What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a new kind of database that can distribute data to geographically separate servers for storage, whose recorded data cannot be modified or deleted (immutability), and has the ability to continue working even if some servers have been accessed illegally (Byzantine Fault Tolerance).
Data storage units called “blocks” are generated at fixed intervals, characterized by their possession of a data verification model called a consensus algorithm that works across multiple servers. The “miyabi” system developed by bitFlyer is a private blockchain exclusively for enterprise users. Bitcoin, which runs on a public blockchain that anyone can access, was the very first blockchain application. With the introduction of databases requiring extremely high security, it demonstrated its value as a virtual currency by its ability to document figures corresponding to transactions and balances, and its high level of reliability in resisting a variety of attacks to continue operating.
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- Immutability
- All transactions are stored in consecutive blocks. Because those blocks have dependencies, altered transaction data is very easy to detect. As a result, data manipulation becomes effectively impossible.
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- Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)
- When a system has BFT, the whole system continues to work normally if it maintains below a certain number of Byzantine nodes (nodes that do not behave properly due to hardware failure or server hacking).
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- No Single Point of Failure (SPOF)
- A part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working. In non-blockchain systems, master, controller and certificate authorities can be a SPOF. Blockchain has no SPOF.
A blockchain is middleware that operates regardless of server or other infrastructure environment. Blockchain technology can also be broadly divided into two categories: applications and platforms.
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- Blockchain Application
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Blockchain API
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- Blockchain Platform
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On-premises
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Cloud Service
