Blockchain predicted to expand beyond bitcoin and finance

Blockchain technology, the likes of which allows the web-based currency Bitcoin to function, could quickly become the backbone of modern financial transactions or even government systems as support grows around the world.

Blockchain has attracted some big backers who have risen to prominence partly because of their rejection of traditional power structures - like bitcoin itself.

Major figureheads including IBM’s president and chief executive Ginni Rometty have compared the rise of blockchain and its potential impact with the rise of the internet.

Now they are looking at a wide range of new uses for the technology, with those outside the realm of finance expected to grow most.

For example, Italy’s biggest opposition group, the 5-Star Movement, wants blockchain to be used in streamlining public services. In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump has a number of enthusiasts for the technology in his inner circle.

Experts caution that blockchain still needs several years of experimentation and development, much like the early days of the internet, and say some projects will never work.

Nevertheless, in an ironic departure from blockchain’s libertarian origins, the very establishment that early supporters hoped it would displace is also jumping on the bandwagon.

Many of the world’s biggest banks and corporations are trying to harness the technology to make the likes of transacting cross-border payments, issuing debt and recording health data more efficient. Even Britain’s Conservative government is keen to get in on the act.

Blockchain allows for transactions and data transfers to be completed in seconds through a peer-to-peer computer network, with no need for a third party. It has therefore attracted those who distrust established authority, such as the central banks that issue traditional currencies.

This is particularly the case in its first implementation, bitcoin, which outperformed all conventional currencies in 2016. Iceland’s Pirate Party, the country’s joint second-biggest party, wants bitcoin accepted as legal tender.

Notwithstanding the corporate interest, blockchain reflects the spirit of the past year when disgruntled Britons rejected the European Union, Italians brought down their prime minister and Americans elected Trump.

“A global and open blockchain... lends itself very well to current anti-establishment sentiment,” said Jon Matonis, an economist and founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation. “The general theme is removing the role of a third-party auditor or enforcement agency.”

Source:https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/01/blockchain-predicted-to-expand-beyond-bitcoin-and-finance/