Here is a Closer look at Ethereum
Determined to disrupt cumbersome traditions in the world of money matters, Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym) gave birth to the idea of Bitcoin through a whitepaper in 2008, but officially released the virtual currency on the 3rd of January, 2009. And so was born a cryptocurrency, characterized by lack of influence or control by government organs or central authorities like Central banks. Going forward, thanks to blockchain technology on which Bitcoin runs, transactions would be anonymous, instant, and cross-border. Value would then be stored and transferred, as though governments and banks didn’t exist — no more security checks, no more exorbitant transaction fees, no more delays, no one bothers whether you are sending or receiving either small or huge amounts, and simply put, no one sniffs around your life!
But while Bitcoin sounded like the true meaning of ‘freedom at last’, it did not progress to advance the world of innovations, and by and large, it has remained a system of payment. Six years later (2015), Ethereum — a distributed public blockchain — entered the market with further disruptions. And at the very core of Ethereum is to do away with third parties on the internet, especially those involved with data storage, mortgage transfers, and tracking of complex financial transactions.
In this regard, Ethereum blockchain has become very instrumental in the development of various programs or decentralized applications, otherwise known as smart contracts. Simply put, Ethereum smart contracts are computer codes or nodes that have taken the place of servers and clouds. While just like Bitcoin network the Ethereum network has a cryptocurrency known as Ether, it goes beyond exchanging monetary value to facilitating the exchange of value in other forms like shares, properties, and content. The upside of this blockchain technology therefore becomes the execution of functions in the exact manner they have been programmed, with zero chances of alterations or interference by any third parties or fraudsters.
To make this experience a reality in every form or manner of life, Ethereum blockchain allows developers thousands of different kinds of applications, thanks to the Ethereum Virtual Machine that runs on Turing complete language. That is to say while Bitcoin was written using C++, Ethereum relies on 7 different programming languages.
Talking about apps, many of those you choose and use are usually governed by third parties, and as such your personal information is easily accessed and used by other companies without your say whatsoever. Such data could include your credit card information, personal data, purchasing history, and so on. This kind of information can either be maintained or curated, or in some instances be even censored. What Ethereum apps will be doing is to transfer the power to control data back to the owner, and protect authors’ rights to creative or intellectual properties. In other words, no longer shall single entities have monopoly over data, without your express consent.
Industries already making Headways with Ethereum Blockchain Apps
Many tasks that could otherwise call for the use of multiple intermediaries have been automated using Ethereum smart contracts across various industries, as highlighted in the following use cases:
1. Financial Sector and Prediction Markets: sluggish systems continue to bedevil the banking industry, with basic transactions taking hours or days to be confirmed, especially in global interbank transfers that have often relied on the SWIFT system, among others. Ethereum-based blockchain solutions like Branche, ICONOMI, and Augur, allow for faster processes with higher returns for investors, as well as prediction tools for events in the real world, translating to profits if predictions turn out correct
2. Real Estate: the idea here is to use smart contracts to neutralize the conflicts involving payments, mortgage contracts, liens, and privacy concerns that strain relationships between lenders and borrowers — Rex, Chainy and Trust Stamp are good examples here. This way, users will also do away with hidden fees which characterize other platforms in the course of listing and searching for properties.
3. Music and Entertainment: with Ethereum based technologies, the media and entertainment industry is overcoming copyright challenges, payment and sharing of revenue difficulties, as well as tracking of online sales and downloads. Platforms to consider here include Ujor, Peertracks, Beyond the Void, Firstblood, VDice, Akasha, and Etherplay.
Benefits of Ethereum Decentralized AppsTo appreciate why you may want to
build your own decentralized app (dApp), you need to remember that they all run on blockchain technology, and as such they cannot by altered by third parties (immutability), cannot be censored because of the consensus principle that makes them corruption and tamper proof, are secured through cryptography, and that they enjoy zero downtown, because never will the apps ever go down or be switched off. But building your own dApps will no longer be an uphill task, thanks to platforms such as
dApp Builder, which allows uses to customize prebuilt smart contracts and deploy them on Ethereum blockchain instantly. Ultimately, the iBuildApp marketplace will be used to distribute dApps to mobile devices.
Read Morehttps://medium.com/ethereum-dapp-builder/here-is-a-closer-look-at-ethereum-7193439a3510
