Blockchain is one of the many tech buzzwords making the rounds these days. Most people either love it, hate it or don’t fully understand what it is. I recently wrote this article for the Datamine blog about Blockchain and both its potential uses and drawbacks, and though I think it’s an interesting and useful technology, I don’t see it becoming the go-to data storage/security option in the future. Here’s why.
1. It’s slow
Because a blockchain is an exponentially growing list of records, the computational power required is way more than a traditional computer. This means Blockchain can sometimes be a painfully slow technology (like, 90’s dial-up slow) with issues around latency and low throughput - mainly because it requires a form of ‘voting’ and therefore has to get answers from all the nodes. Many cryptocurrency users have expressed frustration with this drawback, and with 5G on the way and humanity’s attention spans shorter than ever, I reckon this fault alone is enough to knock Blockchain out of the running.
2. It’s overly complex
Blockchain is notoriously complicated (even for tech nerds) and has a very high barrier to entry. In order for it to become widespread and accessible for the masses, there would need to be some major ‘simplifications’ to its processes, enabling less experienced users to more easily understand and make use of it - but of course this could potentially compromise security. It's a catch 22, because the general population is unlikely to jump onto the Blockchain train the way it is now (in terms of complexity), but simplifying it to make it more accessible while also maintaining security also doesn't seem like a viable option.
3. It’s got a bad reputation
As mentioned above, part of Blockchain’s appeal is its security - because the nodes within a chain can’t be retroactively edited or changed, it’s supposed to be a secure and irreversible way of carrying out transactions. Unfortunately, it has therefore ‘fallen into the wrong hands’ before (as useful technologies have a tendency to do), leading to an inherent association between Blockchain and sketchy cryptocurrencies, illegal drugs, the black market and even terrorist groups. Whether or not these associations are legitimate doesn’t matter - the tech’s reputation is in the gutter, and I think getting it out will be hard.
4. There are better technologies out there
As cool as Blockchain is, there are other options for secure data storage, and I’m sure we'll continue to see the emergence of more analytical technologies down the road. One of these up-and-coming techniques is called sharding - it’s a method of splitting up very large databases into smaller segments known as shards. By spreading the data across multiple places, the computing time decreases significantly, as does the cost of storage and computation. There's also a version of this designed for high security called ‘secret key sharding’. The crypto key is split up into shards which are then distributed between different parties, meaning it’s impossible to get access unless everyone with a part of the key is present.
Blockchain will be around for a while, I have no doubt - and Datamine will continue to use it occasionally with our clients. But in terms of a wider view of the future, I don’t believe it will become the governing technology for secure data storage and sharing. Anyone else got thoughts on the future of Blockchain?
