The blockchain revolution began as early as the 1980s, when investors were trying to find solutions for the internet’s problems of security, privacy, and inclusion with cryptography. Unfortunately, no matter how they attempted, there were always leaks because 3rd parties were involved. Credit card payments over the internet were insecure because users had to disclose too much personal data, and the transaction charges were too high.
In 1998, Nick Szabo published a short paper entitled “The God Protocol.” He wrote about the formation of a be-all end-all technology protocol, one that chose God the trusted 3rd party in the middle of all transactions. Nick’s idea was powerful: Doing business on the Internet needs a leap of faith.
Ten years later in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto came up with a new protocol for a peer-to-peer electronic money system using a cryptocurrency or bitcoin. This protocol established some rules that ensured the integrity of the information exchanged among millions of devices without passing through a trusted 3rd party. Consequently, the act set off a spark that terrified, excited or otherwise captured people’s imagination in the computing world and spread everywhere like wild fire.
Today, people everywhere are trying to know the implications of a protocol that allows humans to create trust via clever code. This protocol is the foundation of the blockchain, a technology that enables trusted transactions between two or more people, validated by mass cooperation and powered by shared self-interests, rather than by big corporations that are driven by profit.
Blockchains enable users to send money safely and directly, without going through a credit card company, a bank, or PayPal. With blockchain, the internet of information has transformed to the internet of value. The technology has the potential to unleash many new applications and capabilities that have the potential to change many things.
Some governments and big banks are implementing blockchains to revolutionize the way transactions occur and information is kept. Their goals are laudable — lower cost, speed, fewer errors, security, and the eradication of central points of failure and attack.
Speaking at Metro Expo 2016, an industry conference, Andrey Sharov, Sberbank’s vice president, shared his thoughts about the future of blockchain and the banking industry. Sharov predicted that the rise of blockchain will lead to the death of the current banking industry in 10 years.
The Vice President of Russia’s largest bank stated:
“In 10 years, I fear that banks will not be around and I will have nowhere to go to work. Now, there are peer-to-peer lending platforms and those developing payment systems, based on blockchain technology.”
According to Spiros Margaris, founder of Margaris Advisory and Senior Advisor to FinTech Forum, the largest community for FinTech in Continental Europe, blockchain will inevitably change things for the better. He believes it will take 5-10 years before blockchain goes mainstream.
Speaking of the IMF’s latest publication called The Internet of Trust; blockchain will be “the next internet” in the next ten years. The title is meant to show the disruptive impact and benefit blockchain will have. If we look at the impact of the Internet with its benefits, I believe that blockchain has the same potential.
We are at the beginning of what will come out of the blockchain technology in the next ten years. We are expecting to see great things and only the future knows what will be possible.
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