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The Blockchain discussion.
murchr
#1 Posted : Monday, February 19, 2018 2:54:00 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,979
Well, its the buzzing technology of the moment, i've looked everywhere in Wazua to see if there's any thread on blockchain technology (not bitcoin) and I found none. So how about we share what we know or think we do know.

What is Block Chain Technology?

Blockchain is a decentralized database system. Ledgers that store transaction data, are distributed across many nodes. Its the technology that enables Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be exchanged. Invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto(not a known person, could be a group of people or just a pseudo) as a transaction ledger for Bitcoin.

On a fundamental level, a blockchain is simply:

A distributed ledger that prevents users from illegitimately editing past entries or counting the same object twice.
A decentralized solution that avoids awarding system control to any small group of actors.

Types of blockchain platforms:

A) Public
Anyone in the world can read, anyone in the world can send transactions to and expect to see them included if they are valid, and anyone can participate in the consensus process for determining what blocks get added to the chain and what the current state is.


B) Private
Blockchain where write permissions are kept Centralized to one organization. Read permissions may be public or restricted to an arbitrary extent. Likely applications include database management, auditing, etc internal to a single company, and so public readability may not be necessary in many cases at all

C) Consortium (combi of both)
Blockchain where the consensus process is controlled by a pre-selected set of nodes; for example, one might imagine a consortium of 8 financial institutions, each of which operates a node and of which 5 must sign every block in order for the block to be valid.
The right to read the blockchain may be public, or restricted to the participants.

So the big question, what problem is blockchain technology trying to solve?

It is well known that for any new technology to succeed, it must solve an existing problem 10X more than the next available solution.

Bitcoin was created to solve the problem of govts printing fiat money so as to bail out struggling economies.

What stands out (for me) is the proof of ownership aspect in blockchain technology which is could be great in tracking transfer of property such as land, shares, cars, contracting services etc without the risk of editing documentation as it is currently. The tracking of unique digital assets on a decentralized ledger is a very big plus, however.. looking at the private and consortium types of blockchain technology, dont they look like centralized databases with shared rights?

Again what is blockchain technology solving?

"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
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Ash Ock
#2 Posted : Monday, February 19, 2018 11:57:52 AM
Rank: Member


Joined: 8/27/2010
Posts: 495
Location: Nairobi
We can start off with land fraud in .ke:

African startups bet on blockchain to tackle land fraud

Then we have companies like VeChain (VEN) and Walton (WTC) which are using blockchain to tackle the counterfeiting market.

VeChain, for example, has partnered with PwC and DNL GL:

DNV GL partners with blockchain expert VeChain to increase transparency from the factory to the consumer

This partnership would help KEBS tackle the problems with counterfeits from everything from medicines to spares: Spare parts firms jostle for space with counterfeits

Voting: Blockchain for voting and elections

The uses of the blockchain are many. It's just to see if our government is interested in stopping the gravy train of corruption.
Sent from my Black Nokia 3310
murchr
#3 Posted : Monday, February 19, 2018 7:13:23 PM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,979
Agreed @Ash Ock....but beyond solving property ownership/distribution trust issues, what else stands out for Blockchain technology?
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
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Cornelius Vanderbilt
#4 Posted : Tuesday, February 20, 2018 1:15:59 PM
Rank: Member


Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 817
NOT TO throw cold water on a nice thread but please not that there has never been any practical application of blockchain in the world for the last 10 years. ni hayo tu kwa sasa
Ash Ock
#5 Posted : Thursday, February 22, 2018 1:23:35 PM
Rank: Member


Joined: 8/27/2010
Posts: 495
Location: Nairobi
Cornelius Vanderbilt wrote:
NOT TO throw cold water on a nice thread but please not that there has never been any practical application of blockchain in the world for the last 10 years. ni hayo tu kwa sasa


"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

Cornelius, we're at the beginning.

murchr wrote:
Agreed @Ash Ock....but beyond solving property ownership/distribution trust issues, what else stands out for Blockchain technology?


Here's a good article: 35 Amazing Real World Examples Of How Blockchain Is Changing Our World


Sent from my Black Nokia 3310
Mike Ock
#6 Posted : Thursday, February 22, 2018 2:22:15 PM
Rank: Member


Joined: 1/22/2015
Posts: 682
Cornelius Vanderbilt wrote:
NOT TO throw cold water on a nice thread but please not that there has never been any practical application of blockchain in the world for the last 10 years. ni hayo tu kwa sasa

Illegal business was once thriving on the Silk Road marketplace. This thing can be good for dodgy African businessmen. Though cash is simpler in that respect
Mukiri
#7 Posted : Monday, February 26, 2018 1:46:29 PM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 7/11/2012
Posts: 5,222
A good place to start would be at a personal level. We are all inherently selfish and would like to know what it can do for me, before 'do for us'!

Key questions, as someone brought up a pre-computer age quote.
What computer resources are needed? Hardware and software.. Do you need a super computer or some cutting edge software?
What (new) knowledge is needed as an end user? Is it like Oracle where you need to know basic programming language?
Internet is the closest thing.... How does it compare? Maybe with internet you can begin to understand blockchain. Can you have one without the other?
Coins, tokens, contracts... what is the link between the 'money' bit and the development bit? Do we need the money bit?

Proverbs 19:21
deadpoet
#8 Posted : Tuesday, March 20, 2018 3:57:06 PM
Rank: Member


Joined: 9/27/2006
Posts: 496
A blockchain taskforce was recently formed in the country:

https://www.businessdail...3074-gjwgqnz/index.html

Now is a good time to start looking at some viable applications, especially since some kind of fund may be in the works.
Swenani
#9 Posted : Tuesday, March 20, 2018 4:31:07 PM
Rank: User


Joined: 8/15/2013
Posts: 13,236
Location: Vacuum
With my limited and primitive understanding of blockchain, I think it can be useful in property/land registries nd maybe in voting-maveges can expound on this-, verifying payments etc only if the energy and time taken to verify a transaction is improved.

If Obiero did it, Who Am I?
aemathenge
#10 Posted : Saturday, March 31, 2018 2:22:59 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 10/18/2008
Posts: 3,434
Location: Kerugoya
Mukiri wrote:
A good place to start would be at a personal level.

We are all inherently selfish and would like to know what it can do for me, before 'do for us'!


Precisely.

In my world we create blog posts and online articles for a fee.

The lowest fee goes as low as Kshs. 200 per 500 words while the average is Kshs. 500 per 500 words.

You can therefore imagine my surprise when a visiting Mzungu offered Kshs. 5,000 for a 1,500 word article about corruption in Kenya and blockchain technology as a solution.

This was apparently after he attended the World Blockchain Summit here in Nairobi on 22 and 23 March 2018 and was disappointed that the topic was not adequately covered yet Kenia is festering with corruption.

I had to read a lot of mathogothanio about blockchain before I could come up with a coherent article.

As such, yes it is what is in it for me rather than what it can do for us.

By the way, you can read the article here (link)
murchr
#11 Posted : Monday, September 02, 2019 7:17:37 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,979
We celebrate all Kenyans making it big out there.

Congratulations Margaret Nyamumbo

www.forbes.com/sites/meg...n-that-deserves-the-buzz
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
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