The Voice • August 2016
The BitCoin and the Blockchain; the first is a digital form of currency and the second is a public ledger software that tracks transactions and exchanges of BitCoin. Recently there has been research performed to see if the Blockchain could be incorporated into the processes of the land recording industry. The proof-in-concept results indicated that the technology could be utilized and could even streamline the time it takes to fully process and record a transaction.
But could the digital ledger technology be altered if it needed or required changing? Stefan Thomas, one of the original developers of the digital currency BitCoin, has made claim that it couldn’t. He stated within a recent article that “Blockchains are a pain to work with” and that “in a Blockchain, everyone has to think the same”. [1] The “everyone” that Thomas refers to are the developers and individuals referred to as “miners” that maintain and monitor the validity of the digital Blockchain ledger.
The major issue that Thomas reiterates throughout his writing is that Blockchain can’t be updated or changed without a majority of these miners being involved. He states “as a blockchain grows, the larger and highly vested user base becomes more and more difficult to shepherd.” [1] In addition to moving away from BitCoin himself, Thomas feels that the BitCoin ledger technology doesn’t have the flexibility necessary for practical use within numerous real-world industries.
Sources
[1] https://medium.com/@justmoon/the-subtle-tyranny-of-blockchain-91d98b8a3a65#.6zrfompti
[2] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-18/man-who-introduced-millions-to-bitcoin-says-blockchain-is-a-bust
