Betraying blockchain properties? Accenture has obtained a patent for a modifiable blockchain model

According to the Financial Times, consulting services giant Accenture has obtained patents for editable blockchain models in Europe and the United States. This type of blockchain allows central administrators to modify and delete stored information in an authorized blockchain system. Accenture demonstrated the blockchain model it developed with Giuseppe Ateniese, a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, on Tuesday.

This prototype can quickly correct errors on the blockchain. However, the existing blockchain model cannot achieve rapid correction. This is due to the immutable nature of the existing blockchain: If you need to edit the existing blockchain, you can only do it by restoring the previous record and deleting the record to be changed. This will take a lot of time. In financial institutions, a large number of transactions are required and human errors may occur at any time. Therefore, Accenture's blockchain model can greatly improve the usability of blockchain in financial institutions.

This move has caused a lot of controversy in the fintech community. Some people think it is a betrayal of the original intention of blockchain:

"A blockchain that can be modified can only be considered a database. The whole meaning of blockchain is its immutability, and this is simply going against the grain," said Gary Nuttall, founder of Dislytics (a well-known blockchain consulting company). Because permissionless systems are decentralized, the immutability of transaction records is their core attribute.

This is not in contradiction with Accenture's new blockchain model, because the model Accenture has made is based on a permissioned system. The permissioned system will be managed by a central administrator according to agreed rules. This is different from the permissionless system used by the pioneers of existing blockchains (such as Bitcoin). Accenture pointed out that uneditability is not a necessary attribute in a permissioned system because the system is controlled by a single institution. The untamperable attribute hinders financial institutions from using blockchain applications.

Last year, Accenture published an article on the impact and potential of blockchain technology in investment banks. Since then, investment in related technologies has grown exponentially. According to Coindesk statistics, as of September 7, 2016, the total amount of venture capital in Bitcoin has reached 1.2 billion US dollars. Accenture Lab predicts that blockchain will enter its mature stage in 2025 and become a mainstream tool in the capital market ecosystem.