If they knew about Bitcoin first, there would be no Alibaba!

Author: Huang

I often hang out in the Internet finance circle, and I feel familiar with every ID I see . I open a random web page, Yo! Lao Wang! Go to the next page, Hey! Lao Liu! Wrinkled old faces float around in front of the web page, just like the pumpkin masks on Halloween every year, nothing new.

Bitcoin is also part of Internet finance, but I never see new people discussing it. People around me only know Bitcoin from hearsay, and they shake their heads when it comes to blockchain. As we chatted, the topic turned to the bloody mouth of an ugly black cat - "Brother, what did you buy on Double 11? How much did you spend?"

Only by letting novices understand Bitcoin can fresh blood be injected, and only by understanding blockchain can the currency circle be strengthened, digital currency ( chao bi zhuan qian ) be known to everyone and the influence of Internet finance be expanded.

The four main features of Bitcoin: 1. Asymmetric consensus mechanism, 2. Blockchain technology, 3. Asymmetric encryption technology, 4. Proof of work mechanism.

Not only are the terms obscure and difficult to understand, but it is also easy to bite your tongue when reading. How can we explain the principles of Bitcoin to people who know nothing about programming and cryptography? We should go back to the earliest stage of human wisdom enlightenment - telling bedtime stories. This time, I will tell the story of Alibaba and the Forty Thieves.

Distributed consensus mechanism - Alibaba will not be able to take away the treasure

The dark cave was filled with countless gold and silver coins. This was a treasure trove accumulated by the bandits through generations of operation and plunder.

In the story, Alibaba learned the spell to open the treasure house, opened it, and took away several bags of gold coins without the robbers noticing. If the treasure house has such a function, every time the treasure is reduced, the treasure house can also tell the robbers how much treasure is left in the treasure house. When the forty robbers cannot reach a consensus on the amount of treasure left, the amount of treasure said by more than twenty-one robbers shall prevail. - This is the distributed consensus mechanism.

With its existence, it would be difficult for Alibaba to take the treasure out of the treasury without the robbers knowing, unless Alibaba could bribe twenty-one of the robbers.

Blockchain technology - the forty thieves can share the loot fairly

Why are the robbers so rampant in the story? Because they are united! Because they have the same pursuit in life!

"When the robbers look back on their past, they will not regret wasting their years; nor will they be ashamed of doing nothing. When they are dying, they can say that I have devoted my entire life and energy to the most magnificent cause in the world - plundering for wealth!"

Of course, it is far from enough to rely on the bandit leader to talk about ideals with everyone to create such cohesion. There must also be a reasonable mechanism for the distribution of benefits. People cannot restrain their greed. For bandits, it is common to kill and rob people for money. If a fight breaks out due to unfair distribution, it must be said to be a big "loss" for the bandit community.

Therefore, every robber had to record how many times he had taken treasures from the treasury since the day he joined the gang, how much he had taken each time, and when he had taken them. All this information was recorded in the "robber statistics book". At the same time, the forty robbers supervised each other. If anyone secretly modified the book, the door to the treasury would be closed for a month. - The boss said, next month, no salary will be paid!

“With blockchain, everyone is a trustworthy robber!”

Asymmetric encryption technology - Alibaba may not be able to find the treasure trove

"As soon as Alibaba passed a mountain, he saw a cloud of dust ahead, as if a large group of people were coming. He had heard that there were many bandits in this area recently."

In the story, every time the robbers opened the treasure house, they needed forty people to gather together. It was because the target was too obvious that Alibaba became suspicious, and the subsequent story happened.

However, if the robbers take the treasure in batches, they are afraid that someone will embezzle and damage the collective interests, which is also a headache for the robber leader.

If every robber knows a different formula to open the treasure house, "Open Sesame", "Open Millet", or "Open Walnut" will all be fine, and each formula corresponds to a different treasure area, after reciting the formula, you can be teleported to the corresponding location to get the treasure.

In the "robber statistics book", you can find the corresponding treasure location by searching for the formula, but you can't get the formula by searching the treasure location. This is "asymmetric encryption technology".

In this way, the robbers can split up into small groups and collect the treasure separately, making it difficult for outsiders to discover them.

Proof-of-Work Accounting Mechanism: The Secret Weapon for Bandit Teams to Advance

Although there are a lot of treasures in the treasury, the bandits are passive and lazy, squandering money, and eventually they will run out of money. In order to ensure the work enthusiasm and enterprising spirit of the bandit team, the bandit leader needs to set an example and set KPI assessment for the bandits. Only the bandits who meet the assessment standards can go to the treasury to claim the treasures.

Every robber will record his "business" in the "merit book" within ten minutes after completing it. Each of the forty robbers has a "merit book" and updates it synchronously. Within the specified time, the person who first reaches the KPI assessment standard can enter the treasure house once. With this proof-of-work accounting mechanism, robbers will definitely not be lazy.

The principle of Bitcoin can only be regarded as a technology. Robbers use it to cause endless harm. If this technology is used in the right way, it can benefit the public. For example, trading platforms such as R8 Digital Asset Exchange ( PS : it is R8 , not Alibaba) use the technical principles of Bitcoin to enhance the security of the platform and create a safe trading environment for us.

When explaining Bitcoin to a novice, you have to explain it in simple terms. If you really start with programming and passwords, the other party may not understand it even if you talk about it until the end of time. It is far less easy to understand than the story of Alibaba. Bitcoin friends may also tell this story to a novice like the author did!