Author name: @nobumei (https://twitter.com/nobu_mei)
<aside> 💡 The first thing you will learn is “what is blockchain”, the underlying technology of Web 3.0.
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When you start studying Web 3.0, you will certainly encounter the term "blockchain”. This is because the Web 3.0 industry was originally called the blockchain industry, which was rebranded as "Web 3.0" around late 2021.
Although there are some differences in definition, it is safe to say that the Web 3.0 industry = the blockchain industry, and this book treats them as the same. In Chapter 1, we are going to study blockchain technology, which is the core technology of Web 3.0, and Bitcoin, which created it.
What is blockchain? When you are trying to learn about the meaning of this term and technology, the first action you will probably take is to do a Google search. Here are the results of the actual search.
Search results for keyword "blockchain”
A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, and oftentimes public, digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that are used to record transactions.
Perhaps anyone who can understand the essence of this technology with only this is a genius. No one will be able to understand what the technology can do with blockchain after this explanation.
As you continue your search, you will be exposed to unfamiliar terms such as "crypto currency, P2P, DeFi, NFT, DAO, smart contract," which make it difficult to understand the true nature of blockchain technology.
Some people also have the perception that “blockchain = crypto currency ≈ suspicious, dangerous, gambling”. Certainly, crypto currency is one of the examples of what can be achieved with blockchain technology, but many people have not updated their image of the crypto currency bubble when it became very popular.
In this section, we will understand the essence of blockchain technology properly.
I know this is a bit of a long introduction, but to answer the simple question, "What can blockchain do after all?" The simple answer is: "Blockchain is a technology that prohibits copying”.
This may not seem very clear to you, so I will explain.
■The essence of blockchain in a simple word
I would like to remind you again that the Internet until now has been a culture where being able to copy and paste was an ordinary thing. The Internet has made it possible to copy and paste digital data, so that information can be spread around the world as quickly as possible.
Blockchain is a technology that prohibits copy-and-paste capabilities empowered by the Internet.
Now, what would happen if copy-and-paste of digital data became prohibited?
■It’s a natural fact that digital data can be copied
For example, consider the case of a digital drawing. Since copy-and-paste is a common thing on the Internet , anyone can copy what you have created and increase the amount. It can be freely copied and supplied without limit, so if someone asks for that data, you can give them a copy of the data as long as you own the data.
If copy-pasting is not possible due to copy-protection technology, when someone asks for the data and you give it to someone else, the data that belonged to you will be lost because it cannot be copied. In the case of data you don't want to lose, you may ask for a price for the data, like "I can give it to you, but since my data will be lost, please give me 100 bucks.” This change is due to the fact that the amount of data supplied was determined by the copy protection technology.