The technology behind bitcoin could
■ 本文选自英国《经济学人》杂志2015年10月31日周刊
覃凌燕编译
Bitcoin has a bad reputation.The decentralid digital cryptocurrency, powered by a vast computer network, is notorious for the wild fluctuations in i t s v a l u e,t h e z e a l o f i t s s u p p o r t e r s a n d i t s degenerate us, such as extortion, buying drugs and hiring hitmen in the online bazaars of the “dark net”.
比特币有一个坏名声。这种由一个庞大的计算机网络来驱动的去中心化数字加密货币，其恶名源于币值的剧烈波动、支持者的狂热追捧以及各种堕落的用途，如敲诈勒索、购买毒品和在“暗网”的在线市场雇佣杀手等。
T h i s i s u n f a i r.T h e v a l u e o f a b i t c o i n has been pretty stable, at around $250, for most of this year. Among regulators and f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s,s c e p t i c i s m h a s g i v e n way to enthusiasm (the European Union recently recognid it as a currency). But most unfair of all is that bitcoin's shady image caus people to overlook the extraordinary potential of the “blockchain”, the tec
hnology that underpins it. This innovation carries a significance stretching far beyond crypto-currency. The blockchain lets people
who have no particular confidence in
each other collaborate without having to
go through a neutral central authority.
Simply put, it is a machine for creating
trust.
这不公平。今年以来，比特币的银杏仁
币值相当稳定。大多数时间都维持在
1比特币兑换250美元左右。监管者
和金融机构的怀疑已经让位给热情（欧
盟近期已承认它是一种货币）。但最为
不公平的是，比特币的这种阴暗的形
象，让人们忽视了“区块链”——比
中国近代史读后感特币的支撑技术——的巨大潜力。这
一创新承载的意义，远远超出加密货
币。区块链让相互之间毫无信任的人
不必再通过一个中立的中央权威互相
合作。简单地说，这是一台用于创造
信任的机器。
The blockchain food chain区块
链的食物链
To understand the power of
blockchain systems, and the things they
can do, it is important to distinguish
between three things that are commonly
muddled up, namely the bitcoin currency,
the specific blockchain that underpins it
and the idea of blockchains in general.
A helpful analogy is with Napster,
the pioneering but illegal “peer-to-
peer” file-sharing rvice that went on
line in 1999, providing free access to
神秘岛millions of music tracks. Napster itlf
was swiftly shut down, but it inspired
a host of other peer-to-peer rvices.
Many of the were also ud for pirating
music and films. Yet despite its dubious
origins, peer-to-peer technology found
legitimate us, powering internet startups
such as Skype (for telephony) and Spotify
(for music streaming)—and also, as it
happens, bitcoin.
要理解区块链系统的能力以及区
块链能够做的事情，把三个通常是被
混淆在一起的概念区分开来是非常重
要的，即比特币、支撑比特币的特殊
区块链以及一般意义上的区块链。一
个有用的类比是拿它与Napster做比
较。Napster是一个1999年上线的、
能免费获取数百万音乐唱片的非法点
对点文件共享服务先驱。虽然Napster
本身很快就被关闭了，但是它激发出
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了一大批其他的点对点服务，其中许多服务也被用于盗版音乐和电影。但是，尽管“出身不好”，点对点技术还是找到了合法的用途，推动了诸如Skype （电话通讯）和Spotify （音乐流媒体）这样的互联网创新公司——碰巧也推动了比特币的发展。
The blockchain is an even more potent technology. In esnce it is a shared, trusted, public ledger that everyone can inspect, but which no single ur controls. The participants in a blockchain system collectively keep the ledger up to date: it can be amended only according to strict rules and by general agreement. Bitcoin's blockchain ledger prevents double-spending and keeps track of transactions continuously. It is what makes possible a currency without a central bank.
区块链是一种更强有力的技术。本质上它是一个人人都能查阅，但没有哪一个用户能够控制的共享的、受信任的、公共的分布式记账系统。整个区块链系统的参与者集体维护账簿的随时更新：账簿的修改只有在严格的规则和公开的协议下才能进行。比特币的区块链分布式账簿阻止了重复支付，保持了对交易的持续跟踪。正是这一特点使得即使没有央行，比特币也能照常运转。
Blockchains are also the latest example of the unexpected fruits of cryptography.Mathematical scrambling is ud to boil down an original piece of information into a code, known as a hash. Any attempt to tamper with any part of the blockchain is apparent immediately—becau the new hash will not match the old ones. In this way a science that keeps information cret (vital for encrypting messages and online shopping and banking) is, paradoxically, also a tool for open dealing.
区块链也是加密技术发展中的一种意外收获。将原始信息用数学的置乱加密算法压缩为一段编码，称之为哈希值。任何想纂改区块链上任一部分的行为都会立刻暴露出来——因为新的哈希值将无法与原来的哈希值相匹配。正是这一特性，使得原来用于信息保密的技术（这种技术对加密信息、在线购物和网络银行至关重要），戏剧化地成为一种用于公开交易的工具。
归勺地黄丸
Bitcoin itlf may never be more than a curiosity. However blockchains have a host of other us becau they meet the need for a trustworthy record, something vital for transactions of every sort. Dozens of startups now hope to capitali on the blockchain technology, either by doing clever things with the bitcoin blockchain or by creating new blockchains of their own.
比特币本身可能只不过是一种猎奇。然而，区块链技术有着更为广阔的应用前景，因为区块链满足了对每一类交易来说都至关重要的可信赖记录的需要。目前，许多初创公司都希望利用区块链技术获利。获利的途径主要有两种，一是利用比特币区块链做聪明的事情，二是创建自己的区块链。
One idea, for example, is to make cheap, tamper-proof public databas—land registries, say, (Honduras and Greece are interested); or registers of the ownership of luxury goods or works of art. Documents can be notarid by embedding information about them into a public blockchain—and you will no longer need a notary to vouch for them. Financial-rvices firms are contemplating using blockchains as a record of who owns what instead of having a ries of internal ledgers. A trusted private ledger removes the need for reconciling each
transaction with a counterparty, it is fast and it minimis errors. Santander reckons that it could save banks up to $20 billion a year by 2022. Twenty-five banks have just joined a blockchain startup, called R3 CEV, to develop common standards, and NASDAQ is about to start using the technology to record trading in curities of private companies.
有一种想法是创建一个低成本的能够防篡改的公共数据库——如进行土地注册登记（据说洪都拉斯和希腊对此感兴趣）；或者是奢侈品或艺术品的所有权注册登记。通过将所有权信息嵌入一个公共区块链系统，使这些物品得到公证——这样所有权人将不再需要公证担保。金融服务公司正在考虑把区块链用作其内部的客户财产所有权分布式账簿，以代替过去一系列内部分类记账的方法。一个值得信赖的私人分布式账簿可以取代目前每次交易都要一方借记一方贷记的记账形式，避免每次交易都要与对方进行协调，既提高了记账速度也减少记账错误。桑坦德银行估计，到2022年，通过这种方式能够为
银行每年节省多达200亿美元。目前，有25家银行已加入了一家叫做R3CEV 的创新公司，着手金融区块链系统的搭建，并开发通用标准。而纳斯达克也即将开始利用这种区块链技术记录私人公司的证券交易。
The new blockchains need not work in exactly the way that bitcoin's does. Many of them could tweak its model by, for example, finding alternatives to its energy-intensive “mining” process, which pays participants newly minted bitcoins in return for providing the computing power needed to maintain the ledger. A group of vetted participants within an industry might instead agree to join a private blockchain, say, that needs less curity. Blockchains
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can also implement business rules, such as transactions that take place only if two or more parties endor them, or if another transaction has been completed first. As with Napster and peer-to-peer technology, a clever idea is being modified and improved. In the process, it is fast throwing off its reputation for shadiness.
这些新的区块链不需要完全按照比特币的模式来运作。其中许多区块链建设都可以对自身模式进行调整，例如，通过寻找能源密集型的“挖矿”（所谓“挖矿”，即给参与者支付刚刚铸造出来的比特币，来回报他们提供明细账所需要的计算能力）的替代方案，一大群资深“矿工”可能会同意加入某个私有区块链系统，比如说那种需要较少安全性的区块链。区块链也可应用于某些商业规则，比如只能在两个或者两个以上参与方都认可的情况下或者是另一个交易已经率先完成的情况下才能进行的商业规则中。如同Napster和点对点技术一样，一个聪明的想法正在得到修正和改进。在这个过程中，它将很快地甩掉自己过去的阴暗声誉。
New chains on the block区块链上的新链条
The spread of blockchains is bad for anyone in the “trust business”—the centralid institutions and bureaucracies, such as banks, clearing hous and government authorities that are deemed sufficiently trustworthy to handle transactions. Even as some banks and governments explore the u of this new t e c h n o l o g y,o t h e r s w i l l s u r e l y f i g h t i t.B u t
given the decline in trust in governments
and banks in recent years, a way to create
more scrutiny and transparency could be
no bad thing.
区块链的传播，对于“诚信商业”
中国名人录的任何人——即像银行、清算公司和
政府当局这些被认为是在处理交易时
足以值得信任的各类中央机构和政府
部门——来说，是一件坏事。即便有
些银行和政府已经开始着手探索区块
链技术的应用前景，但更多的银行和
政府会向区块链系统宣战。鉴于近年
来公众对政府和银行的信任度下降，
探索一种能够创造更多审查并且能够
带来更多透明性的系统也许并不是件
坏事。
Drawing up regulations for
blockchains at this early stage would be
a mistake: the history of peer-to-peer
technology suggests that it is likely to be
veral years before the technology's full
potential becomes clear. In the meantime
regulators should stay their hands, or find
ways to accommodate new approaches
within existing frameworks, rather than
risk stifling a fast-evolving idea with
overly prescriptive rules.
在目前区块链仍处于发展初期时
就对其制定规则也许将是一个错误：
点对点技术的发展历史也表明，这种
技术的整个发展潜力在变得清晰之前，
可能需要长达数年的时间。与此同时，
监管者也应当管住他们的双手，或是
找到适合的监管办法，以便将区块链
这种新事务融入现有的框架体制中，
而不是冒险用过于死板的规则去扼杀
早餐饼的做法大全
这一正在快速进化的思想。
The notion of shared public ledgers
may not sound revolutionary or xy.
Neither did double-entry book-keeping
or joint-stock companies. Yet, like them,
the blockchain is an apparently mundane
process that has the potential to transform
how people and business co-operate.
Bitcoin fanatics are enthralled by the
l i b e r t a r i a n i d e a l o f a p u r e,d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y
beyond the reach of any central bank.月度工作计划
The real innovation is not the digital
coins themlves, but the trust machine
that mints them—and which promis
much more besides.
共享公共分布式账簿的概念听起
来没什么革命性的意味或者说不是很
潮。就像当年复式记账法、联合股份
制公司这些概念兴起时一样，区块链
也是表面上看起来很平凡但却具有一
种彻底改变人们的合作关系以及商业
合作方式的巨大潜力。比特币的狂热
赐予
支持者是被一种纯粹的、数字化的、
超越任何央行管制的货币这种自由主
义理想所吸引，但真正的创新并不是
数字货币本身，而是铸造这些数字货
币的那种信任机器——这将为人类开
创更多的未来。
译者简介：
覃凌燕（1973-），壮族，广西柳江人，硕
士研究生，高级经济师，现供职于中国人民银行
西宁中心支行。
责任编辑：山成英
校 对：SCY
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