Read on.👇🎅⛓️

1. Kidding (sort of). But Santa’s Naughty-or-Nice List really is a great analogy for the magic of blockchain.

2. Santa’s List records behaviors (who's naughty or nice), and transactions (who gets what presents). A blockchain does exactly this, too. It also uses Santa-like magic. The magic: blockchain entries are (a) always accurate and (b) just the right amount of private, just like Santa’s list.

3. How does the magic work? Santa’s ledger has, well, Santa… and Santa’s awesome (also, he sees you when you’re sleeping  👀🎅). A blockchain doesn’t have Santa, but it has something pretty close: a vast, neutral network of computers running some very special code.

4. Magic #1: accuracy. These computers keep the ledger accurate in two ways. First, they are highly incentivized to record the truth, and nothing but the truth (like Santa). Second, those computers only accept a new entry if both parties involved agree to it, meaning Bob can’t make the claim that Alice sold him something unless she confirms it.

5. Magic #2: privacy. To maintain privacy, the computers once again act like Santa. While Santa won’t tell your friend that you’ve been naughty, you can write him a letter and he’ll oblige with a letter back explaining the truth of the matter to your parents, who trust Santa.

6. In real life this privacy uses modern cryptography and data randomization techniques. When implemented, it’s very easy to view your own data (or anyone else’s data that’s shared with you), but almost impossible to see anything else. In blockchain, the “letter you write Santa” is a set of public/private encryption keys.

7. 🤯 If you think it sounds silly, it’s not. It’s awesome. This concept should make business execs salivate. It combines previously impossible-to-combine concepts: PRIVACY, TRUST, and INTEROPERABILITY.

8. If they use blockchain businesses will save millions in third-party fees confirming the accuracy of other people’s information. Auditors are going to disappear from whole swaths of the economy. Why? Companies know data is 100% accurate and all parties can trust the entries on the ledger, without having to worry about data privacy.

9. It’s also game-changing for end-users too. User data will be truly owned by users. It can be used across platforms  (think: common user data powering TikTok + Instagram). Whole new industries of data marketplaces and management will appear and change the flow of value as people use the internet.

10. But hold up. Not all blockchains are created equal. 🤙 Hit us up at Village if you’re interested in working with a blockchain made for the real world, with a dash of Santa magic.

(also, thx Midjourney for the free trial & cyborg santa pic)