Blockchain Revolution

Rewiring the Financial System for Speed and Inclusion

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The financial services industry makes our global economy hum, but the system today
is fraught with problems. For one, it is arguably the most centralized industry in the
world and the last industry to feel the transformational effect of the technological
revolution. Bastions of the old financial order such as banks go to great lengths to
defend monopolies and often stymie disruptive innovation. The financial system also
runs on outmoded technology and is governed by regulations dating back to the
nineteenth century. It is rife with contradictions and uneven developments, making it
sometimes slow, oftentimes insecure, and largely opaque to many stakeholders.
Distributed ledger technology can liberate many financial services from the
confines of old institutions, fostering competition and innovation. That’s good for the
end user. Even when connected to the old Internet, billions of people are excluded
from the economy for the simple reason that financial institutions don’t provide
services like banking to them because they would be unprofitable and risky
customers. With the blockchain these people can not only become connected, but
more important become included in financial activity, able to purchase, borrow, sell,
and otherwise have a chance at building a prosperous life.
Similarly incumbent institutions can transform themselves around blockchain
technology, if they can find the leadership to do it. The technology holds great
promise to revolutionize the industry for the good—from banks to stock exchanges,
insurance companies to accounting firms, brokerages, microlenders, credit card
networks, real estate agents, and everything in between. When everyone shares the
same distributed ledger, settlements don’t take days, they occur instantly for all to see.
Billions will benefit, and this shift could liberate and empower entrepreneurs
everywhere.