Blockchain refers to an expanding list of blocks where each one contains records. They are secured and linked to each other using cryptography. Within each block, you will find at the most basic level a hash of the previous block, timestamp, and the transaction data.
The origins of the blockchain technology are mysterious. Legend has it that Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the bitcoin white paper, developed bitcoin, and was behind the implementation and deployment of the original bitcoin.
The largest bank in Japan wants to switch to blockchain payments in 2020. This is an aggressive move and schedule as well. If successful Japan will find itself well ahead of other nations in terms of security and digital payments.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has partnered with a US firm named Akamai to make this happen. They plan on being able to handle 1 million transactions per second. One of the issues with blockchain transactions is latency. Latency refers to the time it takes to confirm a batch of transactions on the ledger. They are planning to have latencies of less than 2 seconds. Once fully implemented, they are expected to handle 10 million transactions per second.