Anyone who is even remotely active on social media might have come across this mysterious new term which aims at revolutionizing almost any present day technology - Blockchain and Bitcoin. And if you haven't come across this term then you definitely need to do something about it and come out of the rock which you have been living in. The hugely volatile big daddy of all cryptos - BITCOIN- has for sure turned some heads in the past few months. Specially when it rallied up to 19K USD and then saw lows of close to 5K.
Governments across the world are in a tussle, as to whether to regulate the currencies, which have essentially started undermining their centralised power or to outrightly ban them. China, which although houses the largest community of Bitcoin miners, has begun a crackdown on cryptocurrency websites citing instability as one of the reasons. India recently joined the club with, Reserve Bank of India issuing directions to all its associated entities to stop providing services to anyone who deals in crypto.
But the question that lurks around is that are these two - BITCOIN and BLOCKCHAIN- synonyms.
Lets just get into the basic fundamentals of block chain and bitcoin.
Blockchain technology houses a growing list of records with data stored in blocks. The technology offers to be an open distributed ledger, available for various parties to view. The Indian Government too has given its approval for the use of blockchain as a technology to develop infrastructure for various sectors.
Bitcoin on the other hand is a decentralized digital currency. The common threat between Bitcoin and Blockchain is that the Bitcoin transactions are saved via the blockchain technology.
Blockchain is an Interesting Opportunity that Shouldn’t be Dismissed
While the obscurity surrounding cryptocurrencies continues, what can’t be avoided is the security that blockchain ensures.
“Blockchain is a huge subject and its concept as a public ledger that can handle land records, manage supply chain etc., cannot be dismissed. Blockchain’s benefits — of security, efficiency, and speed — are readily applicable to public sector organizations, and the technology’s potential helps explain why so many government leaders are actively exploring its uses in government.
So bitcoin and blockchain are not synonyms. Though bitcoin in a technology that is based on blockchain but currently it is not solving any major problems, rather creating a couple of them due to high amount of electricity which is being consumed globally due to its mining, where as block chain can be used in n number of ways to change the face of earth as we see it today.