Confused About Blockchain? Here's What You Need to Know

Billionaire and entrepreneur-extraordinaire Mark Cuban recently tweeted that blockchain technology would be "at the core of most transactions in the future". Fellow billionaire Richard Branson believes blockchain technology could bring about an economic revolution. International Business Machines Corp.'s (NYSE: IBM) vice president of blockchain, Jerry Cuomo, recently declared that 2016 was the year of blockchain experimentation and that 2017 would be the year of adoption.

So what's all the fuss about? What makes blockchain technology so special that it could bring about an economic revolution? Many investors don't even know what a blockchain is, much less what makes it worthy of so much attention from the world's largest corporations and most-revered investors. Some might have a vague notion that it is what powers cryptocurrencies, like bitcoins.

It's important for investors to understand the implications of blockchain technology, how it reaches far beyond the nascent market of cryptocurrencies and could even disrupt major industries in the near future. Let's take a closer look at what it is, why so many are excited about its potential benefits, and how some companies are already incorporating this technology into their existing operations.

Source: Fool.com