sfrechtling

More and more noise seems to be appearing about blockchains. I see the small benefit of use in transactions between organisations, but am struggling for the case for private blockchains and some points of cryptocurrency in general. I don’t know if this is the best place to ask, but everything online is full of jargon and is inaccessible to me.

I have a few questions:

- What are the benefits of using a private blockchain (should I be thinking of it as a replacement to a General Ledger?)? Is this just another name for a ledger with auditable history?

- Can a blockchain exist without mining or without a currency/coin? Will all private blockchains need a “coin”? (eg the Goldman Sachs coin or ABC plumbing coin?)

And another couple of broader questions

- What keeps people interested in a blockchain (and currency) once all of the easy mining is done eg, for people joining later?

- I see that transaction costs for bitcoin keep rising, is that related to the size of the blockchain?

- I thought bitcoin was supposed to be decentralised – doesn’t a group of centralised developers have the ability to change everything about the currency?