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What is Blockchain?
Bitcoin has become hugely popular over the past few years, but many people still don’t understand the revolutionary technology behind Bitcoin – The Blockchain Public Chain 
.
A blockchain is a Distributed Public Ledger that records transactions and consists of Blocks of data that are encrypted and chained together.
Each new block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, linking the blocks together to form an immutable chain.
This creates a permanent, transparent record of all transactions that occur on the blockchain.
Unlike traditional ledgers, the blockchain ledger is not maintained by a centralized body, but is decentralized through a peer-to-peer network.
Many different nodes on the network have copies of the entire blockchain.
If any node attempts to change a record or block, the cryptographic hash link is broken and an alert is sent to other nodes in the network.
This makes the blockchain virtually immune to tampering.
In addition, nodes on the network verify and validate each new block and transaction, a consensus mechanism that ensures the integrity of the blockchain without the need for a centralized authority.
Bitcoin’s blockchain uses a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus: miners compete to solve complex cryptographic puzzles and validate blocks, with the first miner to solve a puzzle being rewarded with newly issued bitcoins.
These characteristics of the blockchain give it groundbreaking advantages.
First, it dramatically increases the transparency and auditability of transactions. Users can verify when and where a transaction took place.
Second, it reduces the number of intermediaries and costs involved in transactions.
Third, it improves data integrity, virtually eliminating the possibility of data hacking or mismanagement.
Finally, it promotes greater financial inclusion, as anyone can conduct transactions on the blockchain network without the need for a bank account or credit score.
Bitcoin Blockchain Revolutionizing the Financial Industry
Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin’s blockchain technology has sparked a disruptive change in the traditional financial industry.
The following aspects of the Bitcoin blockchain represent the revolutionary impact of the Bitcoin blockchain on the financial industry.
The Bitcoin blockchain enables the reinvention of the entire financial infrastructure without the need for a centralized institution or third party.
Users can make deposits, payments, and remittances directly on the blockchain network.
This breaks the long-standing control of commercial banks over money and payments.
• Reduced Transaction Costs
Conducting transactions on the blockchain network can significantly reduce fees and costs.
There are no fees to pay to banks or payment organizations.
Cross-border payments can also be done in near real-time.
This will reshape the international remittance market.
• Automate Finance
Through smart contracts, blockchain systems can automate the execution of contract terms and the exchange of assets.
This will automate a large number of back-office processes that need to be handled manually, increasing operational efficiency.
• Financial Inclusion
Blockchain dramatically lowers the barriers to participation in financial activities, allowing anyone with an internet connection to conduct blockchain transactions and investments.
This can help promote financial inclusion and enable more people to enjoy financial services.
• Data Transparency
The public ledger nature of the blockchain makes all transaction histories completely transparent.
This will force financial institutions to improve risk management and compliance and maintain market order.
• Digital Assets
Crypto assets issued and circulated on the blockchain reveal a whole new way of financing and investing.
This could lead to broader financial innovation and new points of economic growth.
In addition to these disruptive impacts, blockchain also shows great promise for application in financial areas such as securities trading, insurance claims, and identity verification.
Blockchain represents the disintermediation of financial relationships.
The revolution led by Bitcoin will ultimately help build a new financial order that is more open, fair, and efficient.
Challenges to Application
As a disruptive technology, the Bitcoin blockchain faces several important challenges that need to be addressed in the process of promoting its application.
The following are some of the major challenges facing the Bitcoin blockchain application.
Bitcoin’s PoW consensus requires a lot of computational power, which results in a huge amount of electricity consumption.
One of the issues that blockchain applications need to address is how to achieve a more energy-efficient consensus mechanism.
The annual power consumption of some PoW public chains is as high as the total power consumption of several developed countries.
• Transaction speed
Due to the block size and generation interval, the Bitcoin blockchain has a limited processing capacity of about 7 transactions per second.
This is insufficient to meet the transaction throughput requirements of large-scale commercial applications.
Many applications require tens of thousands of transactions per second or more.
• Regulatory Risks
Crypto assets are mostly without a clear regulatory framework.
Their regulatory risks and compliance costs may constrain the willingness of institutional investors to adopt them.
Regulators are also keeping a close eye on the money laundering risks that crypto assets may involve.
• Volatility
The value of many blockchain assets, such as cryptocurrencies, fluctuates frequently, which may hinder their use as currency.
Stablecoins 
attempt to address this issue.
• System Security
Information stored and transmitted on public chains is vulnerable to hacking.
Data privacy and permission control in some application scenarios is also quite complex.
This requires system protection through encryption and access control.
• User experience
For ordinary users, blockchain applications have certain technical and cognitive thresholds.
How to improve user experience will be the key to promotion. Many projects are working to simplify wallet management and payment processes.
• Interoperability
There are technical barriers between different public chain systems, making cross-chain collaboration and asset conversion difficult.
This also limits the utility of the blockchain network.
Although Bitcoin has its share of problems, such as high price volatility and regulatory uncertainty, its core concept and technology have already had a profound impact.
It has made it possible for value to be exchanged between unrelated parties without intermediaries.
With technological and institutional innovations, blockchain is bound to profoundly reconfigure the financial industry and create new business models.
It marks the beginning of a financial and computing revolution.
Future Implications
Despite the challenges, they are gradually being mitigated as blockchain technology advances and the regulatory environment becomes clearer.
Its impact can be expected to continue to grow and spread to more areas.
Blockchain is expected to completely disrupt the traditional banking and payment system and establish an open and decentralized global value transmission network.
Crypto-digital currencies may eventually replace fiat currencies as the dominant currency, realizing true cash digitization.
• Automated Smart Economy
Blockchain-based smart contracts will make economic activities smarter and more automated, eliminating intermediaries on a large scale.
Complex business and financial processes will be replaced by automated procedures, and business operating costs will be dramatically reduced.
• Data Authentication and Sharing
Blockchain’s trusted timestamps and tamper-proof features will change the way data is attributed, making it possible to share and utilize big data while safeguarding privacy.
This will lead to a booming data economy.
• Organizational Transformation
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) will rely on the blockchain to operate autonomously.
This will be a creative and disruptive change in organizational form, potentially disrupting traditional business structures.
• IoT Optimization
Blockchain facilitates the secure connection of people and things, providing security for the smart Internet of things (IoT) , and the combination of 5G and blockchain will give rise to a smarter economy.
The combination of 5G and blockchain will also lead to smarter economic forms, such as self-driving cars and smart homes.
In addition to the above fields, blockchain also has a broad application space in supply chain traceability, health care, energy management, government affairs, and other fields.
Blockchain represents a decentralized and trustworthy future. Its strongest impact is yet to come, and it will continue to rewrite our lives and business forms.
