Saheed O.

EVOLUTION OF THE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY According to Wikipedia, a blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties in an efficient, verifiable and permanent way. It is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network and a time-stamping server. Blockchain technology is designed to be secure and decentralized, with transactions autonomously recorded without permission from third parties. Ever since its inception in 2008, blockchain technology has continued to be a revolutionary piece of technology that continues to change the world in different ways. Blockchain became known to the world in 2008, when Satoshi Nakamoto, a person or group of people (no one really knows), launched the Bitcoin cryptocurrency using a blockchain platform. Blockchain is quite older than that though. What we have all come to know as blockchain was actually first envisioned in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. They worked on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks that prevented people from tampering with the timestamps of documents. However, it became really relevant in 2008 when it was applied to the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper for the cryptocurrency, detailing how it was built and the applications of blockchain technology in building it. This was the first and most widely successful application of the technology. Ever since, there have been a great many new innovations as more and more people realize the potential groundbreaking applications of the technology and seek to apply it to other aspects of life and business. In the 10 years since Nakamoto launched Bitcoin, Blockchain technology has evolved a lot and is now one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Let us look at a timeline for the evolution of Blockchain. EVOLUTION OF BLOCKCHAIN 1991 In 1991, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta worked on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks that prevented people from altering the timestamp on documents. In 1992, they incorporated a Merkle tree into the design, allowing several documents to be collected into a single block all at once. 2008 Fast-forward to 2008, the entity with pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto, published the white paper for the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, highlighting the use of blockchain technology. This was the first actual implementation of the technology and as such, Satoshi Nakamoto is credited with the creation of blockchain technology. The white paper described the use of hashcash proof of work (PoW) algorithm and a decentralized peer-to-peer monitoring system for verifying transactions, removing the need for third party verifications. 2009 In January 2009, the entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto, launched the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, implementing the use of the blockchain as a ledger for monitoring transactions. The first bitcoin block was successfully mined by the creator with a reward of 50 bitcoins which were kept in a wallet and remains there to this day. The level of use implemented in Bitcoin focused on transactions only. However, many more uses have been discovered for the technology and are being implemented every day. Bitcoin application of blockchain technology is commonly referred to as Blockchain 1.0 in the timeline of blockchain evolution. 2013 Fast-forward again to the year 2013. In 2013, Vitalik Buterin, one of the contributors to the original bitcoin code, developed a new application for the blockchain technology and named it Ethereum. Ethereum was described as a malleable blockchain that would be able to perform other functions in addition to transactions. The whitepaper of the Ethereum platform titled, “Ethereum; A Next-Generation Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications Platform”, was proposed by Buterin and his team. The new platform was slated to enable functions that allows people to record and monitor contracts as well as transactions. It could also develop decentralized applications. The following year, Buterin and his team launched a successful ICO to kick-start the development of the Ethereum platform. 2015 In 2015, the Ethereum blockchain was launched with a great deal of success. It has continued to evolve since to become one of the biggest blockchhain-based platforms, especially with its ability to process smart contracts which can modified to perform several functions. The platform processes a very high number of transactions and contracts daily and has an extremely impressive market cap in the cryptocurrency sphere. The Ethereum platform with its ability to process smart contracts and perform other functions apart from transactions is known as Blockchain 2.0 in the timeline of blockchain evolution. In this year, the LINUX Umbrella Corporation also revealed a project of open source blockchain which they called Hyperledger, an application which seeks to facilitate cross industry collaboration for the development of blockchain and distributed ledgers. 2018 Till Date In the three years between 2015 and 2018, blockchain technology witnessed an unprecedented level of growth and acceptance. New companies all over the world have cropped up, leveraging the unique opportunities presented by blockchain technology to solve a lot of problems. A lot of old companies have also joined the trend, incorporating blockchain technology into their operations in different ways. Some of the new applications of the blockchain technology include Monero Zcash and Dash, two blockchain platforms that focus primarily on solving the security and scalability issues associated with other platforms. Other applications include IOTA, the application off blockchain technology to the development of the Internet of Things. It seeks to improve the IoT by providing a cryptocurrency that is optimized for the IoT environment. This new applications are collectively known as Blockchain 3.0 in the timeline of blockchain evolution. It is obvious that as time goes on we will continue to see even more varied applications of blockchain technology, not all of them beneficial, but no less interesting.