Prospectus.com LLC ongoing series profiling blockchain and distributed ledger value propositions across multiple industries, Ch. 17: Blockchain Global Logistics and excerpt from WSJ feature Mar 11 2018: “Why Blockchain Will Survive, Even if Bitcoin Doesn’t”–by WSJ Christopher Mims (blog post title photo courtesy of Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
Why Blockchain Will Survive, Even If Bitcoin Doesn’t
Latest blockchain applications could bring overdue change to critical, if unsexy, functions in shipping, real estate and…diamonds
We’re now awash in “crypto” hype—cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and fundraising efforts like initial coin offerings. For every venture capitalist or technical expert, there’s a half-dozen hype men and fly-by-night startups making the entire space look like a 21st-century version of the Amsterdam tulip mania.
All that noise has obscured the bona fide efforts involving the underlying technology, blockchain. Of all the manifestations of crypto, it’s the most seemingly mundane applications of blockchain that could lead to the biggest and most concrete changes in all of our lives.
These applications can’t be found on a coin exchange, and they aren’t going to turn anyone into an overnight billionaire. But they could bring much-needed change to some of the world’s most critical, if unsexy, industries. This means new ways of transferring real estate titles, managing cargo on shipping vessels, mapping the origins of conflict materials, guaranteeing the safety of the food we eat and more. Using blockchain, you could prove that a particular diamond on sale in a Milan boutique came from a particular mine in Russia.
What is blockchain? It’s essentially a secure database, or ledger, spread across multiple computers. Everybody has the same record of all transactions, so tampering with one instance of it is pointless. “Crypto” describes the cryptography that underlies it, which allows agents to securely interact—transfer assets, for example—while also guaranteeing that once a transaction has been made, the blockchain remains an immutable record of it.
For those aspiring to jump on the blockchain bandwagon, a good read courtesy of Prospectus.com LLC : “How to Write a Blockchain Feasiblity Study for Startup Entrepreneurs” can be found via this link
Safe Deposit Blockchain
Businesses hope blockchain-based databases will eliminate paperwork and speed up transactions. The technology can be used to store and transfer ownership of goods and track them through a supply chain.
