Do you desire to get your products quicker, cheaper, and without the concern of counterfeits? Well, blockchain may be the solution.

Globalization is the global interaction of businesses and consumers, governments, and companies. It’s the freedom of a firm to be universal, such as Apple inventing their new iPhone in Seattle, manufacturing it in Shenzhen, China, sending it to Berlin, Germany, and trading it in London, England. 

As you can guess, many steps are required to ensure this process works effectively, smoothly, and efficiently. And the process does run well. We can purchase products across the globe in every developed country. 

Improving globalization through money transfer speeds

All these worldwide goods and services need to be compensated for as they travel across the globe—that’s given. But the transfer of money encounters friction along the way—conversion between currencies, inflation, bank transfer fees and times, and interest payments. 

An interesting article on “Why Blockchain is Important” states that: 

“Facebook, Telegram, and Signal are planning to roll out new cryptocurrencies over the next year. The most anticipated but secretive project is underway on Facebook. The company is working on a coin that users of WhatsApp, which Facebook owns, could send to friends and family instantly and anywhere in the world using blockchain technology.”

That project is called Libra. And it will compete for the speed and settlement power of the best payment options out there now. 

Improving globalization by eliminating counterfeits

Part of the difficulty in globalization is the jeopardy of counterfeit goods. Big brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Nike must battle knockoffs of every quality level. Inexpensive fakes may be simple to recognize, but quality fakes can still be done in foreign lands for less costly than Nike’s manufacturers. 

Nike has furnished itself with blockchain technology to fight against fakes. In 2019 they filed a patent—which was granted—for physical shoes registered on the blockchain. The license explains itself:

“When a consumer buys a genuine pair of shoes, a digital representation of a show may be generated, linked with the consumer, and assigned a cryptographic token, where the digital shoe and cryptographic token collectively represent a ‘CryptoKick,'” the patent reads.

“When sneakers are sold to someone else, ownership can be transferred by trading both the real shoe and associated digital assets. These digital assets can be stored in what’s being called a ‘Digital Locker,’ a cryptocurrency wallet type app.”

Improving globalization by cutting intermediaries

An article in the Wall Street Journal recommends that blockchain will assist bring efficiency and cost savings to globalization by cutting out mediators. It states:

“By running business software on top of the blockchain, companies will be able to automate transactions and enable new business models without designing or building a separate system for them.”

This is possible due to smart contracts. A shipping agreement, business agreement, or other types of deals that need verification by third parties—could be eliminated. Instead, a smart contract programmed to handle the conditions of a shipment would be triggered by particular events. The triggers would then provide payments or further requirements. This type of ability is what globalization needs. 

In the end, we can easily see that blockchain does promote globalization. The only question now is: how soon can customers view the benefits?