Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the most disruptive technologies of the present time. And, like any similar phenomenon, it is overgrown with myths and false information that can confuse a newcomer trying to understand it. We’ve read Melanie Swan’s book “Blockchain. Blueprint for a new economy” and will try to tell you about the 3 most popular myths and misconceptions.
Will all information in the nodes be stored forever? Answer: very unlikely. Indeed, each client of the network stores information about all transactions carried out without exception. For example, information about the history of Ethereum transactions takes up more than 200 GB, and this number is growing exponentially. It is believed that the amount of data in a few decades will be so large that it will not fit on the storage disks, because informational progress is faster than a technical one And sooner or later you will have to use online servers exclusively.
Blockchain will destroy conventional currency. Answer: if something destroys it, then it will definitely not be a blockchain. If each network client simultaneously processes the same operation, then the throughput of the entire network is equal to the throughput of one node. And this is negligible compared to flexible and scalable banking systems.
Blockchain decentralization guarantees 100% security. Answer: yes, but actually no (in theory). Computing power is unevenly distributed around the world. For example, about 80% of bitcoin miners are located in China, and most of them are not independent guys with video cards in the garage, but large associations. Theoretically speaking, having seized power over most of the computing power of the world (and since it is located in one country, this makes the task easier), an attacker (by an attacker we mean more than one hacker in a balaclava, of course, we are talking more about special services) can arrange the so-called a 51% attack by rewriting a decisive amount of information about their own transactions. But nothing like this has happened before, and an operation of such magnitude will not go unnoticed (which will lead to immediate countermeasures from the entire crypto community), so it’s safe to say that the blockchain is secure.
