Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm and has penetrated pretty much every industry these days. And why shouldn’t it – this is a much safer and more transparent way to do business that benefits both companies and their customers alike.
One of the main advantages of this system is that it doesn’t need a third party because all users of the network work together and validate everything themselves. However, there is a catch and this is where third-party blockchains come in.
So, what are those and how do they work? Stick around and you will find out very soon.
Do Blockchains Really Need Third Parties?
Well, yes and no. The most famous example of a blockchain is definitely Bitcoin, so let’s take a look at how it works, shall we?
As more and more bitcoins are mined, the ledger gets longer and longer, but the thing is that all the data in that ledger is shared by nodes. These nodes are connected to each other and work together to make sure the network is perfectly safe and all transactions are duly recorded.
And since the nodes are members of the network themselves, there is no need for a third party to come in and act as a guarantor of a transaction. So, everything that happens within the network is immediately verifiable, the transactions are completely safe and very cheap, and generally, you have a great environment to work with.
Changing the Ecosystem
This all sounds very nice, right? However, you may have noticed one thing – no intermediaries are necessary in the above example only if the transactions are done in bitcoin, i.e. in one and the same ecosystem.
Should you need to exchange let’s say your bitcoins for some other currency, something you can do here, for example, a mediator who will do that process for you becomes a necessity. This also goes for any other form of interaction with the outside world.
Therefore, third parties can indeed be eliminated, but this only goes for one closed ecosystem. In order for that ecosystem to be viable in everyday life and be able to successfully communicate with other databases, third-party mediators will still be necessary
Obviously, these mediators can use blockchains of their own to record any and all transactions and keep them perfectly safe, which results in third-party blockchains being necessary for the survival of this technology.
Conclusion
So, third-party blockchains are blockchains that are outside the native ecosystem and serve as a bridge to help closed ecosystems communicate with the outside world. Intermediaries may have been eliminated from individual networks, but they are still needed to make sure outside communication works properly.
In that respect, they are a very important part of the whole blockchain world because they bring all benefits of this technology to everyone else. And while the need for third-party middlemen is not yet gone (and will probably always be there in some form), using blockchains for the job is probably the best possible move.
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