The Bitcoin Blockchain

The blockchain is probably one of the most important factors behind Bitcoin’s success: a transparent ledger book, available to everyone, which allows “universal consensus,” in the words of Gavin Wood. Financial industry was among the first ones to take benefit of such system, with the invention of the first decentralized currency, bitcoin. Thanks to this, “The trading has quickly become as easy as buying music on iTunes” according to Michael Geike. However, here are several applications in more general areas, and that rely on the awesome technology the blockchain is.

Knowledge Sharing

The blockchain is basically a huge book. Then, sharing information freely and on a distributed-basis between medical doctors, scientists and organizations from all over the world, as suggested by Michael Geike would be a very interesting idea.

An experiment in the field of knowledge sharing was previously initiated by the bitcoin podcast Let’s Talk Bitcoin, which issued its altcoin to reward both content creators (podcasts, shows, articles) and those who consult and interact with the authors of the aforementioned content. This “proof of publishing” may be used in many areas to extend as far as possible the spectrum of human knowledge.

Funding

Issuing your own altcoin, solely designed for crowdfunding purposes, is also a possibility one might consider to raise funds easily and most importantly, in a completely transparent manner. By issuing a cryptographic coin (that, therefore, uses a blockchain-alike system), a fundraiser could enable its various investors to monitor closely how the funds will be used. Individuals around the world, especially the developing countries could “pitch” their ideas to anyone using the internet while providing a more secure follow up tracking than traditional online fundraising platforms such as Kickstarter. Similarly, the blockchain system represents a tremendous opportunity in the field of loans between individuals, as illustrated by the success of the startupBtc-jam.

Blockchain Democracy

The democracy is no exception: In the context of strong political mistrust of citizens about their governments, many voting systems projects using blockchain have emerged worldwide. As Pierre Noizat, who was one of the first to imagine such a system, stated:

“An electronic transaction is nothing but a signed digital message”

Couldn’t this digital message be a ballot in order to elect a politician, or as part of a nation-wide decision making? The idea has since made its way within the bitcoin community, leading to extensive debates and suggestions, but also within political parties themselves, like in Sweden.

Finally, decentralized currencies are a way to dissolve national barriers, to the great displeasure of the legislators: a currency has shifted from a state-owned property to a people owned one, which is sharing a common goal, that is most of the time expressed through the cryptocurrency specification:

– The security algorithm behind the currency (Proof of Work/Proof of Stake)
– The currency’s name and logo, as well as their meaning (Dogecoin’s success is mostly based on these two points)
– The distribution channels of the currency (Through specific communities with common interests, such as deepweb users and their darkcoins, or to a global audience like bitcoin.)