If I send you bitcoin, that transaction is simultaneously recorded on the more than 12,000 computers, servers, and other devices that Bitcoin runs on. Everyone on the chain can see the transaction, and no one can alter or delete it. Or you can send me a non-fungible token (NFT) on the Ethereum blockchain, and that transaction is simultaneously recorded across all the computers (also known as “nodes”) that Ethereum runs on. These two examples explain, roughly, what blockchain technology is: a way to keep unalterable records of transactions on multiple computers such that a new transaction cannot be recorded on one computer without simultaneously recording it on all the others. The applications of blockchain have grown well beyond cryptocurrency and NFTs, as governments and industries from health care to agriculture to supply-chain operations leverage the technology to improve efficiency, security, and trust.
Magdiel Lopez/Belmont Creative
Why Blockchain’s Ethical Stakes Are So High
…and how developers and users can mitigate potential harm.
May 10, 2022
· Long read
Summary.
Senior leaders face a range of ethical and reputational risks in implementing blockchain projects. This article looks at four risks — the lack of third-party protections, the threat of privacy violations, the zero-state problem, and bad governance — and offers advice for how blockchain developers and users can mitigate potential harm.