About: Jeffrey Varkonyi

Last week, in my Special Topics in the Current Technical Environment class, we had a guest lecturer named Jeff Varkonyi. Jeff is the founder and CEO of MainLink Blockchain Technologies and describes himself as a Blockchain Technology Consultant — specializing in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and Supply Chain Management. He describes his mission as “to enable and promote blockchain technologies to user in the World Wide Ledger of Value.” 

Jeffrey was kind enough to share his presentation on his own blog at: Varkonyi.com

If you’d like to connect with him, he can be contacted via:

• Twitter @varkonyidigital
• LinkedIn: VarkonyiDigital

Blockchain – The Decentralized Ledger

Blockchain, as Jeff describes, offers a “paradigm shift from a centralized to a decentralized world.” We currently trust centralized banks and their people to ensure that our assets transfer from point A to point B. An example is when we make purchases at the store. We use a credit card terminal and that transaction occurs across multiple entities. The card terminal processes the transaction by contacting the merchant bank and requests authorization from the issuing bank (our bank). If our PIN is valid and we have the appropriate funds, then approval is sent back to the merchant bank and then to the card terminal and the transaction is completed with a receipt being issued. This all occurs in a few seconds, however, the actual transfer of funds may sit “pending” for a few minutes up to multiple days.

In the blockchain, the only trust that needs to occur is in a fundamental trust in math. If you “believe that 1+1=2” then you can trust blockchain. That’s because the very nature of the technology allows for greater integrity of information. The shift we will see, once blockchain and it’s applications are more widely adopted, is moving from “trusted to trust-less.” We will no longer have a need for centralized entities.

Moving Past The Lip-Service

Okay, I agree. That all sounds really cool, but how does it all actually work? To be honest with you, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the technology and I wouldn’t be doing you justice trying to explain it. Instead, I’ll leave you with two links that I found the most beneficial.

The first video features Bettina Warburg, a political scientist and blockchain researcher, explaining the technology to five different people: a child, a teen, a college student, a graduate student, and an expert.

Blockchain Expert Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty |WIRED

 

The second video explains why blockchains are so special and describes blockchains and how they work.

How Does a Blockchain Work – Simply Explained

Blockchain Is A Platform For New Technologies And Services

I see blockchain as a platform for technology and services — in the same way that the world wide web is a platform for services like Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc. Blockchain is the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Additionally, there are so many more uses and applications for the technology. Here’s a great article I recently read that expands more: 17 Blockchain Applications That Are Transforming Society. 

Share your thoughts on Blockchain in a comment below. If you’d like to have a discussion, please contact me or connect with me on social media!

 

Photo Credit: Pixabay