Edward Snowden Explains Blockchain to His Lawyer — and the Rest of Us

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

Well, I don't know what I think of this guy, Snowden, but in this article he breaks down blockchain and makes sense of it.  He touches on Bitcoin along the way to show how it fits into all of the hype.  It's a good read, if you have the time and give a hoot!

Edward Snowden Explains Blockchain to His Lawyer — and the Rest of Us

(Excerpt)

ES: It’s basically just a new kind of database. Imagine updates are always added to the end of it instead of messing with the old, preexisting entries — just as you could add new links to an old chain to make it longer — and you’re on the right track. Start with that concept, and we’ll fill in the details as we go.

BW: Okay, but why? What is the question for which blockchain is the answer?

ES: In a word: trust. Imagine an old database where any entry can be changed just by typing over it and clicking save. Now imagine that entry holds your bank balance. If somebody can just arbitrarily change your balance to zero, that kind of sucks, right? Unless you’ve got student loans.