Introduction to rise of Blockchain Technology
Fuelled by the unceasing hype around Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, blockchain has been regarded as the silver bullet solution for everything—hacking, threats to democracy, poverty and world hunger.
5 ways in which Blockchain Tech can help mitigate the COVID crisis:
I – Building more resilient supply chains
- An end-to-end supply chain on blockchain, combined with digitization and Internet of Things (IoT), can make the chain transparent and traceable, and tell us quickly where any problem lies.
- That blockchain use could offer transparent, traceable and cheaper supply chains has been known for a while, but cost, data sharing hesitation, and a lack of incentive have kept managers from setting them up.
- A crisis like COVID can change these mindsets to build supply chains that are far more resilient for the next big crisis of this kind.
II – Universal basic income and digital currency
- A blockchain-based digital currency (Bitcoin-like, but more stable and backed by the government) is an apt UBI solution for the millions who are unbanked but have some mobile or internet connectivity.
- This has health benefits too, especially now that paper currency is seen as a virus-carrier.
III – Tokenization and fractional ownership
- Blockchains have brought in a great innovation: asset tokenization, which converts rights into an asset and then into a digital token.
- This can enable fractional ownership and sale.
- In a cash and capital-starved post-covid society, tokenization could enable liquidity and fractional ownership of real estate, industrial and farm equipment, etc.
IV – Global health record repository
- Health records on blockchain can be very significant with their security, transparency and privacy benefits.
V – Fundraising
- Initial coin offerings (ICOs) had emerged as an alternate way of raising money, through the blockchain-enabled crowd-sourcing of funds.
- The emergence of authentic and safe ICOs as an alternate mechanism for start-ups to raise funds can still be a reality.
-Source: Livemint
