What Is a Blockchain Platform?

[Bravebold]

What Is a Blockchain Platform?


While a blockchain network describes the distributed ledger infrastructure, a blockchain platform describes a medium where users can interact with a blockchain and its network. Blockchain platforms are created to be scalable and act as extensions from an existing blockchain infrastructure, allowing information exchange and services to be powered directly from this framework.

An example of a blockchain platform includes Ethereum, a software platform which houses the Etherium, or ether, cryptocurrency. With the Ethereum platform, users can also create programmable tokens and smart contracts which are built directly upon the Ethereum blockchain infrastructure.

 

Beyond Bitcoin: Ethereum Blockchain
Originally created for Bitcoin to operate on, blockchain has long been associated with cryptocurrency, but the technology's transparency and security has seen growing adoption in a number of areas, much of which can be traced back to the development of the Ethereum blockchain.

In late 2013, Russian-Canadian developer Vitalik Buterin published a white paper that proposed a platform combining traditional blockchain functionality with one key difference: the execution of computer code. Thus, the Ethereum Project was born.

Today, the Ethereum blockchain lets developers create sophisticated programs that can communicate with one another through the blockchain itself.

Similarly to Bitcoin, it's worth noting that the Ethereum blockchain and the Ethereum cryptocurrency are two separate entities.

 

Tokens
Ethereum programmers can create tokens to represent any kind of digital asset, track its ownership and execute its functionality according to a set of programming instructions.

Tokens can be music files, contracts, concert tickets or even a patient's medical records. In the past couple of years, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) grew in popularity. NFTs are unique blockchain-based tokens that store digital media (like a video, music or art). Each NFT has the ability to verify authenticity, past history and sole ownership of the piece of digital media. NFTs have become wildly popular because they offer a new wave of digital creators the ability to buy and sell their creations, while getting proper credit and a fair share of profits.

Newfound uses for blockchain have broadened the potential of the ledger technology to permeate other sectors like media, government and identity security. Thousands of companies are currently researching and developing products and ecosystems that run entirely on the burgeoning technology.

Blockchain is challenging the current status quo of innovation by letting companies experiment with groundbreaking technology like peer-to-peer energy distribution or decentralized forms for news media. Much like the definition of blockchain, the uses for the ledger system will only evolve as technology evolves.

 

Smart Contracts
What is a smart contract? These are digital, programmed contracts that automatically enact or document relevant events when specific terms of agreement are met. Each contract is directly controlled through lines of code stored across a blockchain network. So once a contract is executed, agreement transactions become trackable and unchangeable. Though fundamental to the Ethereum platform, smart contracts can also be created and used on blockchain platforms like Bitcoin, Cardano, EOS.IO and Tezos.

 

Blockchain Applications for Industries
As mentioned, blockchain technology is being used far beyond just its roots in cryptocurrency — almost every modern industry is being morphed by the technology in some way.

Alongside banking and finance, blockchain is revolutionizing healthcare, record-keeping, smart contracts, supply chains and even voting. While the capabilities of such technology continue to grow, all the possible applications of blockchain are very much yet to be discovered.

[Bravebold]