𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻: 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜𝘁 𝗜𝘀

As Bitcoin has risen in popularity, “blockchain” has often been touted as the secret behind its success. It has led to 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 of blockchains used for a variety of purposes, from cryptocurrencies, to storing real estate titles, identity verification, health records, and more.

But all of these are 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, and add unnecessary complications to systems that weren’t broken.

So how can blockchains be used outside the realm of Bitcoin?

Let’s explore this question below👇

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻?

A blockchain, which was originally called a 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯, is a digital ledger that’s copied and shared by multiple computers. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, but simply a method for storing and sharing a ledger between many separate participants.

Each “page” of the ledger is a block, and each block is summarized — or hashed — into the following block, thus forming a chain. You could also think of a blockchain as being a series of files that are stacked within each other like Matryoshka dolls. Each new block protects the ones before it, so 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗿?

Technically, any information can be secured on a blockchain, from a financial transaction to a monkey jpeg, but it’s not always useful to do so. For example, you could upload the deed to your house onto a blockchain, but it would offer no proof that the house is yours, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴. In computer science, this is known as the 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

In a Proof of Work blockchain, each block is proof that the answer to a cryptographic puzzle was found, which necessitates the work of repeatedly guessing and checking. In this way, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 that real 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 was done anchors Bitcoin to the real world. But this proof of work proves 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 about the world outside of that.

The validity of a block and the authenticity of the transactions in it can be easily verified using math. But any data outside that narrow scope requires trust, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, just with extra steps.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

There are some instances when non-transaction data stored on a blockchain can be useful, however. The first and most obvious example is Satoshi Nakamoto’s message embedded in the Genesis Block: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 03/𝘑𝘢𝘯/2009 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴”. This message was quoting the headline from a public newspaper that anyone can verify was printed that day. Thus, it serves as proof that Satoshi could not have premined Bitcoin, and he found that block on that day.

A more recent example of useful non-transaction data on Bitcoin’s blockchain is BitVM. This process involves embedding many small logic gates into blocks, which are then accessed by external systems to run programs built on Bitcoin’s 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆.

Many users enjoy permanently embedding other data into a transaction’s OP_RETURN, such as expressions of love from newly weds, or the announcement of a child’s birth. But these are akin to permanent graffiti, and offer no real usecase, other than the satisfaction of knowing that 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.

While many people are experimenting with using blockchains for other purposes, the main thing a blockchain is good for is 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, and the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 money that’s truly decentralized is Bitcoin. 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 would work better on a centralized database.

Be sure to 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 this, and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 it with anyone who thinks that “blockchain” is a technology with uses outside of Bitcoin.

And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this to find it easily when you need it.

Do you disagree? Do you agree but have something to add?

Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️