Have you ever tried explaining blockchain technology to a friend? With all the industry jargon it can be a bit confusing. In its most simple form, a blockchain is a peer to peer network and a database (public ledger).

Did you know that public ledgers have been used for centuries? Blockchain is essentially a more advanced digital version.

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Stephen Kendal is an advocate of blockchain technology & the applications the tech has for global financial markets and in particular the effects on derivatives & global trade.

Kendal recently wrote an article on Steemit.com detailing a great explanation for blockchain using old fashioned public ledgers:

IT’S JUST A DATABASE

Once you have managed to fix someone’s attention on a Database being nothing more than a digital list of records it is easily then to explain that this digital list of records is no different than the old fashioned written/typed ledger that were around before computers.

By simply breaking it down into bite sized chucks most people will be able to keep up.

Now that they are thinking of a written/typed ledger explain to them that in some occasions these ledgers were made public for everyone to see.

By simply referring back to the old fashioned Public Ledger that have been around for Centuries for the ones that struggle to understand what Blockchain is this is where you have to take them.

Now that they are focused on this old fashioned Public Ledger you are getting close to seal the deal and finally explain what Blockchain is.

PUT THE TWO TOGETHER

Having now explained and focusing their mind on Databases and Public Ledgers simply tell them to put the two together.

At this point you simply say that Blockhain is nothing more than a generic name for a Digital Distributed Public Ledger and is in essence a Database that is shared identically across a network of computers.

Read the full post on Steemit.com

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.