Blockchain; the revolution that is happening without you even noticing
You may have heard about the blockchain technology before, and then especially in the context of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. You may have heard that blockchain is going to change the world and that it is going to be one big revolution, but that all sounds far, away doesn’t it? The facts though show, that it isn’t all that far away. The revolution is already happening right now, and you have no idea, but we’ll wake you up with many practical examples of how blockchain is slowly taking over the world.
The financial sector
Blockchain is associated with cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin, but blockchain is making its way into regular banks as well. Many banks are already experimenting with the blockchain technology. Blockchain technology could act as a way keep track of financial administration or financial contacts, and in the future, it might possibly take over the entire economic system. We haven’t seen anything concrete yet, but expect there to be concrete ways of using blockchain in the financial sector within a couple years.
Improving the economic situation of very poor countries
Blockchain has been making another change on a financial basis, but this kind is meant to help out the poor. A concrete example of this is the company of BitPesa, they make it possible to make crypto payments between Africa and the rest of the world. This may sound like nothing, but it is currently the most difficult to send money to and from Africa, and this hinders business happening between Africa and the rest of the world. These poor countries have more chance of doing business with the outside world, and people that have no access to a regular bank account can still receive and send money through the use of blockchain cryptocurrencies.
Our healthcare system
Data about our healthcare is often spread across different institutions, your GP will know other things than the hospital when you had your surgery or your therapist knows. This is not a very efficient healthcare system, and a blockchain database could solve this problem. If all the data is encrypted placed into a blockchain system then it can be accessed anywhere, but not by anyone, as only the people you want to have access will have this access. When we mean that it can be accessed anywhere, then we mean anywhere, all over the entire world. This will also make it more efficient to get medical help abroad. MedRec is one of the blockchains that attempts to digitalize the medical records of people.
A new voting system
If we look at the recent elections than we see that the possibility of voter fraud caused quite some problems and insecurities. Whether there was actual fraud or not, we would be certain of this if we used a blockchain technology system for counting votes. A decentralized system that is also 100% transparent makes hacking of the system or committing fraud with it close to impossible. After the 2016 elections in the US a start-up has already emerged who is working on this, and they are called Follow My Vote.
Especially in the past few years there has been a lot of development in the area of blockchain and new applications for the blockchain technology, so for you it’s time to brush up your knowledge and get to know these new applications. Before you know it, your entire world will consist of blockchain systems, that are regulating various parts of your life. And you don’t want to be unknown when this does happen, so start learning, there are even more uses for blockchain then I’ve already mentioned here.