A Bitcoin

Bitcoin Blockchain: A New Foundation for Online Trust?| NYTimes

A Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s blockchain technology may end up being more valuable than the online currency: enabling a wide range of third party applications, the New York Times reports.

The New York Times has a really interesting story on the rise of Bitcoin’s “blockchain” technology as the foundation of a whole new wave of start-ups and applications – some of which could have big implications for Internet of Things.

From the article:

“As Bitcoin’s price has declined over the last year, critics have been quick to declare the virtual currency dead. Bitcoin’s true value, though, might be not in the currency itself but in the engine that makes it possible.

Underlying Bitcoin — created as a way to make payments directly, anonymously and outside government control — is the block chain, a decentralized database that is driven by cryptography.”

While the future of Bitcoin as a form of digital “cash” is uncertain, block chain is turning out to be a very useful technology for a variety of purposes – from streamlining financial transactions online to vouching for the authenticity of documents.

Some leading technologists are already looking toward blockchain technology as one element in a new and secure foundation for Internet of Things. In October, for example, the Institute of Data Driven Design, a research nonprofit founded at the MIT Media Lab, joined with digital currency firms to back the Windhover Principles, a policy framework and “trust architecture” that assures “privacy and compliance by design.”

Read more via Data Security Is Becoming the Sparkle in Bitcoin – NYTimes.com.

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