"The practical consequence […is…] for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate."
-- Marc Andreessen

事实上，这是第一次，一个互联网用户向另一个互联网用户发送具有独特数字属性的编码块的方式。这种转移的安全性是可以保障的，所有人都知道转移已经发生，并且没有人可以挑战这种转移的合法性。这一技术的突破带来的影响无法轻视。
—— 马克·安德森

From a cruising altitude, a blockchain might not look that different from things you're familiar with, say Wikipedia.

维基百科上说，从普遍上来看，区块链可能和你所熟悉的东西没有什么不同。

With a blockchain, many people can write entries into a record of information, and a community of users can control how the record of information is amended and updated. Likewise, Wikipedia entries are not the product of a single publisher. No one person controls the information.

通过区块链技术，人们可以往信息记录中添加一些条目，或者社区的使用者们可以用来控制信息记录的添加和更新。就像维基百科的条目并不是一个人的作品，没有人能够控制这些信息。

Descending to ground level, however, the differences that make blockchain technology unique become more clear. While both run on distributed networks (the internet), Wikipedia is built into the World Wide Web (WWW) using a client-server network model.

然而，从基本层面上来讲会使得区块链技术独特的差异性更清晰。虽然两者都在分布式网络（Internet）上运行，但是维基百科是建立在使用客户端-服务器网络模型的万维网。

A user (client) with permissions associated with its account is able to change Wikipedia entries stored on a centralized server.

与帐户相关联的用户（客户端）能够更改存储在集中式服务器上的维基百科条目。

Whenever a user accesses the Wikipedia page, they will get the updated version of the 'master copy' of the Wikipedia entry. Control of the database remains with Wikipedia administrators allowing for access and permissions to be maintained by a central authority.

每当用户访问维基百科页面时，他们将获得维基百科条目的“主副本”的更新版本。数据库的控制仍然与维基百科管理员有关，允许访问和权限由中央主管机构维护。

Wikipedia's digital backbone is similar to the highly protected and centralized databases that governments or banks or insurance companies keep today. Control of centralized databases rests with their owners, including the management of updates, access and protecting against cyber-threats.

维基百科类似于政府或银行或保险公司保持高度保护和集中管理的数据库。它们的所有者可以控制和管理集中式数据库，包括更新、访问和保护免受网络威胁。

The distributed database created by blockchain technology has a fundamentally different digital backbone. This is also the most distinct and important feature of blockchain technology.

通过分布式数据库技术创建出的区块链有着本质上的。这也是区块链技术最独特和重要的特征。

Wikipedia's 'master copy' is edited on a server and all users see the new version. In the case of a blockchain, every node in the network is coming to the same conclusion, each updating the record independently, with the most popular record becoming the de-facto official record in lieu of there being a master copy.

在维基百科上的‘主副本’被修改后，所有用户都会看到新版本。在区块链下每一次独立地更新记录下，网络中的每个节点都是得出了同样的结论。通过将主流的记录作为官方记录的事实，而不是主副本的方式。

Transactions are broadcast, and every node is creating their own updated version of events.

交易被广而告之，每个节点都在创建自己的事件更新版本。

It is this difference that makes blockchain technology so useful – It represents an innovation in information registration and distribution that eliminates the need for a trusted party to facilitate digital relationships.

正是这种差异导致了区块链技术非常有用——它代表了一种在信息注册和分布上的一种创新，并且在消除了虚拟关系之间的信任的必要性。

Yet, blockchain technology, for all its merits, is not a new technology.

然而，区块链技术的所有优点并不是一种新技术。

Rather, it is a combination of proven technologies applied in a new way. It was the particular orchestration of three technologies (the Internet, private key cryptography and a protocol governing incentivization) that made bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's idea so useful.

相反，它是一种通过新方法应用的成熟技术组合。这是三种技术的特定业务流程（互联网、私钥加密和协议管理奖励）。比特币的创造者中本聪的主意很有用。

The result is a system for digital interactions that does not need a trusted third party. The work of securing digital relationships is implicit — supplied by the elegant, simple, yet robust network architecture of blockchain technology itself.

数字化交互系统导致了它不再需要一个可信任的第三方。稳定数字化关系的工作被优雅、简单而强大的网络架构的blockchain技术本身所隐式提供。

Defining digital trust

*Trust is a risk judgement between different parties, and in the digital world, determining trust often boils down to proving identity (authentication) and proving permissions (authorization). *

信任是在多方之间的一种风险评估，在虚拟世界里，总的来说就是通过提供身份（认证）或者是权限（授权）来确认。

Put more simply, we want to know, 'Are you who you say you are?' and 'Should you be able to do what you are trying to do?'

简而言之，我们想知道，“你是谁，你说你是谁？”还有“你应该做你想做的事吗？”。

In the case of blockchain technology, private key cryptography provides a powerful ownership tool that fulfills authentication requirements. Possession of a private key is ownership. It also spares a person from having to share more personal information than they would need to for an exchange, leaving them exposed to hackers.

在区块链技术的情况下，私钥加密提供了一个有力的工具，满足所有认证要求。持有私钥就具有所有权。它也使人们不必为了交流而分享更多的个人信息，将他们自己暴露给黑客。

Authentication is not enough. Authorization – having enough money, broadcasting the correct transaction type, etc – needs a distributed, peer-to-peer network as a starting point. A distributed network reduces the risk of centralized corruption or failure.

认证是不够的。授权需要一个分布式的对等网络作为起点，来拥有足够的资金和发布确切的交易类型。分布式网络减少了集中式腐败或失败的风险。

*This distributed network must also be committed to the transaction network’s recordkeeping and security. Authorizing transactions is a result of the entire network applying the rules upon which it was designed (the blockchain’s protocol). *

这种分布式的网络也必须致力于交易网络的记录和安全。授权交易的结果是整个网络应用规则对它的设计（blockchain协议）。

*Authentication and authorization supplied in this way allow for interactions in the digital world without relying on (expensive) trust. Today, entrepreneurs in industries around the world have woken up to the implications of this development – unimagined, new and powerful digital relationshionships are possible. Blockchain technology is often described as the backbone for a transaction layer for the Internet, the foundation of the Internet of Value. *

以这种方式提供的身份验证和授权允许在虚拟世界中进行交易，而不依赖于（昂贵的）信任。今天，在世界各地的行业的企业家已经认识到这一发展具有无法想象的新含义，新的功能强大的虚拟关系网络的建立是可能的。区块链技术经常被称为互联网交易层以及价值网络基础的核心。

In fact, the idea that cryptographic keys and shared ledgers can incentivize users to secure and formalize digital relationships has imaginations running wild. Everyone from governments to IT firms to banks is seeking to build this transaction layer.

事实上，加密密钥和共享台账可以激发用户保护和构建虚拟关系网络的想法仍然处于想象。从政府到IT公司到银行，每个人都在寻求构建这个交易层。

Authentication and authorization, vital to digital transactions, are established as a result of the configuration of blockchain technology.

建立于区块链技术配置的认证和授权对于数字交易来说至关重要。

The idea can be applied to any need for a trustworthy system of record.

这个想法可以应用于任何一个需要值得可信赖的记录系统。

Authored by Nolan Bauerle; images by Maria Kuznetsov