I recently came across a paper published in 1988 called "A quorum-based commit and termination protocol for distributed database systems". I could not read it because it is not free, but to me this sounds very similar to what a private blockchain using proof of stake for consensus achieves. I have a hard time believing that's all there is to it considering all the hype going on. With that in mind, I have the following questions:
- Is chaining blocks together the only innovation here? Why not just have trusted validators sign transactions in permissioned distributed databases? We have had these technologies for decades. What is the difference?
- Couldn't a 51% attack where someone has private keys for a certain transaction rebuild the chain from that point on for basically free? How does this achieve any realistic level of immutability?
- Why would financial institutions want to 1. Pay to store competitors data 2. Allow competitors to see their data?
I want to understand what everyone is finding so new and exciting about private blockchains.