Tag Archives: blockchain

The future is on the blockchain

I know that there is a lot of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) about the future of cryptocurrencies, but the reality is that the future will be recorded on blockchains.

Here are 3 ways that transactions will be tracked ‘on chain’:

1. Smart contracts.

When you make large purchases like a house, that includes a loan, the paperwork needs to be handled by lawyers or a notary, because the handing over of debt has to handled correctly or the transaction could leave both the seller and new owner holding the same debt at the same time, or the debt not being owned by either. Smart contracts recorded on the blockchain eliminate this by having the necessary transactions happen simultaneously only after all parties agree.

2. Decentralized finance.

If you have collateral for a loan, you won’t need a bank to borrow. These loans will provide opportunities for people who tend to only be able to access high interest loans to find more appropriate financing. And, the door will be open for loans slightly larger than micro loans, in many countries where this is currently challenging. When finance becomes decentralized regulations become a challenge, and the limits of borders and centralized control break down. There will be a Robin Hood effect where people with small amounts of equity can be both lenders and borrowers, taking the the decision-making and profit-making out of the exclusive hands of the rich.

3. Artists profit.

NFT’s – Non Fungible Tokens are baffling to many people and there are a lot of uses cases that seem silly. But usually when an artist sells a piece of work, they don’t get any value in the resale. NFT’s allow an artist to get a percentage of resale value. This is a game changer for creative people and NFT’s will be a way to track both digital and physical works of art in the future.

There are many other reasons to record transactions on a blockchain, but I think these three uses will be paramount.

Digital currency

In five to ten years a crisp, mint condition 50 or 100 dollar bill from the ‘late 1900’s’ will be a collector’s item. No one will be paying for anything with paper bills or coins. No one. It’s not just that we will be using credit cards and bank cards instead of cash, there won’t be any form of money that won’t be digital.

The Canadian and American dollar, and currencies from all over the world, will be digital cryptocurrencies. They won’t be like Bitcoin where every account address is public. When you pay, no one will be able to look into your account, but the money will be verified as real at the point of transaction. You will be able to instantly change currencies from one country’s currency to another, without a bank. You will also be able switch to another cryptocurrency or Visa, or MasterCard, or some form of smart contract IOU, that is staked against something you own (at a pre-determined interest rate).

Paper money will be nothing more than collectables like Magic the Gathering or Pokémon cards that are no longer printed.

It might seem crazy to think this will happen as soon as 5 years from now, but North America won’t be first. There are countries with incredible inflation that need to print larger and larger bills, making smaller bills useless. In countries like this, the cost of printing the money is hardly worth the effort. Imagine having to carry around seven to ten $50,000 bills to buy a loaf of bread! These economies will move to digital first.

But then the transition will grow exponentially. Within 10 years every nation will have a digital currency and paper money will be a thing of the past. Have any mint condition bills and coins? Keep them, they will be worth a lot more than face value for your grandchildren.

Blockchain and education

Blockchain defined: Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network… ~ IBM

One place that I see blockchain technology being used in education is credentialing. Right now a general arts degree at a good university is a credential that says, ‘I know how to study, write essays, and express my ideas’. Unlike professional programs like engineering or law or med school, a general arts degree is about building more general skills. More and more jobs are not requiring a professional focused degree, but also demand more specific skills than a general degree.

Can a potential job candidate manipulate pivot tables in Excel? Or understand the basics of coding in python? Or use a design thinking process? These questions aren’t always answered by a degree, and might be answered by a certificate. What if Microsoft or other large companies delivered skill-based credentials through online courses? What if when you received certification of completion of the course, you didn’t just get an easily copied and doctored paper certificate, you also got digital certification that could not be doctored by you, but could be verified by anyone?

Imagine having a digital portfolio that linked to all your credentials in immutable ledgers. Your skills could be verified and job descriptions could include expectations of specific skills and credentials. What do you know? What can you do?

So, maybe in the future a college degree will be less impressive than a series of verifiable skills. Maybe high school students will start getting these credentials before they graduate. To me this had a few implications to think about:

1. If we move to a more skill-based economy, how will this affect our school curriculum?

2. If credentials and credentialing become a major driver to workforce hiring, will this force more specialization in high schools?

3. Where does that leave the soft skills like communication, critical thinking, and creativity?

Some people think that credentialing like this can replace teachers, I don’t. I think teachers become more valuable. Let credential testing and digital training measure the skills that are easily measured, and let teachers loose on helping students be more creative, more entrepreneurial, and better problem solvers. Let teachers focus on helping students trying things that are epic, things that are so big they are likely to fail, and help students understand perseverance. Have teachers focus on developing communication and cooperation skills, and helping students understand the importance of learning and process.

Credentialing won’t diminish the role of the teacher, it will magnify their importance in creating leaders and problem solvers. And to me, that’s the more exciting part of being a teacher.