blockchain technology now finds itself under focus.
This technology,
with disruptive effects making it comparable
to the Internet of its day,
aims to turn our traditional models upside down
by resolving the key question of trust.
All our systems,
whether economic-, social-, or business-related,
rely, in fact, on trust.
We don’t exchange goods or services
without trusting in the value
of what we will receive in return.
In addition, to ensure this trust,
our company calls in
a trusted third party.
They verify
that all the conditions are met
for carrying out the transaction,
and then carried this out in
compliance with the contracts signed
and the applicable legislation.
Banks are likely the best
known trusted third parties,
but we could also mention notaries
or even accountants.
Right at the top of the chain of trust,
the state is the guarantor
for the stability of the entire system.
However, over the past few years
these trusted third parties have failed in their tasks:
subprime turmoil,
electoral scandals,
abuse of positions of power.
Blockchain aims to resolve this
shortcoming of trusted third parties
by offering an increased level of trust
thanks solely to technology.
Literally, a blockchain
means a chain of blocks
on which information of any
kind can be stored:
transactions, contracts, or even property deeds.
Each of these blocks dorms a database
similar to the pages of a giant account book.
This account book is not hosted on one single server,
but by the users.
The information is protected so well
by several innovative cryptographic
that it is impossible to modify them a posteriori.
Transactions carried out between the network users
are grouped in blocks.
Each block is validated by the network nodes 
known as “miners”.
Once the block has been validated
the transaction is then visible for the entire network.
This transparency and this inalterability
allows users to carry
out exchanges with complete confidence.
Even without a trusted third party.
Thus, the wager lost by the Internet
of putting humans at the heart of its technology
to give us more power and freedom
may be won by blockchain
and its “trust machine”.
