Blockchain technology which gained recognition with the emergence of Bitcoin, a virtual currency, in 2008 and has remained on the agenda since then, is an important invention that might completely transform the digital universe and all related sectors. On the other hand, it is logical in theory but not very functional in practice. It can be described as a kind of registration system.
The first common misconception about this technology is that it originated in 2008 and was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the technology in question started to be addressed before the internet, and the theoretical foundations of the subsystems necessary for its implementation became widespread. Blockchain, first mentioned in 1976, refers to recording each transaction on a decentralised network structure built on the logic of peer-to-peer sharing. Instead of any central authority or a single repository, it is a shared ledger of information bundles updated and linked across all participants.
Based on the idea that data is available to all users simultaneously instead of being stored in single or several centres, blockchain offers advantages such as preserving data more securely and making it difficult to change. At this point, again, a common misconception is that it is impossible to change the data. However, in the words of Satoshi Nakamoto, who led this technology to be well-known to large masses through Bitcoin, changing data depends on CPU power and the fact that more than half of the users are well-intentioned. So, yes, the fact that the users in the system are honest people is directly proportional to the reliability of the data.
This technology, a chain created by articulating information blocks containing the data in the previous block, called blockchain, offers many possible advantages due to its underlying logic and potential. However, like all existing technological tools, no technology is independent of the preferences and qualitative characteristics of the people who will use that technology, regardless of its structural features and potential.
Download the Discussion Paper