Page 40 - Arkansas Trucking Report Volume 23 Issue 2

Blockchain Primer

ATA’s Accounting & Finance Council hosts experts to
talk blockchain in theory and practice

By Lacey Thacker The first speaker, Ken Craig, vice presi- agreed upon by all users on the net-
Contributing Writer dent of special projects with McLeod work. Data is immutable, meaning once
Software, presented “Blockchain 101,” a block of information is added to the
Bitcoin. Blockchain. Digital cur- in which he provided a brief introduc- chain, it’s impossible to change. The
rency. These words are all over the news tion to blockchain, bitcoin and how it’s links between blocks of content are pro-
and regularly appear in trucking pub- all connected. tected by cryptography—previous entries
lications with claims that blockchain can’t be deleted or forged. That’s part of
technology will disrupt the industry as BLOCKCHAIN THEORY the theoretical beauty of blockchain: it’s
we know it. In fact, the very presence of On a blockchain, data is recorded incredibly secure. The lack of a central
the word “blockchain” is so trendy, that in blocks, one right after the other. authority also means there is no single
some companies—not all of them tech- Each block contains all the transac- place for bad actors to attack.
nology related—have added it to their tions related to that previous set. That Craig also suggested that in order
names only to see a threefold increase block is broadcast to all computers on to understand what blockchain technol-
in their stock values. the network, and the computers in the ogy is, it’s helpful to understand what
But what is blockchain technol- network validate the transactions in the it is not. Blockchain is not Bitcoin—the
ogy, and how is it connected to digital block, after which the block is added to latter is merely built on blockchain
currency, let alone the transportation the chain. “So, basically what you have technology. In 2008, Satoshi Nahimoto
industry? is a digitally distributed transaction led- posted the following to an online chat-
During the first quarter meeting ger with identical copies maintained on group: “I’ve been working on a new
of the Arkansas Trucking Association’s each of the network members’ comput- electronic cash system that’s fully peer-
Accounting & Finance Council on ers,” Craig explained. to-peer with no trusted third party.”
March 6, the Council hosted a series of “There is no centralized database,” Nakimoto is the anonymous inventor of
speakers presenting on the development Craig stated. Blockchain technology Bitcoin, the most famous of the digital
of blockchain technology and its poten- allows information to be distributed currencies. Digital currency, such as
tial role within the trucking industry. to all users, and all changes must be Bitcoin, has no redeemable value—that
is, it exists solely digitally and does not
have a print version. It is also decentral-
ized, meaning there is no bank or gov-
THAT’S PART OF THE THEORETICAL BEAUTY OF ernment regulation.
BLOCKCHAIN: IT’S INCREDIBLY SECURE. THE LACK OF Blockchain is not a database.
A CENTRAL AUTHORITY ALSO MEANS THERE IS NO Instead, data collected through the
use of blockchain technology must be
SINGLE PLACE FOR BAD ACTORS TO ATTACK. “imported into real databases for analy-

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40 Issue 2 2018 | ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT