You’ve probably heard of Blockchain, or at the very least, it’s most famous example, Bitcoin. But what exactly is it?

Blockchains store information across the network of personal computers, making them not just decentralized but distributed. This means no central company or person owns the system, yet everyone can use it and help run it. This is important because it means it’s difficult for any one person to take down the network or corrupt it.

The people who run the system use their computer to hold bundles of records submitted by others, known as “blocks,” in a chronological chain. The blockchain uses a form of math called cryptography to ensure that records can’t be counterfeited or changed by anyone else.

Bitcoin isn’t the same as Blockchain

You’ve probably heard of the blockchain’s first killer app: a form of digital cash called Bitcoin that you can send to anyone, even a complete stranger. Bitcoin is different from credit cards, PayPal, or other ways to send money because there isn’t a bank or financial middlemen involved.

Instead, people from all over the world help move the digital money by validating others’ Bitcoin transactions with their personal computers, earning a small fee in the process. Bitcoin uses the blockchain by tracking records of ownership over the digital cash, so only one person can be the owner at a time and the cash can’t be spent twice, like counterfeit money in the physical world can.

The future of blockchains

But bitcoin is just the beginning for blockchains. In the future, blockchains that manage and verify online data could enable us to launch companies that are entirely run by algorithms, make self-driving cars safer, help us protect our online identities, and even track the billions of devices on the Internet of Things. These innovations will change our lives forever and it’s all just beginning.

Learn more about Blockchain technologies

Industry Connect run a new programme dealing with Blockchain software. Thunderous.com is a Decentralized Industry-Driven Education Protocol & Ecosystem based on blockchain technology.

The Thunderous dev team is creating the Blockchain App Job-Ready Programme, designed for those who have a passion for blockchain technologies and interested to explore more about our Thunderous development.

Hundreds jobs will be created for blockchain technologies in the software space, make sure you’re ready!

Contact us today for more information about signing up to our job-ready Blockchain programme, where you can learn what blockchain, decentralisation model and crypto-economy are and how we can benefit from them for the modern world.