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This article is an excerpt from "The Layman's Guide to Bitcoin" ( http://amzn.to/2xjMcGI ) by Logan Brutsche which was re-published by (http://investinblockchain.com) after obtaining permission from the author. and I try to rewrite it with my style. Previously apologize for my lack of English, if this article makes you less understood.
Since the beginning of Bitcoin's history, there have been attempts to create another crypto, sometimes called "altcoin". Initially, they offer little innovation, and most are nothing more than a copy of Bitcoin with reinforced parameters. Currently there are hundreds of technically existing, but most of them have almost no market and have faded into unclear, not causing a strong impact on this industry.
Although most of these coins do not innovate, they offer certain insurance: the fate of the crypto-cardiac industry is not entirely dependent on Bitcoin alone-something very exciting given the stagnant issue of the Bitcoin blockerze debate. If Bitcoin stumbles or fails to grow, there is another kripto that is concerned and capable of replacing it.
In recent years, some emergency cryptoes have emerged with tremendous innovation. In some cases, they have jumped beyond what Bitcoin could have done, even at the prototype stage even earlier. Even so, they are demonstrating some interesting applications of blockchain technology.
1. Personal Payment (Zcash, Monero, Dash)
When sending Bitcoin transactions, the network only knows your Bitcoin address. It is therefore possible to have or send a BTC without revealing anything about who you are. But since all of Bitcoin's history is transparently stored, there may be others cross-referencing and getting information about some targeted Bitcoin addresses, possibly finding the identity of the owner with enough investigation. So with Bitcoin alone, maintaining privacy is possible, but it requires extra effort and knowledge, and in the end this is no guarantee in the face of a fairly motivated investigator.
Cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and Monero offer various schemes to protect payment privacy - Zcash with cutting-edge cryptography, and Monero and Dash with a technique known as "mixing groups". We've made personal payments in cash, of course. The difference is, now they will move into the online world, with all the blockchain warranties.
Uses such as tax evasion and the black market involve bleak ethics and can be a flash point for sensational headlines. Regardless, any ethical doubt produces little impact on the momentum (and the non-combustible barrier) of these projects. Personal payments are part of our future just as sure as any blockchain technology.
2. Decentralized File Storage (Siacoin, Storj)
Bitcoin charges user transaction fees, and these fees are awarded to miners, who process payments and secure networks. Projects such as Siacoin and Storj use similar economic models to provide incentives and offer decentralized file storage.
Users can earn money by leasing their hard drives to the network; Together these users form a cloud of backend hard drives that await files to be stored. Other users pay a fee to the system to store their files-encrypted and duplicated-on this cloud. Deposits financially provide incentives to this set of hard drives to take care of the data, so as not to lose their deposits.
Since this system opens the business of renting hard drive space to anyone who owns a computer, the system eventually becomes cheaper than a centralized service that should keep the overall backend.
3. Decentralized Apps / Intelligent Contracts (Ethereal)
Blockchain allows decentralized networks to agree on one country and history. This can be seen as a "virtual computer", simulated in parallel by miners but has a single unambiguous state - from this point of view, Bitcoin is simply a special virtual computer built only for financial purposes.
Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum are more common virtual computers, allowing users to upload and run arbitrary code on these systems. Because these "dapps" are stored and processed directly in blocking (as opposed to multiple servers or personal computers), they inherit all the benefits of blockchain: undeniable, transparent / unreliable, unchanged, unstoppable, always - online, etc.
Just like ordinary users, these dapps have their own address, and can send and receive money. Because of their ability to act independently and handle money, they are sometimes called smart contracts.
Potential questions and unanswered questions from this technology can guarantee the book itself. In short, the dapp platform offers programmers access to a seamless, global, always online system that can theoretically run the money-making apps they dream about; Anyone in this world can access and interact with dapp.
It has applications for Internet Things, which allows the device to autonomously send and receive payments. This could be a new breed of economic engine that is much more powerful than Bitcoin, in which the addition of its capabilities is open to the public in a much more direct way. It could also be applications for things like real estate, shared economy, financial derivatives, voting, and more.
But like a computer in general when it first comes out, to predict the main utility of dapps now is the game of fools. The same announcement that makes it so interesting, makes it impossible to predict how it would be so useful. However, there are many developer activities and investments in this field.
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