Sounds dodgy.

聽起來很黑暗。

But high profile institutions such as USAID and UNICEF have a different view.

但知名機構像是，美國國際開發總署和聯合國兒童基金會有不同的看法。

They think it could be a force for good, helping the poorest people in the world.

他們認為這可以成為一股善的力量，幫助世界上最貧窮的人們。

What is blockchain?

什麼是區塊鏈？

It's a technology called blockchain - a global online database that anyone, anywhere with an internet connection can use.

這是一個叫做區塊鏈的技術，一個全球性的線上資料庫，任何人在任何地點，只要連上網路就可以使用。

Unlike traditional databases, which are owned by central figures like banks and governments, a blockchain doesn't belong to anyone.

有別於傳統的資料庫，它們都被掌握在核心單位，像是銀行、政府的手裡，區塊鏈不屬於任何人。

And with an entire network looking after it, cheating the system by faking documents, transactions and other information becomes near impossible.

由於整個網路體系都在照看它，利用造假的文件、交易或其他資訊來欺騙系統幾乎是不可能。

Here's how it works.

以下是它如何運作。

Blockchains store information permanently across a network of personal computers.

區塊鏈將資訊永久地儲存在由個人電腦架構起的網路體系。

This not only decentralizes the information, but distributes it too.

這不僅能夠將資訊去中心化，也能夠將它分發出去。

So how can a multi-purpose online database, whose users include criminals, work for everyday use?

那麼，一個罪犯也在使用的多功能線上資料庫如何被運用在日常生活？

How does it stay relatively hack-proof?

它為什麼比較能夠防駭？

The answer is blockchain's millions of users.

答案是區塊鏈上百萬的使用者。

They make it difficult for any one person to take down the network or corrupt it.

他們使得任何單一個人都難以攻下或瓦解這個網路體系。

The many people who run the system use their own personal computers to hold bundles of records submitted by others.

運行這個系統的眾人是使用自己的電腦來保存無數筆他人提交的紀錄。

The records are known as blocks.

這些紀錄被稱之為區塊。

Each block has a timestamp and a link to a previous block, forming a chronological chain.

每個區塊都有一個時間戳以及導向前一個區塊的連結，形成一條有時間順序的鏈條。

It's like a giant Google doc with one key difference.

這就像一份巨大的 Google 文件，除了一個關鍵的區別。

You can view it and add to it, but you can't change the information that's already there.

你可以瀏覽、加東西上去，但是你不能修改已經存在的資料。

The blockchain enforces this by using a form of math called cryptography, which means records can't be counterfeited or altered by someone else.

區塊鏈利用一種叫做密碼學的數學形式來執行，這表示紀錄不能被其他人偽造或更改。

Blockchain's most famous application is Bitcoin.

區塊鏈最著名的應用實例就是比特幣。

It's a digital currency that is created and held electronically - and you can send it to anyone, whether you know them or not.

它是一種僅以電子形式被創造和持有的數位貨幣，而你可以把它發送給任何你認識或不認識的人。

Bitcoin provides a level of anonymity not seen in modern times.

比特幣提供了現代未曾見過的匿名性。

That's because unlike credit cards or PayPal payments, there are no middlemen such as banks or financial institutions asking for our personal information and home address.

這是因為有別於信用卡或 PayPal ，這當中並沒有銀行或金融機構這類中間商來要求我們的個人資訊或住家地址。

Instead people from all over the world move the digital money by validating other people's Bitcoin transactions, earning a small fee in the process.

取而代之的是來自世界各地的人透過授權其他人的比特幣交易來轉移數位貨幣，並在過程中賺取少量的費用。

Where the blockchain comes in is verifying the ownership of this digital cash and making sure only one person is claiming it as their own at a time.

而區塊鏈的作用就是證實這筆數位貨幣的所有權，並確保在一個時間點只會有一個人主張所有權。

Banks and businesses are rushing to adopt blockchain database technology.

銀行和企業正在爭相採用區塊鏈資料庫的技術。

In a survey of 308 senior executives at U.S. companies with $500 million or more in annual revenue, Deloitte found that 28 percent of respondents had invested $5 million or more in blockchain technology.

在一項針對 308 位任職於美國公司、年收入 5 億或超過 5 億美金資深主管的調查中，Deloitte (英國公司) 發現百分之 28 的受訪者已經在區塊鏈技術上投資 500 萬美金甚至更多。

10 percent had invested $10 million or more.

百分之 10 已經投資 1000 萬或更多。

But why are they spending so much money?

但是為什麼他們要花這麼多錢？

Well, to save money of course.

當然是為了存錢。

When this study looked into the data of eight of the world's largest investment banks, it found that blockchain could save them $8 to $12 billion dollars every year.

當這項調查深入研究世界八大投資銀行的資料時，發現區塊鏈每年能夠替他們存進 80 到 120 億美金。

Bet that $5 million investment doesn't sound so bad now.

我猜那 500 萬美金的投資現在聽起來沒那麼糟了吧！

But it's not all good news for the big players, of course.

不過，當然，這對大資本家而言並不全是好消息。

Blockchain lowers the barrier for entry into the banking industry, and that means fintech startups are popping up in pretty much every market they operate in.

區塊鏈降低了進入銀行業的門檻，這表示金融科技新創公司幾乎在每一個市場中如雨後春筍般林立。

If banks and companies can't keep up, they're putting their own survival at risk.

如果銀行與企業無法跟上腳步，他們就等於把自己的存亡置於危險之中。

For the consumer, the future seems brighter with more security, less cost and better experiences.

對消費者而言，更高的安全性、更低的成本和更好的體驗讓這樣的未來看起來充滿希望。

Yet, blockchain could be the biggest game changer for the poorest in society.

不過，區塊鏈也可能是社會中貧民階級改變遊戲規則的最好機會。

The technology is open to people living in low income countries or fragile states at risk of economic collapse.

這項技術開放給住在低收入國家的人民或是面臨經濟崩盤的脆弱國家。

Take a farmer with a small plot of land which is then flooded.

舉一個擁有小塊土地卻被水淹沒的農夫為例。

The paper copy of the deeds to his land is washed away, resulting in the farmer having no proof of owning the land.

農夫地契的紙張副本被沖走了，導致他失去擁有土地的證明。

Or perhaps he does have a digital copy on a government database but it is erased, altered or even destroyed in a political coup.

或者他確實擁有一份電子副本儲存在政府的資料庫中，但卻在一場政變中被刪除、變更甚至是銷毀。

If the farmer had filed that deed on a blockchain, he could have avoided all these problems.

若這位農夫事先把地契儲存至區塊鏈，他就可以避免這些問題。

Along with speeding up the flow of cash and providing a secure place to keep records - the benefits for the poorest in society are enormous.

同時還可以加速現金流動並提供一個保存記錄的安全場所，它給社會中的貧民階級帶來非常龐大的利益。

From protecting our identities to running autonomous vehicles to managing a world that is increasingly dependent on the internet of things, the possibilities for blockchain technology seem endless.

從保護我們的個資、運行自動駕駛車到管理一個日漸依賴物聯網的世界，區塊鏈技術看似擁有無限的可能性。

But whether it lives up to its promise remains to be seen.

但它是否能達成眾人的期待，就還有待觀察了。