There was once a popular science entertainment show on American TV called The Mythbusters. In one of their episodes dedicated to the Star Wars series, the crew tested whether, in real life, Luke Skywalker or Han Solo would be able to dodge the stormtroopers’ blaster bolts every time they made a run for their lives.
- Myth #1 – Blockchain is still in its infancy stages
- Myth #2 – Blockchain is strictly related to cryptocurrencies
- Myth #3 – Blockchain is the environment’s enemy
- Myth #4 – Blockchain isn’t secure
- Conclusion
A unique experiment was created to evaluate the scene’s likelihood. It included figuring out how fast characters would move depending on the future saga’s aesthetic allusions, their height, or the distance between them and an enemy. Then enough proof was gathered by staging a fictitious blaster combat. The outcome? In reality, none of the adored Star Wars characters would ever be able to flee the enemy’s laser fire.
The Mythbusters frequently used home-made experiments in their program to investigate pop culture allusions, imitate feats from well-known Hollywood films, and confirm online claims. But the majority of their research was based on cutting-edge technological innovations and sound data science from physics, chemistry, and arithmetic. The two primary hosts were skilled creators of spectacular effects who used comedy to dispel misconceptions. (results that cannot be verified), conceivable (possible under specific conditions), or certain (thus verifiable).
Since The Mythbusters program hasn’t been on broadcast for a while, we decided to debunk four popular blockchain fallacies on our own.
Myth 1: Blockchain technology is still in its infancy.
It doesn’t mean something can’t alter the world just because it’s novel or hasn’t been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, we must first consider what the term “blockchain” actually means in this context.
It is essentially a decentralized database of everything that can be recorded and updated instantly. Sound a little hazy to you? Let’s then dissect this concept even further in order to comprehend its underlying principles.
It’s accurate to say that anytime we discuss blockchain, we frequently think about cryptocurrency. But 20 to 25 years had passed since the creation of the blockchain idea until Satoshi Nakamoto made Bitcoin popular in 2008.
Since then, a significant amount of improvement has been made. The market value of cryptocurrency was $2.2 trillion as of April 2022. “At least 1,000 blockchains with at least four different types of blockchain networks” and “12,000 active cryptocurrencies” exist. These figures are still increasing.
Furthermore, more than 20 nations have investigated blockchain applications to date, with Japan accepting Bitcoin as payment.
Myth #2: Only cryptocurrencies are involved with blockchain technology.
The technology’s initial use was in a cryptocurrency, as was already mentioned. And the fintech sector continues to be where most solutions are used. Additionally, studies predict that by 2026, the global blockchain market would be worth $67.4 billion.
Slowly but surely, traditional banks are beginning to support it. This is the case with a collaboration effort between Bankhaus von der Heydt, one of the first owner-managed private banks in Germany, and 21finance, a provider of digital software solutions based in Luxembourg. Through this mutually advantageous partnership, the digital marketplace of 21finance gains a banking service, and the bank’s product offering is increased to include a digital platform that enables its clients to trade tokenized securities, for example.
While Smart Valor, one of the first businesses to adopt tokenization and DeFi (decentralized Finance), is partnering with Future Processing, the latter company is working with the former. Through the use of a blockchain-based technology, the effort aims to change the financial industry.
One industry where blockchain has the potential to improve data exchange security between linked devices is IoT (Internet of Things). Since these papers deal with potentially sensitive information, our future identification cards, certificates, and licenses could also profit from its encryption capabilities. Similar to this, its use in healthcare might enable a quicker transfer of patient data while keeping anonymity.
Companies involved in the global food supply chain, like Nestle, have already started using it to monitor the quality of their products, cut down on contamination, and get rid of substandard produce wherever feasible. Blockchain technology makes it simple to track inefficiencies and quality non-compliance for any manufacturing or supply chain-dependent organization.
Additionally, Future Processing recently worked on the Smart Steel project with Fortaco Group, a global supplier of cabins and steel components for large machines. Its goal was to reframe how people may acquire verified data on the lifespan of a component. It was our responsibility to assess the project’s viability, provide a solution design, and create technical documentation. We determined that blockchain technology was an appropriate solution after doing a business study to comprehend the issue, and we were able to maximize its potential
Even sectors of the economy that focus on “niceties” as opposed to “necessities” have joined the “explorers’ club”. With transactions based on blockchain technology, the entertainment sector is now seeing an NFT boom, particularly in the music industry.
Last but not least, the non-profit industry is also quite interested in learning about the advantages of blockchain. Donations in bitcoin are presently accepted by charities including Save The Children and UNICEF. the NGO sector wants to go a step further and discover strategies for more effectively allocating funds raised. The idea of “smart contracts that offer opportunities for businesses to embed giving into their organizations and help charities raise money” has even been considered in one project.
Myth #3: Blockchain is bad for the environment
Recent months have seen a lot of negative news for blockchain because of this.
It’s partly the fault of the fundamental idea. Blockchain requires electricity to run the computers on which it is hosted because it only exists in the digital realm. Because the system is decentralized, blockchain mainly relies on complicated computer calculations (known as mining), which in turn need energy, to prove each transaction. plenty of it.
The following are some staggering figures that cannot be disregarded in a world where we are debating whether to return to trains instead of airplanes and where lamenting the rising cost of power is the new favorite topic of conversation at dinner. Although optimistic for future projects, the rising demand for blockchain also contributes to those startling energy usage figures.
Although optimistic for future projects, the rising demand for blockchain also contributes to those startling energy usage figures.
It is highly known among the cryptocurrency community. Similar to how the aviation industry is working to improve things by utilizing sustainable, plant-based fuels and carbon offsets, blockchain developers spend time and money increasing the effectiveness of the technology and lowering its carbon footprint. The Crypto Climate Accord’s voluntary objective is to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2040.
The blockchain implementations of SolarCoin (SLR) and Harmony (which has its own money called ONE) are both more environmentally friendly.
The first one, as its name suggests, promotes the usage of renewable energy. Users must provide documentation demonstrating their ability to produce Megawatt-hours using solar technology. They then receive 1 SLR for every hour and may trade it like any other cryptocurrency.The opposite side is the NFT market. On the Harmony platform, which is largely built on the Ethereum ecosystem, one of the major blockchains, we have ONE, which builds a bridge between artists and NFTs. It is distinctive because it has excellent scaling potential and makes use of the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) method.
Myth #4: Blockchain technology isn’t secure
Let’s first admit a fundamental truth: anything that is digital is inherently hackable. Therefore, it is not important whether or not the blockchain’s door is sealed so securely that no one can open it. Instead, the issues are with how securely that door is protected and how fast the system responds to a potential breach and shuts the door once again. This is how it goes.
Compared to centralized systems, public decentralized systems (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum) offer a distinct benefit. They demand collaboration. There is a greater probability that someone may find a mistake or an unexpected event the more users who examine the result.
The principle of consensus is also crucial. It cannot be legitimate if even one user renders the transaction invalid.
Additionally, the whole system’s architecture ensures data security. Blocks can only be added or removed. A new block is created when a new piece of information is introduced without erasing the previous one. A block cannot be deleted by anybody, not even the system administrator. Every transaction is therefore supported by proof, making fraud harder.
It should go without saying that various aspects of blockchain operations can be compromised. But they have nothing to do with how secure the technology is. Data transmission between separate networks may be compromised since blockchain runs in an internet context. Since phishing efforts have become more frequent in recent years, the human component may potentially be at play in this situation. So, as we all know, it’s crucial to safeguard yourself against these potential dangers. similar to how we would in any other area of our web presence.
Conclusion
An estimated 85.9% growth rate for blockchain is projected for this decade. It is now a common technology in fintech, rather than a specialized phenomena. Despite certain difficulties and skepticism, we are confident that it will endure.
To guarantee that investors and entrepreneurs, including those outside the innovative financial industry, can fully grasp the technology’s advantages, broader educational initiatives are the only thing that are now required.
It is therefore a great loss that The Mythbusters show is no longer on television. They would undoubtedly contribute to its dissemination through one of their data- and science-driven studies.