As per the recent news reports, we all are well aware about the coming nightmare for all the crypto traders in India that the Govt. is planning to bring a bill to blanket-ban all the cryptocurrencies & crypto-exchanges operating in India. Though a stable version backed by Govt. is also expected to roll out soon. Lot of speculations in the market right now but, much less talked is the technology behind all this which is at present the new wonder of the Information Technology world: “The Blockchain Technology”. Hence, the article will focus on the importance & best uses of this technology for an advanced Cyber world.
To define simply, blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. The decentralised database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). {Source: Euromoney}
And, that Distributed network is the reason which makes it almost impossible for someone to crack into the right database to seek or alter information. Altering information is actually even more tougher as there is no way that alteration could be hidden from the network since every change is marked and again verified by randomly chosen systems. Hence, the system as a whole is too typical to be compromised as per the present scenario.
SO WHY THE GOVT. WANTS TO BAN CRYPTO?
So, all this brings a question to our minds that if the technology is such superior then why various Govts. around the globe is banning or planning to ban the Cryptocurrency trading? The straight answer to this is “Control”. Governments directly cannot control or keep check on these virtual currencies with various different objectives (of which some are too vague!) or even no objective at all.
Hence, even the drastic changes in a currency value cannot be checked leading to a drastic change in a nation’s economy and lives of the people specially in those of underdeveloped and developing ones.
WHAT’S THE FUTURE THEN?
Future is definitely promising when it comes to regulated crypto-currencies as well. Blockchain as a technology is evolving continuously with now a wide community of independent & dedicated developers working worldwide to bring new improvements and solutions for the world. Lot of International banks have already started shifting to higher and more advanced security levels using the blockchain technology. In India, some of the top notch banks like ICICI, Axis, Yes bank have already implemented some part/s of the technology in real-time use and getting great benefits out of it as well.
The Ministry of Finance has also guided the uses of blockchain technology in the following Fintech areas:
- Cross-Border Payments: hence, breaking the long long process of bank documentations, Govt. approvals, multiple currency conversions and negotiations in cases of discrepancies
- Settlement of Securities: using KYC and easy traceability of the transaction & records
- Trade Finance: hence, overcoming all the tedious issues which comes up in issuing LCs
- Smart Contracts: usage in supply chain financing
CONCLUSION
Every new technology comes up with some pros and cons. It’s true that world is more aware of the cons of the Blockchain technology but, in a positive perspective it’s a blessing in disguise that we are very much aware of what not to do with the technology than what to do with it of which we all are slowly getting aware off and already started seeing some great results like in the banking and supply chain management systems. Taking in account the rapid reach of internet & increasing internet speeds at even the remotest areas of the world in lowest possible prices, use of blockchain technologies would surely add up to the credibility and authenticity of many systems in the times to come. We just need to be more open with the technology and the research going in the background to gain maximum benefits.
We will keep you posted on more updates on this and more NextGen technologies from time to time. Stay tuned for more updates and do share your valuable thoughts and suggestions in the comments section.
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