and increasing transaction times.

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#880

Transparency: Because everyone could access and read the public information of a block or transaction

Security: Because all the changes comes from the consensus of the nodes, so if one node it’s compromised or hacked, the remaining nodes of the network will be intact, and guaranteed the security of the network

Improved traceability: Because if each member or participant involved in a particular process logs his imputs or actions, it’s easilly to track all the movements of each other

Increased efficiency and speed: Because eliminates the human mistakes, and the process could be done more quickly automated task into the blockchain

Reduced cost: Because it’s been remove the middlemen, and the transactions could be done peer to peer

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#881

1 transparency: of transactional history because blockchain uses a distributed ledger which can only be updated via consensus. and all with permission have the same copoy of the ledger.
2. Increased security because all transactions must be agreed upon before recorded then it is encrypted and linked to the previous transaction then it is stored on all computers in network so difficult to hack.
3. Improved Traceability After a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, there is an audit trail. this history of data can verify authenticity of assets which prevents fraud.
4. Increased efficiency and speed because no fear of human error entering data and no need for 3rd party mediation. there is only one digital ledger so you dont need to reconcile multiple ledgers this leads to trust in the data so you dont need any intermediaries ao can settle transactions faster.
5.Decreased cost because you remove the need for middlemen. you only need to trust the data so dont need all that documentation to complete a trade b/c everyone has the same data which is immutable.

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#882

Benefits of Blockchain;

  1. Transparency: Blockchain is a public ledger and all information is available to anyone and everyone. There is no trust required as the information is a single copy that is not altered and can only be altered through a consensus. So there is great transparency in the blockchain system due to the fact it is trustless.

  2. Security: Blockchain is highly secure because all transactions and information can be recorded through a consensus and once approved, can not be changed or altered. It is completely decentralized and no single entity or person has the ability to make changes and or make copies of data.

  3. Improved traceability: Blockchain records all data once approved and it remains unchanged and hence can easily be traced back for auditing purpose.

  4. Increased efficiency and speed: All data is stored on a public ledger that can be easily accessed fast without the need to go through paper work and multiple files. This allows data sharing on blockchain more efficient and fast.

  5. Reduced cost: Since data on a blockchain is held on a public ledger that is available to everyone, there is no need for multiple copies and or sending information around. This can reduce cost for businesses. Given that blockchain is trustless, there is no need for middle men to do work and hence reducing cost.

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#883

Transparency: all the participants in the network know the content of the ledger at all times. Therefore no one can sabotage it without breaking consensus

Security: information is stored across the network instead of one database. This makes it much more secure, since it is easier to attack one database instead of all the nodes in the newtwork

Improved tracability: since all the data is in one place, data is visible and can be tracked from start to end. There will be less interaction between instances since all data can come together in one blockchain

Increased efficiency and speed: when there are no intermediaries then the data process time + human error chance goes to zero. This saves time…

Reduced cost: the cost for checking all the business partners will deminish, since you can trust the network to do this verifiying proces for you.

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