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The Blockchain Immutability Myth
Dr Gideon Greenspan is the founder and CEO of Coin Sciences, the company behind the MultiChainplatform for private blockchains.
In this opinion piece, Greenspan attacks the idea that true immutability can be achieved in blockchain systems, arguing a more relative definition of this feature better encapsulates what’s the technology can achieve.
“The highest good, than which there is no higher, is the blockchain, and consequently it is immutably good, hence truly eternal and truly immortal.”
— Saint Augustine, De natura boni, i, 405 C.E. (with minor edits)
If you ask someone well-informed about the characteristics of blockchains, the word ‘immutable’ will invariably appear in the response.
In plain English, this word is used to denote something which can never be modified or changed. In a blockchain, it refers to the global log of transactions, which is created by a consensus between the chain’s participants. The basic notion is this: once a blockchain transaction has received a sufficient level of validation, some cryptography ensures that it can never be replaced or reversed.
This marks blockchains as different from regular files or databases, in which information can be edited and deleted at will. Or so the theory goes.
In the raucous arena of blockchain debate, immutability has become a quasi-religious doctrine – a core belief that must not be shaken or questioned. And just like the doctrines in mainstream religions, members of opposing camps use immutability as a weapon of derision and ridicule.
The past year has witnessed two prominent examples:
For one, cryptocurrency advocates claim that immutability can only be achieved through decentralized economic mechanisms such as proof-of-work. From this perspective, private blockchains are laughable because they depend on the collective good behavior of a known group of validators, who clearly cannot be trusted.
Scorn has also been directed at the idea of an editable (or mutable) blockchain, in which retroactive modifications can be made to the transaction history under certain conditions. Mockers posed……
Full article : Coindesk.com, Gideon Greenspan, The Blockchain Immutability Myth