blockchain

An open, distributed online ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly. Blockchain makes bitcoin transactions secure, reliable, and anonymous. It has powerful authentication features that are being used to create a new generation of Internet technologies that could prove impervious to hackers and protect our web-browsing data from GAFA.

Think of it as a digital ledger, in that we can actually "have a look at the blockchain and see evidence of what's going on." Blocks are individual transactions or records that are strung together on a single list called a chain. Commonly used to refer to digital currencies like bitcoin, it can store signatures and intellectual property too, as is the case with NFT.

Historical perspective: The real game changer isn’t bitcoin, it’s the technology underpinning it which is blockchain. In the future, we might all be using a blockchain-based Internet superior to the broken web we use as of 2018.

In December 2017, when Nasdaq threatened to delist an unprofitable New York–based iced-tea company, the owners settled on an unorthodox plan. On Dec. 21, the Long Island Iced Tea Corp. became the Long Blockchain Corp. Overnight, its market cap nearly tripled to $70 million. In October, Colorado biotech company Bioptix became Riot Blockchain and instantly saw its valuation double. Weeks later, On-Line PLC, a U.K. provider of stock market data, rebranded as On-Line Blockchain PLC; its shares leaped nearly 400 percent. Furniture companies, cigar manufacturers, and sports-bra firms are also rebranding to cash in on the cryptocurrency craze, which as of 2021, now includes NFTs. 

For an in-depth look at how blockchain can help curb the huge problem of ocean plastic, click on "more info" below!