I have recently watched a news regarding block chain, (that's the only time I understood what the the block chain does). On that news it explained how the block chain works and how it will change the future of data storage and access.
The best analogy that they used which I like pretty much is "think of Ubber, Ubber is the middle man, a passenger uses Ubber to get a taxi, the taxi driver and passenger had transactions and Ubber get a percentage of that, On the block chain middle man is cut out, taxi driver and passenger do transaction on block chain thus cutting the middle man resulting in cheaper fare."
People who are saying cryptocurrency and the block chain is a fraud have their interest somewhere else and they are deeply invested in it that is why they will try to eliminate or damage any thing that will affect their interest or investment.
Just my thoughts
'Disintermediation' is what you are explaining; the removal of intermediaries. Its one of the most overlooked qualities of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its a major factor in the viability and value. Everyone talks about decentralization, and thats important, but disintermediation is what makes building a block-chain project worthwhile.
The reason crypto-currency is so valuable, is that the traditional banking system is horribly overloaded with intermediaries, and each intermediary needs to get paid. Who pays? You do.
So lets say in the fiat world I want to send you some money, if we both bank with the same bank, I ask the bank to move some money from me to you, thats simple; 1 intermediary.
But if you have a different bank, well then I have to ask my bank to pass money to your bank; 2 intermediaries.
But if my bank and your bank dont have accounts with each other, then they need another counterpart bank who does have accounts with both banks to facilitate; 3 intermediaries.
To make that happen quickly, each bank doesnt make every transfer as they occur, they wait til the end of the day and settle net amounts, but for security reasons this needs the central bank to become involved; 4 intermediaries.
Bear in mind, this 4 intermediary scenario, assumes we both have bank accounts in the same nation/currency, if we start getting international, then it gets a lot worse.
Crypto-currency removes all this clutter, and uses peer2peer, basically 0 intermediaries, but as you pay a transaction fee, lets be charitable and call it 1 intermediary.
Whenever I look at the long term viability of a block-chain project, its worth noting if it reduces the number of intermediaries as one success dimension.
Thank you very much for this explanation. I now clearly understand the usefulness of the block chain. I really never had a clue before.
Much appreciated.