Blockchain can be used to make data in any industry immutable. It acts like a permanent digital ledger: once data is added, it can’t be changed. 

Since a block can’t be changed, the only point at which trust is needed is when someone or a program enters data. After that, there’s no need for extra layers of verification – like auditors or other middlemen – who can add costs and make mistakes.

What makes blockchain even more transparent is that anyone can look at the underlying code. You don’t have to rely on a single company’s software or trust that hidden processes won’t tamper with the data. Once the information is recorded and any calculations are done, it’s locked in place and can’t be altered by anyone. This delivers a level of openness and reliability that traditional systems often can’t match.

Definition: A blockchain is a decentralized ledger used to record transactions across a network.

In its name, a ‘blockchain’ is a chain of ‘blocks,’ each block holding a batch of verified data (like transactions) that is cryptographically linked to the previous one, forming a secure, decentralized ledger which participants in the network can see and trust. 

While public blockchains (like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Partisia Blockchain) are transparent, private blockchains restrict access.

Because blockchain operates on a decentralized network, no single party can alter the records without consensus. Every participant maintains a copy of the ledger, and they collectively agree on the “latest truth” through a secure consensus mechanism.

At its core, blockchain is all about trust. Trust between parties plays a big role when we’re doing transactions between each other. If we can’t trust each other directly, we introduce a third party – a middleman – to verify and validate what’s happening. 

However, we have to trust the middleman to do his or her job correctly. But what if we could simply avoid having that third party? That’s where blockchain comes in.

With blockchain, we can have transparency instead. The middleman becomes less necessary as blockchain enforces truth through transparency, reducing the need for additional validation.

However, anyone can modify and deploy their own code if they choose. The key difference is that blockchain allows you to track exactly who deployed the code and who interacted with it. While smart contracts can still contain malicious code, the transparency of the system should, in theory, discourage such behavior.

Blockchain technology has an important component called a consensus mechanism. This is what can replace the third party.

Tampering with a globally distributed network of computers simultaneously is extremely difficult. This is the strength of the consensus mechanism – for malicious behavior or fraudulent data to be accepted, a majority of these globally distributed computers would need to act dishonestly at the same time.

This distributed approach makes it extremely difficult for anyone to alter the records or manipulate data. Because of this built-in security and transparency, blockchain has an ability to create trust in digital transactions in a way we’ve never been able to do before – one of the main reasons this technology is so groundbreaking. 

Blockchain can be used for secure information exchange or managing digital assets. It is ideal in scenarios where two or more parties need to agree on the same data without relying on a central authority.

Its potential use cases span across supply chain tracking, identity verification, healthcare records, voting systems, intellectual property protection, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenizing real-world assets, and gaming economies.

In traditional systems, information exchange often involves creating copies, making it difficult to verify the original. 

Let's say a company and a customer agree on a project contract. The customer creates the contract, signs it and sends it as a PDF to the company. The company signs it digitally and emails it back. Two problems here: 

1) Both parties must trust that the other has not altered the contract after signing. If disputes arise, verifying the original version becomes difficult without a trusted third party. 

2) The contract exists as separate copies (one with the client, one with the freelancer). Both could claim their version is “correct,” which could lead to inconsistency and potential legal disputes.

How blockchain solves this problem:
Instead of emailing copies back and forth, both parties work from the same shared record on the blockchain. Once something is added, it can’t be changed or deleted – only updated through new transactions. This creates a single source of truth for everyone involved. There’s no confusion about which version of a contract or asset is “correct,” because every step is automatically tracked, time-stamped, and visible to all.

Executing and enforcing the agreement:
Blockchain doesn’t just store the contract; it can enforce it too. Through smart contracts, agreements can be self-executing. For example, if the contract states that the company must pay the freelancer $5,000 upon project completion, the blockchain can automatically trigger the payment when predefined conditions are met – without requiring a third party to intervene. This ensures that all parties receive what they agreed to.

By combining transparency, security, and automation, blockchain goes beyond just document storage. It helps guarantee execution, reducing friction in business agreements.

Blockchain gives individuals more control over their personal data. Using private keys, users can decide how and when their data is shared, rather than giving up control to centralized entities. For example, in a blockchain-based identity system, users can selectively share specific information and verify that only that is used with service providers without exposing their entire identity, which is the main difference of why only the selective information is shared.

In the Web2 world, any information I enter into a form can be combined with my browser's cookies and other tracking data. On the blockchain, however, you can verify that only the selected information is used. If a system attempts to access additional data from your account/private key, you can see it being done — helping to enforce transparency, honesty, and trust.

This decentralized approach is only possible because blockchain provides a distributed, secure, and consensus-driven system for recording transactions. Unlike traditional systems, blockchain enables direct peer-to-peer interactions, allowing users to maintain control over their data and assets.

In Partisia, we're using blockchain technology in combination with Multi-Party Computation (MPC), a cryptographic technique that allows multiple parties to perform calculations over their private inputs without ever revealing these inputs to each other.

One of the main disadvantages of blockchain is the lack of privacy on transactions and what they hold of information. Everything happens in plain view on a public ledger. That's where Multi-Party Computation comes in.

Using Multi-Party Computation (MPC) in a blockchain provides an extra layer of privacy and security. With MPC, you can protect even more information on the blockchain: for instance, you can hide account balances, transaction histories, or sensitive data, only revealing exactly what you want to be shared, while having the transparency of proving that you have computed what was expected of the system.

MPC technology allows multiple parties to collaborate to calculate a result based on their individual inputs without revealing their input data to each other. 

The combination of blockchain and MPC is particularly powerful in situations where sensitive data needs to be used and shared between participants, but the data must be kept completely secret and only the final result is shown.

Data remains secret
MPC is used to calculate results based on shared data without revealing the individual values. This means that no participant sees the other participants' data, and you can define exactly what you want to show the world. If it's specific inputs, results, or just nothing, then you can do that. You can also just use it to prove you have done a computation on something secret.

Decentralized security
Although the blockchain itself already secures data through encryption, it adds the data to its ledger. MPC adds an extra security barrier by keeping data secret even during calculations but proves that computations are being done.

Collaboration
Participants can collaborate and perform calculations on joint datasets without ever revealing their individual data and agree on what results can be shared to ensure the integrity of the datasets.

Compatibility with privacy laws
MPC enables sensitive data to be used in a way that complies with data protection regulations because data is never shared or stored unencrypted.

Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and blockchain go hand-in-hand to provide ultimate privacy and trust.

Both technologies distribute trust across many computers. MPC hides the private data during the calculations, while blockchain orchestrates the MPC calculations in a safe, scalable and trustworthy way.