Category: Business & Society

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Business & Society

Innovative technology fighting poverty

Economic progress and technology are reshaping the world and solving social issues. Poverty is down and the fight continues. What can blockchain technology do to help people living in poverty?

Global economic and social developments in the last 20 years have been jaw-dropping. The number of people living in extreme poverty has dropped by half between 1990 and 2015 and most of this progress has been made in India and China. In fact, China has made historic contributions to the world by reversing the trend of increasing poverty. But 9 percent of the global population still live in extreme poverty and 80% of the world’s poverty-stricken people live in South Asia and sub-Sahara Africa. We still need all the help we can get to eradicate this human suffering.

Although there is no quick-fix to foster financial inclusion and provide financial opportunities for people living in poverty, blockchain represents a world-changing breakthrough. For community development to be effective it needs to impact both the individual and on societal level and blockchain technology is unique in its ability to provide innovative solutions on all levels. What tactics has potential to eradicate poverty, and how can blockchain technology be a part of that process?

Firstly, the unbanked need to be banked and people need better opportunities to fund small businesses with microloans. Secondly, social services need to be more effective in identifying individual needs. Moreover, women need to be in focus as they are more likely to experience poverty as they own less property and have less paid work and generally have lower levels of education than men. There are also clear links between land corruption and poverty.

Land corruption can involve brides during the land administration process, women being denied land rights, communities being excluded in land deals, people being evicted from their land and denied access to relevant information. Blockchain technology can solve major issues in the determination of land ownership. The process of managing records and determination of ownership is transparent and secure when conducted on a blockchain. It is also inclusive in the way information is accessible to the appropriate parties. The fact that blockchains are immutable is important to combat corruption as no one can change land ownership information on the blockchain without it following legal procedures. Blockchain technology can make the process of land ownership and the right of use quicker and cost-efficient and in turn assist in the creation of a trustworthy system that lower the risk of poverty. Suddenly ownership of a parcel of land is reliable.

There are approximately 1.7 billion unbanked people in the world and most of them are women. FinTech companies have potential to provide banking services for the unbanked and help to solve the problem with financial inequality.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have led to the development of new models for micro-lending from developed countries to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Conventional money transfers are expensive and slow and is therefore not able to meet individual needs. This leaves people with limited financial resources outside of the traditional banking system and entrepreneurial dreams are crushed by lack of funding. Blockchain technology have made it possible to send small amounts of money across borders with little or no fees.

We have all heard stories of corrupt leaders use foreign aid to fund criminal activity or to enrich themselves. In today’s aid system funds cannot be traced from end-to-end creating potential for mismanagement and decreasing accountability. One very interesting project is Disberse, who worked with United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other major donor organizations to track aid on the blockchain. Sadly, Disberse had to be cancelled after the pilot phase, but the idea of the project was ground-breaking. Blockchain technology open a lot of doors and allow new ways of doing business and to solve societal problems, but projects also need to function on all levels of delivery. The final report of the project sends us a message; “Remember that technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself.” The Disberse website is now a hub for learning resources and a valuable source for future projects with similar focus.

Social services can also be improved with the use of blockchain technology. Researchers have identified ways to use blockchain technology to identify the needs of vulnerable and needy populations and manage the follow up of the situation. This could be used to effectively and securely track and support people who receive social benefits or micro-loans and evaluate if the quality of life of the beneficiaries improves.

In many ways using blockchain technology to fight poverty is a way to reach the individual but also to limit human interaction in transactions and providing a trustworthy platform for services. Unfortunately, human interaction in financial processes make room for fraud and corruption and the traditional financial system is expensive and slow and not built to address financial inequality. Lessons from using blockchain technology to fight poverty tell us that technology is not the complete solution. We obviously need sound business models and the appropriate skillset. The successful social entrepreneur that uses blockchain technology and aims to fight poverty is likely to be a project that assists women living in poverty with optimized social services, targeted educational initiatives and microloans. 

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Business & Society

Can we trust our instinct in investing?

Crypto trading is not entirely based on chance. Sufficient knowledge of crypto and macro economics and a clear strategy is important. But knowing what factors are beyond our control may be vital.

Disclaimer: This is education only, and not financial advice. Please, do your own research and consider what is best for your financial situation. Be careful friends.

There are two basic ‘do’s and don’ts’ in investing. Buying a crypto coin after a 40% daily surge in price is likely to be a ill-advised decision. On the other hand, buying crypto when the price has recently dropped seems to be a better decision. That is straight forward enough. But investing can easily get far more complex in the balance between what we think we know and control and what we don’t know and can’t control. There’s a risk that we over-estimate our chance of winning just because we apply specific types of knowledge or skills.

We may think that we see patterns and correlations between things. In fact, the academic term ‘patterning instinct’ describe our instinct to see patterns to understand something. This ability is fantastic for making sound decisions based on our understanding and knowledge. However, there is also a risk that we think we see a pattern or a link between things that do not exist. For example, people do not grow longer because they play basketball. In crypto some influencers may claim they see correlation between the moon and the price of Bitcoin. Some put a great deal of emphasis on technical analysis without considering important macro-economic factors that impact the price of a coin. The tricky part is that there may be some factors that have a reciprocal relationship, but they are only very loosely connected. It’s a similar situation for conspiracy theories that may have some truth to them, but the overall message is incorrect.

Hindsight bias (the outcome is seen as being hypothesized all along) is also a common problem amongst influencers in crypto. We would very much like to be right… regardless of what happened. Self-serving attributions also seem to frequent the crypto space as it’s a nice feeling to attribute success to ourselves. In a bull run with favorable market conditions it can seem that any advice or correlation theory leads to profit, as the trend reinforces our actions.

In trading we also try to identify predictable momentum shifts before we buy or sell crypto assets. The bitcoin halving event is such a predictable factor. But the trend is only a friend until it’s broken.

Can we trust our instinct in trying to see patterns between things? Yes and no. At some point our instinct to try to understand and to control the outcome can lead to financially bad decisions.

Watch out! Research has shown that people who experience gambling problems tend to more strongly believe that knowledge and skills, and certain rituals can increase the likelihood of winning. It seems healthy to know how far our arms of control can reach. Our sense of control can be an illusion.

To reduce the risk of overestimated perceptions of control, we need to be aware that crypto value is highly correlated with Bitcoin. It is unlikely that any coin will rise unless Bitcoin is rising as well.

A friendly reminder. Strong fundamentals are not equal to price. A crypto project with a strong fundamental use case may not increase in price until Bitcoin is stable and there is confidence in the crypto market. Because crypto assets follow bitcoin it is difficult to limiting the risk of losses through diversifying the portfolio. To make matters worse, a bitcoin fall will usually mean a wipe-out for altcoins.

What to do?

To reduce the risk of overestimated our perception of control we can follow core rules:

1. Take profits when the coin increase in price.

2. Maintain some liquidity by converting some crypto assets into stable coins.

3. Focus on crypto projects that are most likely to be here for many years to come.

4. Be skeptical of influencers that claim they have found the ‘secret’ in trading.

Sure, the crypto market is still volatile since the market value is still low. Therefore, whales can influence the price of crypto currencies with their big pockets. But no one has complete control over Bitcoin. Furthermore, living with the sometimes-uncomfortable feeling of lack of control is part of life.

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Business & Society

Mind-boggling spending habits in the metaverse

Spending habits in the metaverse

The emerging market of the metaverse is creating mind-boggling business models. Who would have thought we will have a digital self to care for? Perhaps your digital avatar would like a jacket designed by Burberry!? How about a pair of fresh kicks to wear at the online concert?

As our existence will increasingly turn digital, we will soon have an online avatar that is representing ourselves. We will have a digital professional and personal identity to care for in the metaverse and the retail sector is identifying a trillion-dollar future marketplace.

McKinsey has estimated that the metaverse could generate $4-$5 trillion by 2030. Metaverse entrepreneurship is on the rise, and the retail sector is guessing which metaverse will be most successful and profitable. Brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger are investing in digital fashion products to equip our virtual selves. Some say there will be more than 10,000 virtual worlds and the biggest ones now days, are The Sandbox, Decentraland and Voxels and Horizon Worlds.

Decentraland has a market valuation of $1.2 billion and has a dedicated area for fashion retail. A real estate developer has invested $912,228 to buy land to build a virtual version of Tokyo’s famous “Harajuku” district to rent shops out to retailers. A retail group K11 is taking a chance at The Sandbox and has purchased a considerable area. The average price of one Sandbox land is around $2,300 but prices jump considerably if it’s an attractive area where lots of users will be present. MetaMetric Solutions estimated that real estate sales on the four major metaverse platforms reached $501 million in 2021.

However, those looking forward to buying a digital Louis Vuitton bag for their virtual girlfriend will have to wait.

The metaverse in full, does not exist yet. Reports suggest that one of the biggest metaverses ‘Decentraland’ only has 8,000 daily active users. It seems far off that we will spend money on the image of our digital selves, but when we are working and interacting with one another in the metaverse our image will be important. Like it or not.

So, when will we live in the metaverse? The company Meta estimated that it will take 10–15 years to complete the construction of a fully functional and publicly available metaverse with all necessary gadgets.

Until then. Enjoy the fresh outdoors.

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Business & Society

Predicting the future for profit

Following the trail of institutions and big-time investors is wise to make profits in crypto. So called ’smart money’ will be where the future is. What will the future look like in crypto?

Disclaimer: This is education only, and not financial advice. Please, do your own research and consider what is best for your financial situation. Be careful friends.

Smart money is the capital that is being controlled by institutional investors, billionaires, central banks, funds, and other financial professionals. Companies and institutions and big-time investors employ the smartest people around to look into the future. No one really knows what the thrilling future of crypto exactly will look like, but there are a few signs.

We are amid the fourth industrial revolution, and this societal shift has in store great changes. In the next 5 years we can predict a further digitalization of things, business, and society. I see the following scenarios in the future:

1. A further digitalization of our existence will mean a dramatic increase in data. This data needs to be stored somewhere. So, investing in digital assets that store data is probably wise.

2. As more and more virtual land is bought by big brands, investing in the metaverse is also likely to be profitable.

3. Layer 1 protocols are also likely to blossom as thousands of dapps are being built on them. It is very likely that the biggest ones will survive the bear market.

4. The banking industry is looking at blockchains that can make cross border transactions more efficient, faster, and cheaper. They will also upgrade the way they do their business. Therefore, look for coins that are ready for iso 20022.

When we have a likely picture of the future, we can use the information to find crypto currencies that are involved in the development of society and business. We need a picture of the future to have a long-term mindset in investing.

My take on the current market:

October has the nickname pumptober, but this october is more likely to be mediocre or even red. Not even Bitcoin can withstand the vast array of negative macro-economic factors affecting the world. As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on along with a looming recession it is difficult to predict crypto prices. Even crypto experts are guessing or just following their gut…

We are in a bear market and the price of crypto coins are likely to continue going down slightly or stay flat until the end of the year at least. Some predict that prices will continue being boring all through 2023. Boring meaning a slight upturn each month beginning in early 2023. The real action upward is likely not to start until April 2024.

Crypto has an index that measures what emotion and different sentiments are driving the market. The Fear & Greed Index is now showing ‘extreme fear’ among investors which may cause a strong selling pressure. Basically, investors are too worried to invest. However, those believing crypto regard ‘extreme fear’ as a buying signal.

Coins on my radar:

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Filecoin, XRP, Algorand, Sandbox, Decentraland. But there are many more to consider.

Please consider the following rules in investing in crypto:

· Stay up to date with crypto news.

· Think long-term.

· Be ready to lose it all.

· Keep your money on cold storage.

Be careful. Not investing is wise. Investing after doing your own research is also wise.

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Business & Society

What is the fourth industrial revolution? — why does it matter for business and society?

In less than 300 years our society has evolved from the steam engine to smart household gadgets and robots doing our work. Each industrial era is better than the previous and develops from the need to advance businesses and society. What’s the fourth industrial revolution good for?

We have gone through three industrial revolutions; each lasting about 100 years. The first industrial revolution started in 1784 with the development of steam, water, mechanical production equipment. About 100 years later society was greatly enhanced with the use of electricity and in late 1960s electronics, IT and automated systems reshaped society.

Each industrial era comes from the necessity to advance society and the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0) is the most advanced and quickest of all previous industrial revolutions. In the last twenty years new disruptive digital technologies such as, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain technology, cloud computing and fintech have transformed our existence. The speed of the fourth industrial revolution makes it difficult to see clearly what the future will look like. However, there are key themes that are important to be aware of.

Industry 4.0 is generally about optimization of production and creating a closer connection between manufacturers and customers. Researchers predict that blockchain technology will change almost all aspects of our lives, including financial markets, business operations and governance, health care, government operations and public administration. Blockchains can be effectively used for registration of births and title deeds, security trading, insurance services, health care, accounting, auditing, and supply chain networks. One major component of blockchains is that they eliminate the ‘trusted third party’ such as banks or other central authorities involved in transactions. This will affect businesses that involve the middleman.

Moreover, things need to go quicker now days and industry 4.0 is all for optimization and customization. Technological innovations in the fourth industrial revolution enhances the products and services that were developed in the third industrial revolution. The internet of things is a term to describe the link between a physical product and its connection to the internet. Information alone is not enough, and the information age is enhanced by technologies in the fourth industrial revolution. Customers demand customization, and the fourth industrial revolution is about mixing and matching technologies that increase productivity and meet customer needs.

The sky is the limit with technology. Today payments are quickly and easily made through fintech payment apps that use blockchain technology, our lawns are cut by self-driving lawn movers and automated cars can drive us to work. Robots with AI technology are used in production. Google assistants order products for us and our smart phones and watches are almost limitless in how they impact our lives. Cyber physical system that uses a combination of technologies such as sensors and data are used to enhance products. One example is the fire alarm that start to ring when a change takes place in the environment.

There are a few fears within the fourth industrial revolution that companies and societies need to tackle. Security challenges are apparent as we use big data that is commonly stored and transferred on the cloud. Companies and organizations need to consider privacy issues regarding how they use and store customer data. Decentralized blockchain technology has proven to be a more secure database than traditional databases and data can now be stored on the cloud in a decentralized fashion. This increases security as big data is not stored on one server but on a cloud that is connected to hundreds or thousands of nodes.

As society evolve in digitization, we also need to evolve. The adoption of new technologies is likely to affect the labor market as robots and technological innovations are used instead of humans to perform services and production tasks. The need to solve simpler tasks is likely to go down and demand for specialized knowledge and high-level jobs will increase.

Grandma needs to learn to use the smart phone.

It’s the same for business. It is the nimblest company that will survive in the fourth industrial revolution. Companies that are brave enough to question current ways of doing business and embrace new technologies will survive. They may even have to change their business model to meet customer needs. Here’s a business idea for you. Take accountants for example. Their way of doing business can be dramatically improved if they used blockchain technology instead of traditional accounting methods. Blockchain technology would make their business more secure, trustworthy, and efficient.

Being in tune with societal developments is crucial for delivering business practices in the absolute forefront. There are huge economic rewards for companies that are successful in adapting to the current industrial phase. But it takes guts to evolve. Daring to use and merge different technologies with services or for production is necessary to stay ahead in industry 4.0.

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Business & Society

Better coffee with blockchain technology

Coffee producers brag about high quality beans and sustainable production methods. Should we trust their word for it and simply enjoy our coffee in the morning? How can blockchain technology ensure that our coffee is sustainably farmed?

Coffee is commonly divided into two broad categories; Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is considered high quality with superior taste whereas Robusta is used for cheaper types of coffee such as powder coffee. Labeling coffee “100% Arabica” is a classic way to imply that the coffee is of high quality, but it is no guarantee that the beans have been ethically sourced or is sustainably farmed. Considering that there are hundreds of different eco labels it is impossible for the consumer to be certain that each package of coffee is following eco labeling guidelines. Contamination is also an issue in the coffee business. Researchers at Quadram Institute claim that between 5 and 20 percent of all Arabica labelled coffee may in fact contain significant levels of Robusta. Fraudulent activity in the coffee sector is big business as the global coffee market is worth USD 466 billion. Is there a way to increase consumer trust, and trace and parse coffee from the farm to the cup?

In fact, there is a growing trend in specialty coffee to include traceability information such as the name of the farm, location, and crop year on coffee packaging. However, blockchain technology takes traceability to another level. Blockchains often use new technologies, such as remote sensing technology and artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data. Customized sensor networks can be used to track time, temperature, and humidity levels which is stored on a blockchain. This data may be vital for food safety.

For example, Walmart is collaborating with IBM to utilize blockchain technology for tackling food safety in the supply chain. Food safety and blockchain initiatives are being initiated in China, South America, and Central America.

One major benefit of using blockchain technology is increased transparency. Coffee companies in Indonesia use blockchain technology to ensure that the production process is secure. Upon purchase consumers can scan the QR code on the package to learn facts about harvesting, roasting, and shipment time. Each bag is traceable and the blockchain ensures that the information is immutable.

Futhermore, blockchain technology provides verifiable trust instead of general information. Putting it simply. It is difficult for a coffee company to use fraudulent practices when each step of the production process is tracked on a immutable blockchain. Blockchains can be used to analyse the production process and to certify products. Eco certifications mean something when companies are transparent by using blockchain technology.

It’s a win-win situation. Coffee companies realize that consumers are quality and environmentally conscious and put in the work to improve customer relations. Companies can enjoy increased sales when customers can verify that the coffee is sustainable.

There are also marketing benefits of using traceable production processes. We speak highly of things we trust and coffee companies experience increased social media engagement when they focus on transparency.

In summary, coffee companies that use blockchain technology can build better relationships with customers and increase efficiency, and reduce the risk of food recalls, fraud, and product loss.

This taste like better coffee.

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Business & Society

Banks hinder innovation by blocking the FinTech industry

Banks may be considered secure, but they are failing to provide satisfactory and effective services for billions of people and hinder the development of the financial sector. Is FinTech the solution?

Crises do not only foster personal growth but also societal developments. The 2008 global financial crisis led to the growth of an innovative financial industry called fintech. FinTech is short for Financial Technology and is used to describe an industry that combine new technology and financial services. Commonly FinTech companies offer digital payments instruments, lending, crowd funding and open banking as well as cryptocurrency. The Swedish FinTech sector has grown more than fifteenfold since 2008 and is proud to offer a healthy innovative environment for about 450 FinTech companies. Stockholm is a hub for many FinTech companies such as Klarna, Avanza, Qliro and Nordnet.

However, innovation can be disruptive. FinTech is seen as a threat to traditional banks as it eliminates the middleman in economic transactions. Traditional banks are making it harder for people to interact with FinTech companies by banning the use of debit and credit cards for cryptocurrency purchases. The Swedish bank Handelsbanken have blocked the use of debit cards on the crypto exchange Binance and the credit card company Remember have blocked all crypto purchases. Since the beginning of 2022 it is not possible to buy crypto with a Swedish debit or credit card on any of the major crypto exchanges.

The official explanation for blocking crypto payments is that it protects the customers for risky investments and from fraud. Hang on! What‘s’ going on here? I am not a gambler, but I am sure that I can use my debit/credit card when I go to a casino. I know I can use it to buy a few margaritas in the nightclub… I do not need any bank to decide for me what an risky investment is.

The only reasonable explanation for blocking crypto payments is that crypto is seen as a threat to the core business model of traditional banking. It is common knowledge that traditional finance is fearful of the transformative power of the crypto industry. At first glance it may seem natural that traditional banks protect themselves, but it is a violation of freedom when they try control how we spend our money.

On a broader scale these measures by the banks pose a threat to the FinTech industry and hinders innovation. The FinTech industry is a growing part of the financial system in Sweden and have earned 0.15 percent of the nation’s GDP. Some FinTech firms use blockchain technology and crypto currency in their business model. Sweden is increasingly seen as an international player in the FinTech industry and traditional banking will go through changes in the fourth industrial revolution. It’s a fact that major global banks use blockchain technology as a way to improve their service. But blocking banking card transactions to crypto exchanges sends another very clear message.

The traditional banking sector is seen as a secure with government guarantees but it has failed to help those in most need. There are approximately 1.7 billion unbanked people in the world and most of them are women. In developing countries 94 percent of the population has a bank account but in developing countries the figure falls to 63 percent. On a global scale 72 percent of all males have a bank account and 65 percent of women do.

FinTech has potential to provide banking services for the unbanked and help to solve the problem with financial inequality. I would like to ask the traditional banking industry how one can live without having a basic checking of savings account!? How can a person live a normal life when there is no way to get a loan or difficult to pay for groceries. How are banks helping the poor?

Well, let’s not forget. Banks are not our friends. The world would be wise to consider what the FinTech industry can do to improve the current financial system. Lets create a sound financial system for the benefit of mankind. A system that do not exclude either traditional banks or the crypto industry.

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Business & Society

Can blockchain technology be used in national elections?

Digital elections can solve problems with queues and boost voter turnout. Why are we not using blockchain technology for national elections?

Sweden recently had a national election and reports suggest that some districts experienced long queues due to new voting procedures in polling stations. The ballot papers were placed in a booth to increase privacy, but this led to increased queues. The Swedish Election Government (Valmyndigheten) also claimed that the participation rate experienced a downturn.

Democracies perform better when more people vote, and we need to use technology to make the voting process more effective.

The pandemic showed the world that we need to look at different ways to organize important democratic events. For a democratic society to function properly, people need to be able to vote regardless of the situation a country is in. War or peace. We therefore need to use technology in the best possible way to decrease the risk of elections frauds world-wide and to increase voting participation. Is blockchain technology the out of the box solution?

According to research blockchain technology can be used for elections. Blockchain technology can be used to decrease the risk of fraud by decreasing human involvement in the voting process. By using an electronic voting system people will have a secure and easy way to vote without leaving home, but is blockchain technology ready to be used for a national election?

I was given the opportunity to work in the Swedish election and experienced the problems of manually handling ballots. Each ballot had to be handled according to strict guidelines to ensure a secure, anonymous, and trustworthy voting process. I was surprised to see that each ballot is still manually counted. We often had to recount the votes several times since they did not always match the voting registry. The counting process was time consuming and votes from abroad needed to arrive before national results could be presented. It was an honour to serve the Swedish democracy, but I wonder why we are still using old school ways of voting.

Research show that blockchain technology is not enough for national elections. One problem is that the blockchain stores data in such a way that a national election will be too large for the blockchain if privacy is essential in the election. Currently, blockchain technology can only be used in elections where votes are only counted without being verified. In short. Using blockchain technology gets tricky as soon as we need to know that our individual votes have been counted but without showing who we voted for. Solving this technological puzzle takes time. The blockchain expert and creator of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson has predicted that we need 3–5 years before the blockchain technology may be ready to be used in a national election.

The crypto space is eager to talk about the potential of using blockchain technology to solve major problems with election fraud in developing nations. But clearly blockchain technology needs to develop further before it can be used in national elections. Sweden will likely stick to its remarkably transparent voting system for many years to come as people have a high degree of trust in government organisations and the traditional voting system. Technology will take a bigger role if that trust is broken.

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Business & Society

Growing pains of the crypto industry

Scams, hacks and rug pulls are causing billions in losses for investors and harming crypto businesses. Exchanges and decentralized finance companies go bankrupt. Rogue states use anonymous crypto currencies to fund military spending. Governments ban certain blockchain solutions and traditional finance are in a shoot-out with the crypto industry. Is this normal for the emergence of new technologies?

The internet started its public journey in the beginning of the 1990s and today 4.4 billion people are estimated to use the internet. When internet was launched to the public a range of problems occurred for users. Spam and viruses were so common that every computer needed antivirus software. Illegal content and pornography basically took over the internet. Later major issues appeared when the old Internet Protocol called IPv4 had to be changed to IPv6 to get more internet addresses. The biggest problem is still that half of the world’s population do not have internet access. The point is that technological developments will go through problems before they are adapted to our needs. Rome was not built in a day.

It’s not easy for the crypto industry to adapt to its own rapid development. Laws and regulations in the crypto space cannot keep up. For example, recently the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash was sanctioned and caused worries in the Ethereum ecosystem. The problem is that Tornado is an open-source software that use the Ethereum system to make it difficult to trace cryptocurrency transactions. Apparently, North Korea used Tornado Cash to launder $7 billion worth of crypto currency on the world’s second biggest blockchain Ethereum and used the money to boost their military spending. The founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin did not see that coming.

Clearly regulation and laws are an essential part of a healthy society but sanctioning a piece of open code is clearly problematic. Privacy is an important part of the crypto space and that does not mean that privacy is equal to illegal behaviour. We do not want others to know about our digital wallet or about our health data that will be stored on a blockchain in the future. We certainly cannot blame blockchain technology in general for creating software that can increase privacy. When Facebook used our internet data in questionable ways to profit, the US government tried to make sense of what they did and to enforce regulation. But we never blamed the internet for how it was used to profit from consumer data the way Facebook did.

The S curve is a way to measure how far a technology is being adopted by society. If we look at where the crypto industry is in terms of adoption in comparison to the dawn of the internet its only 1993 in the crypto space. Do you remember the first time you used Explorer to surf the internet? The S curve tells the story that the crypto space is somewhere in between the innovator and early adopters’ phase of development. Think of the adoption rate like a scale from 1 to 5 and the crypto industry is nearly in the second phase. The fact that there are more than 20000 crypto assets it’s obvious that innovators have centre stage and you and me (early adopters) see opportunities in the field, but the public remains sceptical. Crypto is like an energetic cocky teenager and growing pains are natural.

Have a great day!

Henrik

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Business & Society

A crypto boom despite price downturn

The price of Bitcoin has fallen 70% since all-time high in November 2021 and some altcoins have even had a 90% downturn. A newcomer in the crypto space might think that the industry is down for a 10 second count, but in fact the developments in the crypto industry have been significant in the last year.

Major banks consider blockchain technology a necessity to be competitive and to improve its services and to save billions. Santander claimed that banks could save 15–20 billion a year. Mastercard and Visa is in on making it possible for their customers to do crypto payments. Luxury brands are betting on the future of the metaverse. Meta opened its arms fully to the industry and has adopted the metaverse kid. Instagram has made it possible for users to show NFTs on the platform. Applepay have already taken a piece of the traditional payments pie and have created solutions for connecting crypto wallets to Applepay.

I agree. NFTs are a bit difficult to understand, but they are far more than just a jpeg image. NFTs have already had a boom in 2021 and is here to stay with innovative functions. The entertainment industry use NFTs to offer the NFT holder various forms of entertainment such as a concert or an art exhibition. Professional artist use NFTs to ensure payments and to lower the risk of forgery. NFTs are a big time business. In 2022, the sporting industry is set to earn $ 2 billion on digital collectibles, virtual access, and gaming.

Michael Sailor and his company MicroStrategy is relentless in its faith in Bitcoin and keeps on buying regardless of its downturn. Elon Musk needed cash and sold some Bitcoin and keeps on fiddling with Dogecoin and scaring the market with occasional tweets. Recently one of the world’s biggest investments managers Blackrock with its trillion-dollar purse showed up in the space and teamed up with the crypto exchange Coinbase. Although Blackrock is tight with the traditional banking sector the crypto industry cannot wait for a trillion-dollar injection. Boom!

Companies use blockchain technology to improve their services. Blockchain is a software solution to problems in various industries such as tracking and tracing products in the transportation industry. Or for securely storing private and sensitive health data. An entrepreneur could even start a crypto business to fund a shelter for animals. Anything can be programmed on the blockchain. A smart contract code can be seen as the computer saying, ”if x happens then y happens automaticaly”.

In the beginning of the year U.S President Joe Biden even signed an executive order on crypto to advance the U.S competitiveness and leadership in digital assets and crypto ecosystem.

Blockchains clearly has value for businesses and nations.

Investors believe that the crypto project has potential to increase their investments because the project can solve a problem. Sure, some crypto projects are useless and still increase in price, but the last stupid thing in universe is not yet created.

Let’s not forget that crypto is more than the price of an asset. The monetary value of the crypto market is not indicative of how far the crypto industry has come. CZ Head of the world biggest crypto exchange Binance, said it best “Price is just a reflection of mass psychology, not progress.”

Have a great day! / Henrik