With the advent of modern technology, in providing effective solutions, to everyday challenges, blockchain appears, to have risen in providing swift changes.
This, notwithstanding, however, technology is, not a remedy to all challenges.
There are always two sides to a coin and for all concepts, there has to be ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.
Blockchain has impacted, positively, in the way things are done around the globe, especially, in the financial transaction space.
It is, not all a perfect technology, when its ‘cons’, are weighed, alongside with its ‘pros’
Blockchain has its own limitations. It is, therefore, a good thing, to have a clear comprehension, of how to apply the technology, or, if possible, not applying it all.
Here are the common blockchain myths that you need to debunk:
Blockchain Is ‘Tamper-proof’
Blockchain transactions appear, to be tamper-proof, or, immutable because, their data structure, suggests that, data cannot be removed, but only added.
Participants, on the blockchain network, can reverse transactions on it, so, the narrative about being tamper-proof, or, immutable, is not true.
In theory, blocks comprising transactions can get reversed, if a significant number of nodes collude.
In a permission blockchain, transaction reversal could be, easily, done, compared to a public blockchain and this would require a high computation power and some crypto funds.
This is, however, not rampant, as “permissioned” blockchain users, do have a legal agreement, which requires that, they dis-incentivize any form of collusion.
Blockchain Is ‘Trustless’
Blockchain technology, to some extent, has helped to re-shape the trust issue, however, one cannot, ultimately, put all trust into it.
In the underlying cryptography, trust must be placed, at the bare minimum and for a permissioned network, the validators and operators must have trust.
With a good configuration, permissioned blockchain, can offer, being ‘trust-minimising’, such that, it allows participants, to validate transactions independently, alongside the verification of the state of the system.
If well configured, permissioned Blockchain is, at best ‘trust-minimizing’, in the sense that, they enable participants to, independently, validate transactions and verify the state of the system.
Blockchain Is ‘Truth Machine’
Blockchain works best, when it is used for the transfer of assets, native to its respective crypto, (e.g., bitcoin).
It does not, however, have access, to determine, whether an input from the ‘outside world’, is accurate, or, not.
Note that, if these inputs are inaccurate, blockchain, will simply treat it, as any other average input, thus, considering all the input transfers, as valid, provided specific conditions are satisfied.
If an ‘off-chain’, data source is, presented on a blockchain, a need, now arises, for a trusted third party, not only to verify, but to guarantee the accuracy of any input, or, data, going into the blockchain.
Blockchain Is 100% Secure
This is perhaps the most common of the blockchain myths and It is quite an illusion, to believe that, blockchain guarantees you 100% security support.
The technology employs the use of cryptography, for authentication, however, this does not translate to the system, being more secure.
Though the system, may show more resilience, during the distribution of data storage, however, compromising the private keys, of certain network participants, may grant attackers access, to a shared database, most especially, the ability to make a reversal on your transaction history.
There has, also, been discussions, around the belief referred to as , “51% attack”, on blockchain transactions, where some malicious nodes can, automatically, cause double-spending, a result that can wreak havoc, to the transaction.
Do know other blockchain myths that wanst mentioned in this article, let us know in the comment section below.
Featured Image: akeo.tech
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