Blockchain is about much more than Bitcoin … it will democratise the future of business, brands and value creation

December 11, 2017

Say hello to the democratised economy … the blockchain has the potential to change every market.

The fourth industrial revolution … from digitalisation to automation, robotisation, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, new transportation systems (Hyperloop, electric vehicles, drones) and much more … will shape not just our economies, but the way we socialise and shop, work and learn, vote and play, earn and trust.

These fast-emerging technologies will enhance democratic freedoms, enable local transactions that are faster, cheaper and more trusted, whilst also enabling global business to be simpler and transparent. It will enable businesses large and small to work equally, countries large and small to compete fairly, and consumers everywhere to reengage with society and learn to trust business again.

Blockchains eliminate the old frictions, and create new market models.

Imagine if any transaction – paying a bill, sharing news, buying products, making an investment, getting a passport, voting in an election – could be done fast and simply locally, administered by ourselves, without the need for intermediaries or centralised organisations. A blockchain is a decentralized and distributed digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.

Blockchains will fundamentally reshape industries like banking, and far beyond.

Democratising marketspaces

Bettina Warburg describes how the blockchain will eliminate the need for centralized institutions like banks or governments to facilitate trade, evolving age-old models of commerce and finance into something far more interesting: a distributed, transparent, autonomous system for exchanging value:

Let’s hold on a moment, and just take time to reflect on the basics again. What really is a blockchain? Here Australia’s Westpac seeks to explain the concept, without getting lost in the hype (a bigger revolution than the world wide web), and the technology itself:

Jessi Baker is the founder of Provenance a startup using novel technologies like the blockchain to revolutionise supply chain transparency and product trust. She works with suppliers, brands, and certifiers to enable every product to come with an open, secure record of its journey and creation:

Initial focus has been on financial services, yet blockchain could be equally disruptive in any industry, both in the supply chain (transparent, democratic, decentralized, efficient, and secure), but most significantly in how people engage with business, and with each other. Here are some examples:

Whilst 72 year old Don Tapscott’s views on technology and networks have become a little predictable, he is still regarded by many as the pin-up storyteller of the Blockchain Revolution. He will be joining me for the the European Business Forum in Odense on 26-27 September 2018:

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