The credit for popularising the blockchain goes to bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto (the mysterious publisher(s) of the bitcoin white paper). But the underlying technology behind bitcoin has farther-reaching possibilities than digital currencies. The marvelous technology is also called web 3.0, and it can replace social Media or ride-sharing apps.

Let us see how blockchain can revolutionize our expenditures.

• Cross-border investment and payments

The world made a cross-border transaction of about 150 trillion dollars in the year 2015 itself, but the process has never been hassle-free.

Not every country across the globe has the same laws governing payment transact nor do we have all payment mechanisms accessible in each country. Moreover, it takes about 4-5 days to transact money from one state to another.

Blockchain technology unites the world as the system of payment is universal. The system makes payment instantaneous and immutable (i.e. once you process the transaction it cannot be altered). The best part of the blockchain is the involvement of no third parties in managing transactions which ultimately reduces transaction fees.

According to the Forrester analyst removing middlemen could increase their CPM from $1 to $5.

Mike Cassidy, the chief executive and founder of Undertone, an ad network, says “If you look through the history of mankind, middlemen have existed forever.” He further added, “18 of the company’s top 20 advertisers were Fortune 500 companies and that business had grown 40 percent in 2010.” Blockchain can be helpful in such scenarios by eliminating the middleman and reducing costs.

Image credits: Statista

Source: 2010-2014 Nielsen Monitor Plus data

Image credit: Marketingcharts.com

Source: Kantar Media

• A universal wallet for globe-trotters

Are you one of those who wants to have a nomadic life and different currency of different country hurt you?

The solution to your problem lies in the blockchain-empowered digital currencies. The crypto wallets are universal wallets with additional features of being fast, secure, and maintaining the account in real-time.

• Tracking your assets made easy

The important aspect of spending your money is about keeping it safe and trackable. The blockchain makes assets like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, titles, deeds, and even inventory more secure and trackable. When a transaction takes place, it is sent to every copy of the blockchain for that specific asset or use case thus everybody on the network has an undisputed copy of the history of that asset.

This system reduces the chances of fraud and theft to minimal; also the cumbersome process of tracking assets, phone calls, emails, etc. becomes extremely easy as the entire history can be viewed with the click of a few buttons. Blockchain makes reporting and reconciliations, of assets and money, easier and the credit goes to the automatic update of the distributed ledger.

For example – You can view live Bitcoin transactions as they happen at Bitcoin Explorer. You can get relevant details of the transaction with one click.

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• Protection of consumers from manipulation due to data theft

The world has witnessed highly publicized data breaches at Yahoo, Equifax, Google, and Facebook where the companies disclosed and disseminated hundreds of millions of names, addresses, birth dates, and other information.

Thus, in this digital era, the protection of the consumer from getting influenced by the results of data theft is crucial. The blockchain ensures that our spending habits are not affected due to data theft.

David Schatsky, Managing Director at Deloitte U.S., sees the potential for blockchain technology to help revolutionize the $122 billion global cybersecurity market as he says, “the technology provides a way of recording transactions or any digital interaction in a way that is secure, transparent, highly resistant to outages, auditable, and efficient.”

• Blockchain opens new possibilities for Money Lending Scenario

Lending money/assets has been an integral part of civil society since the dawn of time, but the world is tired of stories of bankruptcy. The underlying principle has been that the borrower receives the original amount plus the interest. But at times the borrower might fall victim to ill-fate and fail to pay the money, thus, falling victim to bankruptcy.  

Also, read – Blockchain is all set to disrupt transportation industry

The blockchain can be helpful as the borrower will not have to pay that extra interest rate as the blockchain eliminates the need for banks or other financial institutions to transact money. This mechanism would save a lot of money for our economy.

Indeed the blockchain is not the name for technology but a new revolution.  It is time that we embrace blockchain because the time is far when it will merge into our digital and real-life industries fully.

Blockchain technology is of increasing interest not only to tech aficionados but also to citizens, businesses, and legislators. We are poised for a revolution that offers so much potential for upgrades and improvements in transaction technology and our spending habits!!