The computer made the internet possible. The internet has made blockchain possible. And blockchain is making much more possible.
Just the beginning
Blockchain is in the same development phase as the internet back in 2001. Although the technology behind it can be complex, the challenge for entrepreneurs and investors is not to understand how it works, but to grasp its uses and its potential to change the world.
Blockchain is helping to ‘shrink the world’ by optimising the transmission of information and opening up the internet to a realm of industries that couldn’t use it extensively before. It effectively removes the various ‘roadblocks’ that were still in place for many industries to be transformed by the capability of the internet. Blockchain adds another ‘layer’ to the internet that provides:
- Transparency
- Security
- Efficiency
How is this developing across industries?
Financial Services
Remittance money transfer is a huge market. On a global level remittance income is now one of the largest transfer of funds per year at $550 billion, that’s three times more than foreign aid and bigger than foreign direct investment. Of this $550 billion, more than 90% went from developed to developing countries, where a small change in efficiency and cost could vastly impact local economies.
For individuals, a UK-based worker looking to send money to family in a different country currently pays a 7% fee on every transfer and waits days for this money to pass through the inefficient process of clearing and settlements between international banks.
Distributed ledger technology is a secure network that directly connects banks across the world without the need for intermediaries, enabling all transactions to be transparent and approved quickly to produce near instant international transactions.
Already working across 48 currencies, the technology was introduced by IBM with its creation of The World Wire, putting them firmly at the forefront of change.
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