What is the Blockchain and how it will disrupt many industries: a look through Blockchain Expo Global

Hey! My name is Lucas and Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies have been my passion for the last year. This last week I had the pleasure to attend the Blockchain Expo Global at London, which was one of the best meetings of the year and hosted speakers from companies such as IBM, Barclays, Santander or Coca-Cola.

I am here to summarize the main topics that were discussed at the venue, and to try and encourage every reader to get curious and learn more about a technology that will transform enterprises globally and that is set to create endless career opportunities.

Bitcoin was only the beginning. Blockchain, the technology behind the so-called “Digital Gold” is here to stay and threatens to disrupt a wide number of industries, from insurance to finance.

But let’s start from the beginning…
 

What is the Blockchain?

A Blockchain is basically a decentralized ledger. The information, instead of being kept by a central authority, is distributed between a big number of participants, the nodes, and new information can only be attached to the ledger when there is consensus between all the nodes.

This creates a database that is immutable, because no single malign entity can change or corrupt data, secure, through complex cryptography and mathematical algorithms, transparent, since the information is available to all the nodes, and fast, because all the nodes receive the agreed data at the same time.

These benefits make the blockchain technology ideal for any business that requires trust, which is achieved through decentralization, as well as others were a large amount of transactions need to be processed rapidly. Thus, the number of applications in fields such as finance, health care, insurance, advertising, charity or even voting are boundless.
 

What was the event about?

Blockchain Expo Global was a very interesting event with a lot of important companies being represented and explaining their thoughts and ideas about the Blockchain. After carefully listening to a lot of conferences and panels, the following conclusions could be drawn:

• The Blockchain technology is here to stay. Cryptocurrencies were only its first application, but the decentralized ledgers are useful and new businesses based on it will soar in the future.

• Traditional enterprises, specially in finance, will adopt the blockchain or be replaced. The big banks, although reticent to cryptocurrencies because of their volatility, are experimenting with the blockchain and will launch blockchain-based applications soon. One example is OnePay, which has already been launched by Santander bank and allows for international payments to be settled in real-time.

• Regulations will affect, but not kill. Blockchain businesses and cryptos are deemed to be transformed by the regulators’ statements, but they will adapt and change to stay legal.

All in all, the blockchain is, and will continue to be, one of the main topics in the technology scene. Big companies are already working with it and it is a matter of time before small businesses and entrepreneurs from all around the world adopt it and bring the new wave of innovation to the corporate world.

Hope this article has clarified some doubts and helped you understand the importance of the blockchain. If you have any doubts or want to learn more about what this technology is and what it means, do not hesitate to ask at l.gil-canton@tbs-education.org

By Lucas Gil Cantón, Bachelor in Management student at TBS Barcelona

Tags: Bitcoin|Blockchain|Blockchain Expo Global|Cryptocurrencies|finance|Lucas Gil Cantón