Blockchain’s Big Innovation Is Trust, Not Money 區塊鏈的最大創新在信任不在金錢

杰森?萊博維茨

Its been referred to as a “revolutionary technology” by IBM， and a “once in a generation opportunity” by PricewaterhouseCoopers. But perhaps the most descriptive title came from The Economist when they dubbed blockchain “the trust machine”.

It is a breakthrough in computer science that holds the promise of reducing the cost of establishing and maintaining trust for both individuals and organizations.

“Blockchain” is a relatively new term that refers to a specific type of computer database. The Oxford English Dictionary defines blockchain as “a digital ledger in which transactions… are recorded chronologically and publicly”. The etymology dates back to 2008 when the creator of the cryptocurrency “bitcoin” called its ledger a “blockchain”， or a chain consisting of blocks of transactions.

Since then， there have been many competing versions and iterations1， but most operate on the same premise： they are open-sourced， run 24×7 and continuously update in real-time.

What makes blockchain technology unique and groundbreaking is that its not controlled by any single entity; instead the ledgers are distributed among all parties involved （also referred to as a “distributed ledger”）. This means that no central party has ownership of the ledger， therefore no one can individually amend the entries already on a blockchain.

This makes the blockchain an immutable store of information.

Removing intermediaries2

One of the primary values of blockchains in business is the role they assume by disintermediating3 middlemen.

Because blockchains are decentralized and immutable， counterparties can independently transact and verify the data on a ledger without the need to hire costly third parties to perform similar tasks. Often the role of third parties is to add trust and integrity to transactions， especially between unknowns.

For example， in real estate transactions， escrow4 companies act as one of the many third parties who sit between the buyer and seller to collect fees for the service of exchanging funds for documents. On a blockchain， individuals and businesses would be able to transact directly， peer-to-peer.

“Standard practices that normally involve specialists， like title searches， legal， finance， etc will be less needed or in most cases totally unnecessary. [Using blockchains] the speed to transact will be shortened from days/weeks/months to minutes or seconds”， explains Jason Ray， CTO of the Urban Land Institute， a global real estate body.

The application of this technology in real estate will make waves by increasing transparency， expediting5 lengthy processes and overall reducing the costs of transacting.

Achieving trust

Over $1bn of venture capital money has already been invested in blockchain-related companies around the world. Leading-edge businesses and investors across many industries have begun to recognize that this technology holds the key to revolutionizing the way money， assets and securities are transferred， accounted for and reconciled.

The goal is to harness blockchain technology to save time and money for businesses and their customers—the product of which will be increased trust and transparency in many currently opaque industries. One beneficiary will be the financial markets， where the pricing of complex derivative instruments （exotic options6 on securities， equities and commodities）， including those on mortgage-backed securities7， contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

Trust is the key element of blockchain technology. When transactions are executed and settled on a distributed ledger， counterparties dont need to have an established trust relationship. If each participant in the transaction trusts the blockchain itself then they dont need to directly trust each other. This opens up new avenues of customers for businesses operating on blockchains.

Here is a real-world example in the insurance industry：

SafeShare Global is a modern insurance company that has a unique edge： they employ blockchain technology to offer affordable insurance solutions specifically designed for the sharing economy. Companies such as AirBnB and Vrumi8 allow users to rent out space to interested parties， however， this means the hosts need to be comfortable letting complete strangers into their homes.

This is where insurance plays an important role： to protect the hosts from potential liabilities. （It is important to note that typical home insurance policies do not cover individuals or families when using residences as unregistered quasi-hotels， which forces space sharing companies to offer their own insurance.）

Vrumi， a startup launched in 2014， has partnered with SafeShare Global because they cannot afford to self-insure like some of their competitors. Once a Vrumi host and renter are matched， and the host opts-in for insurance through the website， the material information about the policy gets directly uploaded onto a distributed ledger. At this point all logistics are essentially automated as Vrumi， SafeShare， the underwriter and all other parties involved behind the scenes simultaneously receive and can view the time-stamped information about each policy.

The use of a distributed ledger eliminates the need for these companies to employ labor-intensive middle and back offices to handle the details and coordination of each policy. What differentiates this from a typical database is the immutable and distributed aspect of the ledger. No one can amend or duplicate policy information， otherwise fraudulent policies would immediately be visible by all parties running the ledger.

The transparency of this distributed ledger virtually eliminates fraud， which further reduces the costs of doing business for all parties involved.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

IBM將其稱作“革命性技術”，普華永道把它評為“百年一遇的良機”。不過，《經濟學人》給出了最貼切的描述，稱區塊鏈為“信任機器”。

這是計算機科學的創舉，可以預見，無論是個體間還是群體間，信任達成與維護的成本都將由此縮減。

“區塊鏈”是一個相對較新的術語，指一種特定類型的計算機數據庫。《牛津英語詞典》將區塊鏈定義為“按照時間順序公開記錄交易的……數字分類賬本”。詞源可追溯到2008年，那時加密貨幣“比特幣”的首創者將它的分類賬本稱作“區塊鏈”——由交易區塊組成的鏈條。

自此，多種版本和迭代更新競相出現，但其中大多數符合以下前提：公開源代碼、全天候運行、不斷實時更新。

區塊鏈技術之所以如此獨特、具有突破性，是因為它不受任何單一實體控制;相反，分類賬本（也稱為“分布式賬本”）由所有參與者共享。這意味著沒有中心化權威機構擁有分類賬的所有權，因此沒有任何個體可以單獨修改區塊鏈上的已有條目。

這使區塊鏈成為不可篡改的數據庫。

去除中介

區塊鏈的主要業務價值之一在于：它能夠將中間人非居間化。

由于區塊鏈具有去中心化和不可更改的特點，交易方可以獨立進行交易并驗證分類賬上的數據，無須高價雇用第三方來執行此類任務。通常，第三方的作用是為交易提供誠信擔保，尤其是在交易雙方互不了解的情況下。

例如，在房地產交易中，過戶公正公司是買賣雙方間眾多第三方之一，收費提供資金換文件的服務。在區塊鏈上，個人和企業將能夠直接點對點交易。

“通常由專業人員完成的標準業務（如產權查詢、法務、財務等）需求量會降低，或在多數情況下需求為零。[使用區塊鏈后]，交易速度將從幾天/幾周/幾個月縮短到幾分鐘或幾秒鐘。”國際房地產機構城市土地學會的首席技術官杰森·雷解釋道。

這項技術的應用可以提高透明度，縮短冗長流程，最終降低交易成本，在房地產行業引起轟動。

取得信任

全球區塊鏈相關公司已獲得超過10億美元的風險投資。許多行業的領先企業和投資者已開始認識到，區塊鏈技術是變革貨幣、資產和證券之轉移、結算和對賬方式的關鍵。

目標是利用區塊鏈技術為企業及其客戶節省時間和金錢，其產品將在許多當前不透明的行業中提高信任度和透明度。金融市場將會從中受益，正是由于（包括抵押貸款證券的）復雜衍生工具（證券、股票和大宗商品的奇異期權）的定價，導致了2008年的金融危機。

信任是區塊鏈技術的關鍵要素。在分布式賬本上進行交易和結算時，交易各方不需要已定的信任關系。如果每個交易參與者都信任區塊鏈本身，那么就不需要相互間的直接信任。這為在區塊鏈上開展業務的企業開辟了新的獲客渠道。

以下是保險業的一個真實案例：

SafeShare Global是一家擁有獨特優勢的現代保險公司：他們使用區塊鏈技術為共享經濟提供普通價位的專門保險方案。愛彼迎和Vrumi這樣的公司允許用戶把自家空間出租給有意向者，不過這意味著房東要忍受完全陌生的人進入自己的家。

這就是保險重要之處：保護房東免受潛在損失。（需要注意的是，普通房屋保單不涵蓋個人或家庭把自家住宅作為未登記的準旅館使用，這就要求空間共享公司自己提供保險。）

Vrumi是成立于2014年的初創公司，之所以和SafeShare Global合作，是因為它無法像某些競爭者那樣負擔自我保險。Vrumi的房東和租客匹配后，房東在網站上選定保險，保單相關信息就會直接上傳到分布式賬本上。這一環節所有過程均自動完成，因為Vrumi、SafeShare、保險受理人以及所有幕后相關方都能同時查收每個保單的時間戳信息。

使用分布式賬本，公司無須再雇用勞動密集型中介及后勤來處理每單的細節和協調工作。與一般數據庫不同的是，該賬本不可更改，而且是分布式。沒有人能修改或者復制保單信息，而虛假保單會立刻被所有賬本相關方察覺。

分布式賬本的透明性使欺詐行為幾乎無處容身，進一步減少了所有參與者的交易成本。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯” 翻譯大賽獲獎者）