The Innovation Ultimatum

4Distributed Ledgers and Blockchains

Blockchain technology, first thought to be somewhat esoteric and useful only as the underpinnings of obscure cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, has emerged as one of the most compelling new technologies of our time. Blockchain is disruptive to the status quo, with the potential to reshape the economics of entire industries. In other words, Blockchain is a big deal.

Beyond Cryptocurrencies: Why Blockchain Is a Big Deal

Blockchain technology will decentralize power structures, reduce transaction costs, improve traceability, secure data and assets, increase transparency, enable new value creation, and construct new incentive and funding models. Blockchains have profound implications for every business, including yours.

Blockchain will birth new products, new services, and possibly new industries. It will transform everything from healthcare records to real-estate transactions and touch everything from digital voting booths to shipping containers. Blockchain will transform the financial services sector and strip intermediaries and brokers from transactions. Some of those intermediaries may be your existing suppliers or customers. Some might be working inside your company. One of them might be you.

I often compare the rise of Blockchain technology to that of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), the technology that kickstarted the web revolution and ignited the internet era. While they are very different technologies, Blockchain has the potential ...