Example  Bitcoin & blockchain  (brief) – Visualization

Challenge & Selection

Bitcoin is facing a major challenge as the time taken to process  transactions has increased dramatically. This has caused  businesses to stop accepting the crypto asset. The problem of  slow transactions has been looming around for quite some time.  The challenge lies in how transactions are processed on the  blockchain — the decentralised, distributed ledger technology  that underpins bitcoin. The average time taken for a bitcoin  transaction to be verified is about 43 minutes, while some  transactions could also remain unverified forever

The reason behind this issue is that a bitcoin transaction costs  fees, which means those offering a higher fee get verified first. This  creates a queue in the list of transactions, and those who don’t pay  a fee or didn’t pay a sufficiently big fee are often kept waiting for  hours and sometimes even days for a transaction to complete.

The result of the slowdown in transaction clearance rates has led  some businesses to give up on bitcoin completely while others are  recommending users to switch from Bitcoin to alternative crypto  assets like Litecoin.

Satoshi Nakamoto stated in his white paper that: "The root problem with conventional currencies is

all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the

currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust this one point alone makes

it an interesting and important aspect to work on

Application

The early internet dealt with intangibles. You sent or received emails,

corresponded on forums, read and distributed articles. This modern internet

deals with assets, your most valuable immediate items that you can touch and

want to protect. These assets are stored in encoded form on a network-to-

network chain called the blockchain or ledger, where each participant sees

who you do business with. This not only protects your business dealings and

prevents theft, but, also, simplifies your affairs, quickens the process, reduces

errors, and saves you from hiring a third party.

This decentralised blockchain system is going to change your life from the

way you transact business or manage assets, to the way you use your

machines, vote, rent a car, and even prove who you are. Along the way, it

will transform banks and other financial institutions, hospitals, companies,

and governments among others.

Each transaction is a digital ‘block’ that needs to be verified before it’s

allowed to enter the system.

Questions include:

Is the money there?

Are sender and receiver reputable?

Is the request legitimate? And so forth.

Each computer on the network competes on unscrambling the answers, and

the winning computer adds this ‘block’ to the ‘blockchain’ in the order that

the ‘block’ arrived. The winner broadcasts his proof to the rest of the

network, which checks that proof and verifies it before queuing the ‘block’ to

complete the transaction. Parties involved are assured that participants have

screened and okayed the transaction.

The process not only cuts down on fraud, such as double spending or spams,

but also transfers funds simply, safely, and fast.

Insight & Approach

The original creator of the bitcoin client has described their approach to the software's  authorship as it being written first to prove to themselves that the concept of purely  peer-to-peer electronic cash was valid and that a paper with solutions could be written.  The lead developer is Wladimir J. van der Laan, who took over the role on 8 April  2014.Gavin Andresen was the former lead maintainer for the software client. Andresen  left the role of lead developer for bitcoin to work on the strategic development of its  technology.[267] Bitcoin Core in 2015 was central to a dispute with Bitcoin XT, a  competing client that sought to increase the blocksize. Over a dozen different  companies and industry groups fund the development of Bitcoin Core.

Blockchain is much more than Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. It  represents a new way of recording information and processing  transactions. The data recorded in a blockchain are tamper-proof and  traceable. The block creation process involves distributed processing  in a trust-less environment. Hence, it can be used to support any  collaborative transactions requiring high availability and integrity.  Take financial services as one example. Many banks today perform  know-your-customer (KYC) checks individually, which creates many  redundant operations when the same customer opens multiple  accounts in different banks. KYC implementation using blockchain  can eliminate most of these redundant operations. We can share the  same customer's data in a blockchain maintained by a banking  consortium without worrying about any participating bank modifying  the customer data for its own interest. We can envision the benefits in  other applications such as identity management, product certification,  supply-chain coordination, and general tracking and goods exchanges.


Example Bitcoin & blockchain ( brief ) – Visualization Challenge & Selection Bitcoin is facing a major challenge as the time taken to process transactions has increased dramatically . This has caused businesses to stop accepting the crypto asset . The problem of slow transactions has been looming around for quite some time . The challenge lies in how transactions are processed on the blockchain — the decentralised , distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin . The average time taken for a bitcoin transaction to be verified is about 43 minutes , while some transactions could also remain unverified forever The reason behind this issue is that a bitcoin transaction costs fees , which means those offering a higher fee get verified first . This creates a queue in the list of transactions , and those who do n’t pay a fee or did n’t pay a sufficiently big fee are often kept waiting for hours and sometimes even days for a transaction to complete . The result of the slowdown in transaction clearance rates has led some businesses to give up on bitcoin completely while others are recommending users to switch from Bitcoin to alternative crypto assets like Litecoin . Satoshi Nakamoto stated in his white paper that : " The root problem with conventional currencies is all the trust that 's required to make it work . The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency , but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust this one point alone makes it an interesting and important aspect to work on Application The early internet dealt with intangibles . You sent or received emails , corresponded on forums , read and distributed articles . This modern internet deals with assets , your most valuable immediate items that you can touch and want to protect . These assets are stored in encoded form on a network - to- network chain called the blockchain or ledger , where each participant sees who you do business with . This not only protects your business dealings and prevents theft , but , also , simplifies your affairs , quickens the process , reduces errors , and saves you from hiring a third party . This decentralised blockchain system is going to change your life from the way you transact business or manage assets , to the way you use your machines , vote , rent a car , and even prove who you are . Along the way , it will transform banks and other financial institutions , hospitals , companies , and governments among others . Each transaction is a digital ‘ block ’ that needs to be verified before it ’s allowed to enter the system . Questions include : Is the money there ? Are sender and receiver reputable ? Is the request legitimate ? And so forth . Each computer on the network competes on unscrambling the answers , and the winning computer adds this ‘ block ’ to the ‘ blockchain ’ in the order that the ‘ block ’ arrived . The winner broadcasts his proof to the rest of the network , which checks that proof and verifies it before queuing the ‘ block ’ to complete the transaction . Parties involved are assured that participants have screened and okayed the transaction . The process not only cuts down on fraud , such as double spending or spams , but also transfers funds simply , safely , and fast . Insight & Approach The original creator of the bitcoin client has described their approach to the software 's authorship as it being written first to prove to themselves that the concept of purely peer - to - peer electronic cash was valid and that a paper with solutions could be written . The lead developer is Wladimir J. van der Laan , who took over the role on 8 April 2014.Gavin Andresen was the former lead maintainer for the software client . Andresen left the role of lead developer for bitcoin to work on the strategic development of its technology.[267 ] Bitcoin Core in 2015 was central to a dispute with Bitcoin XT , a competing client that sought to increase the blocksize . Over a dozen different companies and industry groups fund the development of Bitcoin Core . Blockchain is much more than Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies . It represents a new way of recording information and processing transactions . The data recorded in a blockchain are tamper - proof and traceable . The block creation process involves distributed processing in a trust - less environment . Hence , it can be used to support any collaborative transactions requiring high availability and integrity . Take financial services as one example . Many banks today perform know - your - customer ( KYC ) checks individually , which creates many redundant operations when the same customer opens multiple accounts in different banks . KYC implementation using blockchain can eliminate most of these redundant operations . We can share the same customer 's data in a blockchain maintained by a banking consortium without worrying about any participating bank modifying the customer data for its own interest . We can envision the benefits in other applications such as identity management , product certification , supply - chain coordination , and general tracking and goods exchanges .