3 Surprising Ways Blockchain Might Change the Future

Building on our introduction to blockchain last week, we’d like to highlight a few novel ways that the technology could have a lasting impact beyond establishing the first cryptocurrency.

As with any disruptive technology, it’s hard to understand early-on the true extent to which the technology will change our lives in the future. Observers have noted that blockchain has the potential to be the most disruptive technology since the internet, and could upend clearinghouse entities that don’t get ahead of the curve by investing in their own blockchain capabilities. That means that any middle-man you rely on to conduct transactions—like your credit card company or Ticketmaster—could become obsolete as a result of blockchain’s ability to maintain a distributed database secured by code and collaboration.

Beyond the obvious impacts that blockchain will have on the financial industry, here are three examples of the potential impacts of blockchain that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a new and relatively obscure technology:

1. Identity theft will become a thing of the past

In 2014, 17.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. You can’t turn on the radio or browse the internet without seeing an ad for identity and credit monitoring services. Many cases of identity theft occur as a result of individuals’ personal information being stolen from a third party, such as their employer or a major retailer. With blockchain, your digital identity could be cryptographically protected and you would have complete control over who has access to it. Would-be identity thieves won’t be able to steal your social security number from a third party company if your personal data is not actually hosted by the third party. Deloitte recently launched a Smart Identity prototype powered by blockchain that will allow users to create a universal digital identity, and other companies are entering the ring to try and figure out how best to leverage blockchain to protect personal data.

2. Empower and protect intellectual property creators

Over the past few years there have been some very public feuds between big name musicians and streaming services over the share of profit that artists receive for their music. Think back to 2014, when Taylor Swift decided against allowing Spotify to stream her music. While most people probably don’t sympathize with megastars who still make millions of dollars a year, her case shed light on the challenge of ensuring that creators of intellectual property—think musicians, artists, film producers—are fairly compensated for their original work in a digital sharing economy where everything is available for free online. There are several startups already looking into how blockchain could enable content creators to distribute and sell their work directly to consumers. Custos Media Technologies is a startup in South Africa that is focused on helping indie producers by tagging every copy of a film with a unique encoded key, which would help trace leaks and make sure producers get paid. There’s also Ascribe, which lets artists apply a watermark to their digital art denoting the piece as the authentic original, essentially providing digital enforcement for copyright claims. For content creators like small-time producers who are only “a pirate leak” away from bankruptcy, distributing content on the blockchain could mean the difference between pursuing their passion and going out of business.

3. Eliminate voter fraud and ensure transparency in elections 

 Here in the United States there is a very low incidence of voter fraud thanks to robust systems and shared governance at the federal, state and local levels. As a result, while we may disagree with the politics of our elected leaders, we can generally agree that they were, in fact, elected. But in many countries around the world, elections are fraught with corruption and electoral fraud that jeopardize the validity of their democratic systems. Blockchain has the potential to provide a platform that is completely transparent and unalterable, ensuring that every vote cast is counted correctly. Ukraine is the first country to experiment with blockchain-powered voting, which in 2014 experienced major protests and unrest, in part as a result of government corruption. If preliminary tests with unofficial votes such as petitions go well, Ukraine may be the first country to adopt a blockchain platform for national elections.

It’s exciting to see companies working to leverage blockchain in these ways and more, and we will continue to look for interesting examples to share with you.

Peter Skipper co-authored this article.

Resources

"Blockchain – The Most Disruptive Invention Since The Internet”, Cyber Security Intelligence

“Victims of Identity Theft, 2014”, Bureau of Justice Statistics

“Deloitte launches ‘digital identity’ prototype in blockchain push”, AcccountancyAge

"12 Companies Leveraging Blockchain for Identification and Authentication", Let's Talk Payments (LTP)

“South African Startup Tackles Movie Piracy With Bitcoin’s Blockchain”, The Merkle

“The Impact of the Blockchain Goes Beyond Financial Services”, Harvard Business Review

“Ukraine Government Plans to Trial Ethereum Blockchain-Based Election Platform”, Bitcoin Magazine