Xinhua News Agency asked the blockchain: Will it become a new outlet? Is it subversive?

Every new technology is born with a question mark, and the evolution of new technology often does not write a full stop.

The process of asking the blockchain is the process of understanding the blockchain. In an era where the unknown is greater than the known, face the future.

Question 1: Will the blockchain become a new outlet?

The blockchain is in the ascendant, and it is receiving support from the government and the market, policies and funds. It is also called a new enthusiasm by some insiders, but many viewpoints tend to be consistent: in the current stage of its early development, on the one hand Open attitude, developmental vision; on the other hand, we need to be alert to capital market speculation.

“The blockchain does surpass the previous ICT in some respects. In the past, the advantage of the Internet was that it transmitted information efficiently, and the information could be copied and pasted and spread to multiple times. But just as a sum of money can only be transferred to one person at a time. The 'value' of money is obviously only one-way, single-point transmission, so the traditional Internet is not good at transmitting value," said Yu Jianing, director of the Industrial Economic Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"The blockchain solves the complete, real and unique problems in the value transmission process to a certain extent, reduces the risk of value transmission, improves the transmission efficiency, and thus fits the current upgrade of 'information Internet' to 'value Internet'." Jianing also said.

At present, the blockchain is in the early stage of development, and it has the property of passing value. It also attracts some of the activities that are not focused on the technology itself, but are keen on the so-called ICO (first-time coin issue) and so on. Not good for its long-term development. In September 2017, the 7th Department issued the “Announcement on Preventing the Risk of Subsidy Issuance Financing”, which refers to the behavior of token financing that has grown wildly.

"At present, most of the application of blockchain is still only an idea. In this period, we must be especially vigilant about excessive speculation in the capital market," said Zhang Wei, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University.

Industry forecasts, blockchain development will be divided into three phases: 1.0 version of the digital currency for Bitcoin; version 2.0 is the industrial blockchain stage, combined with industry, commerce, transactions, etc.; version 3.0 It is combined with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and so on.

Question 2: Is the blockchain subversive?

The Internet is a great revolution. Since its birth, it has constantly refreshed its imagination and transformed the world. For the emergence of the blockchain, some people say that an era of true trust has been opened. Some people say that an era of subversive centralization has been opened. Some people even call the Internet before the blockchain the classical Internet.

"It should be seen that the Internet itself is improving its functions and iteratively upgrading." Yu Jianing said that blockchain technology can solve the problem of long-standing Internet data disorder, inaccurate identification, lack of trust, etc., but blockchain The Internet-based carrier is still solving credit problems through technological changes. Through the "transaction of the chain", the efficient transfer of value on the Internet.

"The so-called subversion is relative, and decentralization is also relative. The blockchain comes with decentralization and de-intermediation. It will give the logistics, supply chain, finance, traceability and other fields with trust problems and information tampering risks. The opportunity to change will have an impact on some third-party trading, credit, verification and other platforms, but even under the decentralization framework, practical credit media and carriers are needed to set up and enrich the application scenarios. The next step is to look at the blocks. The application and development of all aspects of the chain," said Zhang Chao, executive director of the China QR Code Registration and Certification Center.

"Whether it is from the development of human society or the Internet, if a technology can reduce costs and improve efficiency, it will naturally achieve the survival of the fittest and bring about disruptive effects." Zhang Wei said, but the blockchain technology itself is still Not mature enough, such as generating blocks for a long time, large storage scale, etc. In the future, it depends on whether the calculation speed, encryption method, infrastructure construction, etc. have made breakthroughs.

At the beginning of the development of the blockchain, on the one hand, the market needs to be fully brewed, and on the other hand, it needs the guidance of the government. “The blockchain may pose some challenges to current laws and regulations, especially in the financial sector. We don’t have to anticipate its future, but we must do a good job of process supervision,” said Zhang Ye, director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s Information Center.

Question 3: How is the blockchain related to you and me?

The birth of new technologies from the generations of the Internet, the popularity of new applications, falling on ordinary people, the feeling may be more convenient, faster, and safer, and once the infrastructure is built, even the lack of technology exists. For example, e-shopping, mobile payment, etc. have become a necessity in life.

According to the expected application of the blockchain, it will be possible to make cross-border shopping faster, reduce transaction risk, reduce piracy, and eliminate the need for a series of cumbersome personal proofs, while blockchain and industrial Internet, Internet of Things, The integration of artificial intelligence and the like will be worth looking forward to.

Blockchain creates conditions for the realization of smart contracts. For example, according to the agreement, aircraft delays can be compensated, but implementation requires complicated procedures such as application and review, and smart contracts supported by blockchain can be automatically executed in case of delay. This efficiency gain may completely change the status of contract execution in many areas.

For example, the blockchain may make the sharing economy truly usher in the spring. In the combination with the Internet of Things, after solving the trust problem, each enterprise's plant, equipment, and everyone's car and electric vehicle charging piles can be in the block. Under the chain application, we can share it with confidence and reduce the running cost of the whole society.

History is full of stories about new technologies. In that case, everything depends on the future development. Whether it is the blockchain or the evolution of other technologies, it is full of opportunities and challenges, and it also contains infinite possibilities. For example, in terms of security, many experts have mentioned quantum technology. Although it is still in the research stage, the change brought about by the encryption based on quantum entanglement is destined to be huge and profound.