Your Own Blockchain. Stage 2: DIY or Outsource?

There is nothing strange in the idea of acquiring your own blockchain, however, as in any business, each next step towards a full-fledged project will require a choice: knowledge or money. This means that you will either have to independently master some disciplines, or buy the knowledge of specialists.

You will have to make a choice at the very start. The power of blockchain technology lies in algorithms, encryption, and networking; basic knowledge in programming, cryptography, and networking is indispensable. At this stage, the problem should be solved in the same way as at the following ones: if you do not have the time, desire, or motivation, you can pay a qualified person who will do what is required. But it seems that this step is best done independently, without relying on someone else's expertise. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies grew out of program code and mathematical research. Having your own blockchain and not knowing how it works is nonsense, the road to nowhere.

Out of curiosity

For an interested person with strong motivation, blockchain technology is an endless source of knowledge that can be immediately put into practice. A feature of most blockchain projects is that they are created as part of the open-source model. The source codes of the programs are open, anyone can view them, and if the license allows, then use them for their needs.

This is exactly what happened with bitcoin and altcoins. The license under which Satoshi Nakamoto posted the source code is called MIT. It allows any actions with the program (copying, modifying, distributing, selling, and so on) with the condition that the same license will be assigned to all derived products.

Thus, the emergence of Litecoin, Dogecoin, and many other cryptocurrencies is quite a logical outcome of the Bitcoin license: Charlie Lee and Billy Marcus studied the source code of the pioneering cryptocurrency, made some changes and managed to start their projects.

With your own hands from the very beginning

Program codes of long-running cryptocurrencies are quite intricate — they have a complicated structure, and the constant work of the support team leads to changes, corrections, and improvements. Without participating in the process itself, it won’t be easy to understand.

There are some other ways to start building your blockchain from scratch. For example, you can create all the basic modules, launching and testing them on your PC like it is described here. It will require the basic knowledge of Python and network protocols. There are many other examples where authors explain the principles of building a blockchain, implementing a transaction, creating blocks, and working with consensus algorithms with varying degrees of clarity.

Lessons, tutorials, courses, extensive knowledge bases, professional advice, videos, paid, free, designed for different levels of knowledge — everything is not that hard to find. There are more than enough educational materials out there to satisfy curiosity and gain initial or more professional knowledge in creating a blockchain.

If you do not want to study

Programming requires perseverance, a special mindset, and time to master. Network technologies are not so complicated, but they also need to be studied. If all this mishmash of new terms, abbreviations, confusing and constantly updating protocols and technologies is not for you, but the desire to create blockchain does not go away, there is still a way out: find your wallet and pay off those who know, and do everything you need. Many platforms, like Komodo, offer some ready-made blockchain solutions. The only steps you need to take are choosing a name, description, and other simple steps.

You should keep in mind that, acquiring other people's knowledge instead of your own, you will have to entrust the functioning of your project to outside equipment, programs, algorithms, structure. The degree of this trust depends on how open the platforms are for you to verify whether the rules are transparent and whether basic mechanisms are available for monitoring. To make the right conclusion, you also need knowledge.

Do you really need your own blockchain?

The thought that came to one person’s head must have already visited another. If you are looking for a way to apply DLT to your business, work or privacy, perhaps, it is worth looking for already implemented projects before creating yours. Digital identity, notarial, musical, financial, gaming, and many other services are enthusiasts constantly coming up with something new. And these are entrepreneurs who create blockchain projects. There is a chance that your idea is already working, just waiting for you to find a company that offers its implementation.

Creating your own blockchain is not even half the battle for someone who wants his project to work, attract new participants and, in the long term, profit. Popularization, advertising, promotion of a newcomer on the blockchain market is a very difficult task. Although advertising technologies have existed for a long time, the well-known principles of marketing apply to any markets, in the case of cryptocurrencies and blockchain there are subtleties which we will devote our next article to.

Image courtesy of Django Stars