words Al Woods
While many people have heard about Blockchain and its application within the cryptocurrency market, this is just one way in which this game-changing technology is changing our economy.
In many ways, it’s also an extension of the sharing economy that has evolved in the last decade or so. Blockchain’s decentralised and completely transparent nature capable of elevating this to an entirely new level.
In this post, we’ll explore this further, while asking how is Blockchain impacting on the global economy in the longer-term.
What is the Sharing Economy and Blockchain’s Role in it?
When we talk about the sharing economy, we’re also referencing accessible and innovative brands such as Uber and Airnb.
Both of these examples are underpinned by cutting-edge technology, while they’ve also disrupted traditional marketplaces and afforded customers with direct access to a host of affordable services.
There’s no doubt that futuristic sharing concepts will become increasingly complex and widespread, however, while also present across a diverse range of markets. This means that they’ll need to be underpinned by more advanced technology that can provide the necessary transparency and reassurance to customers.
This is where Blockchain comes into play, as this essentially creates a distributed database of transactions that is not under the control of a central authority. So, not only does it assign each item or action a defined value, but it also drives accountability and cannot be manipulated by individuals with a vested interest.
This will certainly help with issues such as insurance and data sharing, while Blockchain would also allow customers to track goods that they had purchased from private sellers in real-time and with tremendous clarity.
What About Blockchain the Future Economy?
As we can see, Blockchain’s innovative nature means that it’s inherently capable of both ascribing and changing value.
This is why its most ambitious application may well be to overhaul the entire banking system, as it continues to digitise money and the provide a more transparent platform for the management and distribution of funds.
Bank’s themselves are notoriously keen on the idea of integrating Blockchain into their systems, of course, even though the remain suspicious of cryptocurrency and the volatility that surrounds it.
There’s no doubt that these two separate concepts walk hand-in-hand. However, and it’s impossible to resist the idea that we’ll eventually deal exclusively in digital currency and decentralised ledgers when managing our transactions.
The Bottom Line
In many ways, the foundations for such a transition have already been laid. After all, in excess of 70% of adults now access digital or mobile banking, for example, while virtual brokers such as Oanda have also broken down the barriers that once surrounded the financial markets and brought investing online.
With this in mind, the notion that Blockchain will continue to evolve the sharing economy and revolutionise the global banking system is far from fanciful. In fact, it appears increasingly likely as time and innovation progresses, the impact of Blockchain technology is continuing to have a seismic effect on the world around us.
