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Blockchain is a recent invention. It is still in early stages of its development, and yet a burgeoning new blockchain-related industry is already emerging. Improving the technology, finding new use cases, developing the ecosystem… and of course looking to change the world are some of these new endeavors.



This section is dedicated to exploring different facets of the blockchain and bringing answers to an array of questions one might have - from “Why do we need it” to “How does it work” or “What is it used for”. The structure of Explore descending from general concepts to specific notions, you are welcome to choose your own path according to your interests and go down the rabbit hole. 



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<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-philosophy" class="ek-link">Blockchain philosophy</a></h2>



Why are crypto enthusiasts so enthusiastic? Blockchain is not a trivial technology, but the one that has a potential to change the very way our societies operate. Every organization and every community rely on trusted third parties, responsible for storing and managing data, with all the related risks . Replacing these trusted third parties with a decentralized data handling mechanism would eliminate much of the system’s deficiencies, and that’s exactly what blockchain does. 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin</a></h2>



The very first implementation of the blockchain, Bitcoin was created to solve the deficiencies of the monetary system and replace the so-called fiat money (dependent on Central Banks) with cryptocurrency, a completely independent alternative that runs on a decentralized peer-to-peer network.&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-fundamentals" class="ek-link">Blockchain fundamentals</a></h2>



A blockchain is a collection of technologies and methods that allow gathering data into a ledger, which is stored and updated by the network’s participants (which anyone can become). Data handling is its main role, although it also allows embedding more complex programs and running them in a decentralized way.&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-in-practice" class="ek-link">Blockchain in practice</a></h2>



Most blockchain encounters today are about cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin and many others that have appeared since. However the understanding of the technology becoming increasingly subtle, other blockchain real-world use cases appear, notably with the development of decentralized applications, or Dapps. A developed ecosystem makes these functionalities readily available and opens up previously restricted-access industries, such as finance.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



<h2><a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-regulation" class="ek-link">Crypto regulation</a></h2>



Blockchain and its products are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and our economies, which inevitably attracts the regulators’ attention. This is not a bad thing, though, for the right laws can support the technology and protect its users against related scams. Depending on a country however the attitude varies greatly, from progressive to autocratic. 



<h2>Beginner’s path </h2>



If you do not yet have a clear idea of what it is you would like to explore, let us suggest you a suite of 8 articles that will smoothly introduce you to the world of cryptoassets and Bitcoin in particular: it will help you to understand what it is used for, how it works and some necessary tools allowing to buy some of it.



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-philosophy" class="ek-link">Blockchain philosophy</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/how-does-bitcoin-work" class="ek-link">How does Bitcoin work</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin-mechanism " class="ek-link">Bitcoin mechanism</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockchain-in-practice" class="ek-link">Blockchain in practice</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/blockhain-ecosystem" class="ek-link">Blockchain ecosystem</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-wallets" class="ek-link">Crypto wallets</a>



<a href="https://d.center/explore/crypto-exchanges " class="ek-link">Crypto exchanges</a>

Why do we need the blockchain? Are cryptocurrencies important to the tech? How can decentralization change our lives?



The consice answer is: 



The blockchain has the potential to change the existing balance of power by eliminating trusted third parties. 



Here's what it means.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Trusted third party and its flaws</h2>



 Our societies, economies and institutions are built on trust: we trust Central Banks to maintain our currencies, we trust commercial banks to keep our savings, we trust social media to handle our data, we trust charities to use our donations to do good... All these institutions that centrally manage a flow of data (scriptural money released in the economy or on our account, personal photos, donations) are called trusted third parties. With our lives becoming increasingly digital (e.g. money is just a piece of data stored on bank servers), trusted third parties' influence is growing more and more. 



However, these trusted third parties are managed by humans, and as humans we are subject to mistakes and corruption. Information stored by trusted third parties can be hacked and stolen, its infrastructures can be damaged. A trusted third party controlling our data means that de facto we're no longer in its possession: our savings could be lost when a bank goes bankrupt, our online profile data could be sold against our will...etc



Trusted third parties are the weakest link in any organization - the principle also known as a single point of failure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Blockchain Solution</h2>



The major blockchain's breakthrough is solving the problem of a single point of failure. The blockchain eliminates trusted third parties and replaces them with an [tooltip content="computer code accessible to everyone"]open source protocol[/tooltip] that defines the rules of a trustless data handling. This protocol is run by a multitude of different independent computers all around the world, making the system decentralized. The bigger the blockchain network, the more secure the data it contains. 



Cryptocurrency is an intrinsic part of a blockchain, as it financially incentivizes all those independent computers to participate in the network.



By cutting intermediaries the blockchain allows people to reappropriate their data and be free to dispose of it as they like. Furthermore, in the absence of trusted third parties the data is protected from any intentional or accidental prejudice that these third parties could inflict.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bitcoin</h2>



Bitcoin was the first blockchain implementation, dedicated to the decentralization of the monetary system. 



Classic money,&nbsp;like dollars and euros, are also called fiat money, meaning that they are imposed by the governments who protect Central Banks’ monopoly. Fiat money are not backed by any asset (they are not exchangeable against gold, for example) and the Central Banks can manage their emission as they wish. Fiat money circulation is controlled by commercial banks who keep accounts and validate transactions.



Bitcoin's ambition is to liberate our monetary system and give control over the money to the people who possess it. Bitcoin is the first money ever that does not depend on any organization, that is not imposed upon anyone, and that gets its value from the people who made a choice to use it.



Bitcoin, and the blockchain itself, is a practical implementation of cypherpunks', libertarians' and Austrian economic school's ideas praising the right to privacy and individual freedom, as well as the independent economy. It has the potential to disrupt the society as we know it by making human interactions censorship-resistant and secure.



It is important to note that Bitcoin cannot be dissociated from the blockchain technology, for the mere term "blockchain" has only appeared to describe Bitcoin structure and Bitcoin is the first (and still the most accomplished) implementation of the blockchain.

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 A trustless decentralized environment - &nbsp;can it be the future standard of personal freedom and transparency?&nbsp;



For thousands of years humanity’s only way to organize itself was through centralized structures. More or less complex and more or less representing community members, the decision-taking and data-storing have always been centralized. For obvious reasons - it was the best and the safest organization possible.&nbsp;



With the advent of IT and cryptography another way appeared though. By decentralizing a system according to precise rules embedded into computer code, a trusted third party is no longer needed: the system maintains itself thanks to its members running the code. The data is registered on a digital ledger stored on members’ computers, and a special system makes sure there cannot be any fraudulent inscriptions into this ledger. That’s basically how the blockchain works, and we believe it has the potential to change our very society by bringing in several core principles. &nbsp;



<h2>Personal freedom </h2>







By decentralizing the storage of their data, people do not rely anymore on a third party trusted to handle it honestly and safely. Instead the data is entrusted to the blockchain, while its owner is the only one who can manipulate it thanks to their private key. People can become true owners of their data, whether it’s their savings account or personal information on social media.&nbsp;



<h2>The code is law </h2>







The rules that define blockchain activity cannot be changed without an explicit agreement of its members, who switch to the new protocol version only if they want to. In the absence of a trusted third party no one can change the rules of the game. Hence if <a href="https://d.center/explore/bitcoin" class="ek-link">Bitcoin </a>protocol caps bitcoin emission at around 21M bitcoins, no one can modify it and increase the supply, thus keeping bitcoins scarce (See <a class="ek-link ek-link" href="https://d.center/explore/mining-and-consensus">Bitcoin consensus and mining</a>). It contrasts sharply with  the current economic system, where huge amounts of traditional money are printed on a Central Banks’ whim. Keeping emission rules unchanged assures the cryptocurrency value against 
 fiat money 
 fiduciary money with no intrinsic value dependent on the government and central bank (e.g. dollars and euros are fiat money) 
 .



<h2>Transparency and immutability</h2>



 



The blockchain is transparent by design, enabling anyone to check the entirety of transactions from day one. This transaction history cannot be changed as long as the blockchain is secure. Blockchain transaction can also contain arbitrary data, which becomes immutable once on a blockchain, with a timestamp on it. Such data would be stored as a digital fingerprint called hash, for the sake of size and privacy, and so that data owners could prove their ownership at a particular time (they would be the only one to know data generating this fingerprint). Such decentralized system basically substitutes notaries and other certification third parties, at least for digitized values.



<h2>Security </h2>







The bigger the blockchain network and the longer the blockchain has been in service, the harder it is to hack it. For example, in Bitcoin blockchain that relies on a <a href="https://d.center/explore/proof-of-work" class="ek-link">Proof-of-Work</a> consensus, hacking the blockchain equals gathering a computational power of more than half of its network, which with time grew pretty huge (not to mention buying tons of special hardware for that). Furthermore, since the protocol is 
 open source 
 accessible to everyone
 , the best computer minds of the world are constantly searching for bugs or code mistakes. When it comes to centralized systems, even ingeniously protected ones, a targeted attack has more chances to succeed.