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"The blockchain method primarily used by those engaging in cryptocurrency transactions is a decentralized mechanism where all the information is stored in blocks, can be viewed and altered by registered users. In the case of Sierra Leone elections, allows the votes to be seen by voters who are registered within the system, in the public ledgers, but only allowed authorized persons to make any changes, this, in turn, prevents the chances of fraud since the voting information is available to all the blockchain users."
I would personally like it if they would explain the mechanics of their so-called "blockchain" to us mortals.
As I understand a blockchain, it is an extensible data structure that (when used in a bitcoin context) incorporates sequentially applied, recursively structured self-referential checksum mechanisms to counter efforts at tampering with the contents of the blocks; usually, via recursive encryption.
~childo
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday March 16 2018, @12:42AM (2 children)
But it only accounts for a tiny, tiny fraction of currency transactions that go on in the world. For it to become practical as a non-niche mechanism, is has to scale up enormously.
Elections probably aren't so bad, though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @01:33AM
The Bitcoin blockchain should be used to settle a snapshot of the world's transaction history.
The actual transactions should take place "off-chain", by other means, such as the decentralized Lightening Network.
It's not helpful to be able to verify your coffee purchase for all time; however, it is helpful to be able to verify the coffee purchases of 1 million people, etc.
Furthermore, "off-chain" solutions will improve privacy: An individual's transaction history is obscured, because only the aggregate is ultimately stored for all time in the blockchain.
(Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Friday March 16 2018, @03:44PM
That was precisely my point, I was agreeing with the above comment that blockchain size is an issue. I added the line about the fact that we are only to 160GB to show that even the most used and abused crypto the world has ever seen has a blockchain that fits in a SD card. Obviously scaling is important, but bitcoin is orders of magnitude from being truly unmanageable yet, and it already inconveniently large.