Latest Blockchain Opinions

The pandemic has demonstrated just how much we depend on our online devices. From being able to work in the safety of our homes, to buying groceries online and booking virtual workout classes, it has proved that the move towards a fully digital world is within reach. Our dependence on the internet has also reminded us how much personal information we share – whether on social media, online banking and shopping, or our own professional profiles.

These characteristics that we openly disclose are exactly what fraudsters are looking for to exploit us – from using this information to pull our heartstrings in online dating scams to tricking our banks to gain access to our savings. We often overlook the trail of breadcrumbs of information we are leaving behind us, making it all too easy for a fraudster to take advantage.

For the first time in history, many elections will have to happen without in-person voting. In the US, we have already witnessed the pandemic’s impact on the Democratic Primaries, many of which continue to be postponed and mired in massive legal controversies. Throughout the ongoing pandemic, leaders continue to hotly debate whether or not elections that rely on in-person voting ask citizens to make a decision between civic participation and personal safety.

The world is in the midst of the largest remote working experiment it has ever seen, reinforcing the value of reliable data. More than ever before, we need to know where our data comes from and whether or not it can be trusted. We are bombarded with information on a daily basis across the various different communication mediums we use in our professional and personal lives. This news is then passed onto each other sequentially, through emails, WhatsApp messages and other apps and social media platforms, and the velocity is only increasing, particularly in isolation.

Genevieve Leveille is the Principal Founder of AgriLedger, a UK blockchain outfit aiming to ensure farmers receive adequate pay for crops. The company is working with the Haiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry and ESIH on a DLT Pilot, which is also sponsored by the World Bank.

Killian Stokes drinks drip filter black coffee. He’s a university lecturer and co-founder of Moyee Coffee Ireland, a Greentech coffee company with big ambitions – to disrupt the industry’s global business model.

True to his Irish roots, on a night out, you’ll find him catching up with friends in a pub – the Old Spot in Dublin is one of his favourites.

Digital Catapult is one of the most important organisations in the UK when it comes to emerging technologies. Cut loose from marketing, influencer and sales hype, the government agency equips UK businesses with tools and knowledge to become early adopters of transformational technologies. And with their help, forward-thinking UK businesses can receive grants to fund the next generation of game-changing tech projects.

A technology that both inspires and confuses businesses in equal measure is blockchain — which is technically not one technology but a suite of technologies comprising distributed databases, cryptography and automated contracts. 

Where do your meals come from? Over the past few decades, the world’s food industry has gone through a radical evolution, becoming highly industrialised and globally connected. It’s not unusual for a European’s dinner plate to include Ecuadorian asparagus, Thai prawns and Kenyan rice. In many ways, this is an impressive feat. However, as Vincent Doumeizel, Director of the Food Programme at Lloyd’s Register Foundation points out, today’s “savvy consumers want to know exactly where their food comes from”.

“The blockchain revolution in government has not lived up to expectations yet.” That’s according to government digital transformation expert Miquel Estapé. Estapé is Vice-President of Government Digital Innovation at The Association of Corporate Governance Practitioners and Deputy CEO of the Open Government of Catalonia Consortium.

The digital transformation expert devotes much of his life to researching how emerging technologies can be harnessed to deliver improved and more innovative public services. Over the last few years, no emerging technology has caught the public sector’s (and wider society’s) imagination quite like blockchain. It has subsequently become a key research focus for Estapé, and will be the subject of his session at Blockchain Technology World in London this March.

While the term “digital asset” is cropping up more and more in the media and financial markets, it remains shrouded in uncertainty. Despite growing awareness of “digital assets”, many remain uncertain as to what the term means, and whether there is real value in this nascent market. 

This is undoubtedly the result of the chequered history of the digital asset and cryptocurrency space. These terms have been viewed as somewhat interchangeable, leading to confusion and misconceptions surrounding the nature, purpose, and viability of digital asset classes across industries. 

A Google search for “blockchain” brings up nearly 300 million results. Try finding “understanding blockchain” and you’ll find a mere 152,000 references.

And there’s the innovator’s dilemma. While there’s no shortage of commentary on blockchain from supporters as well as detractors, the clash of opinions, information and misinformation has made it difficult for even a general tech enthusiast to figure out what blockchain is and isn’t.

These are five of the most prevalent myths debunked.

A lot has happened since Satoshi Nakamoto penned his infamous Bitcoin whitepaper in 2009. At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin now sits at just over $9,000, at its peak approacheing the lofty heights of $14,000. The cryptocurrency now boasts a market cap of $169 billion and commands 69 percent of the crypto market. 

Aside from Bitcoin establishing itself as credible object of value, blockchain, the technology (or suite of technologies) that underpins the digital currency, has captivated businesses around the world. Many are investing astronomical sums to exploit what they perceive as the biggest technological disruptor since AI.

Blockchain hype is at fever pitch. According to analyst house Gartner, the technology will create more than $176 billion dollars worth of business value by 2025. At technology conferences around the world, blockchain ‘experts’ are urging organisations to move past Bitcoin and crypto obsession. The crypto arena is the playground of cranks and snake oil salesman, we’re told — blockchain is the domain where serious technologists should focus their attention. 

In going beyond grains and gold, commodities have now taken on a new form in the age of personalisation. “Data is the new oil”, many have argued, and data has come to cement its position as the most valuable resource in the digital era.

From advertising to remittance, industries today benefit from the efficiencies offered by digitalisation, thriving on the seamless flow of information and the easy connections formed across stakeholders beyond borders.

Despite this ease, the next frontier appears to be in automation, as the resulting supply chain — across all sectors ranging from healthcare to finance, consumer goods to entertainment — has become hindered by the middlemen and third-parties.