In the last month, I made a wonderful trip with my father through Brazil. The destination was also one of the highlights; the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Being a blockchain fan, I was very enthusiastic to witness how one of the schools that colored the fantastic parade had chosen the theme “the evolution of money” and, subsequently, also had dressed a few people like Bitcoin. The popularity of cryptocurrency has risen sharply in South America recently, mainly due to the instability of the regular (fiat) currency in countries such as Venezuela, where thousands of predominantly small companies now accept the well-known cryptocurrency Dash. Let’s see how blockchain technology will impact the Tourism sector.

For a few years already, I have had the pleasure of carrying out various advisory processes for governments at home and abroad in the field of “Destination Marketing & Management; improving its findability and visibility of a destination”. A frequently asked question various governments posed me in recent times is ‘what will be the impact of blockchain?’ and ‘what is currently happening in the sector regarding this topic?’. The sector was valued at over $7.5 trillion (10% of global GDP) in 2018 and generates over 100 million jobs directly, according to the United Nations, and this obviously makes it interesting to review the many ways in which technology can and will have an impact. My top 10:

Demolishing The Power Of The OTAs

The power of Online Travel Agents (OTAs), such as Booking.com and Expedia, is a growing annoyance for many hoteliers and airlines. Apart from the high fees charged by OTAs, the loss of vital customer data and the increasing monopoly and additional effects are becoming a problem for affiliated companies. One of the best-known attributes for which blockchain is widely praised, and which will cause major breakthroughs, is its ability to cut out the middleman. Last year, the CEO of TUI already expressed his expectation that the technology would make “monopolistic intermediaries” (in his view, OTAs) disappear in the coming five years.

Several cool blockchain startups are already working on a solution to make this become reality. The best known is Winding Tree, which has developed a decentralized marketplace where hotels, airlines and tour operators can assist their customers directly. Contrary to the current OTAs, the platform lacks the drive for profitability or aim to obtain the biggest possible market share. It has recently managed to attract many important partners, such as KLM, Lufthansa, and AirCanada. In addition, there are also destinations that use the Winding Tree platform, such as Aruba. At present, a handful of OTAs is collecting the bulk of the revenue that the 1 million plus tourists generate for the country. By offering its own token, the country wants to decentralize its offering and grant both small and large players the same opportunities.

OTAs – tourism sector

In addition to Winding Tree, there are around twenty other companies that are competing with the OTAs. Webjet from Australia focuses specifically on hotel bookings and has already signed up Thomas Cook and a number of very large Asian hotel chains as partners. Locktrip too focuses on hotels and has already linked 100,000 hotels to its platform. It claims to make bookings 19% cheaper on average and has recently substantiated this claim. Other well-known parties that are also pursuing greener pastures are Atlas, Blockskye, and KeyoCoin.

The Decentralized Business Sector

Just like the OTAs, blockchain will also have an interesting impact on the business sector. Several start-ups with proofs-of-concept have already developed a decentralized solution for well-known platforms such as Uber and Airbnb. One of the best known is Beetoken, which connects landlords directly with potential tenants and encapsulates the entire process, from securing payments to reviews once the agreement has ended. It wants to end the many scams that currently affect Airbnb and charges a commission that is only 20% of the fees that Airbnb charge.

The company Slock takes it one step further; they want to help the business sector in different ways by, for example, granting safe access to different types of IoT devices such as the lock of the door of a rental apartment. By arranging the entire process of concluding a transaction, including payment, to user verification and granting access, they believe they offer accommodation owners a complete solution. Organizations that are creating similar solutions are Populstay, Travala, Trip.io, and Travelblock.

Of course, the large business sector platforms recognize both the opportunities and the threats of blockchain technology. They themselves have already started implementing the technology. For example, Airbnb has acquired the ChangeCoin startup, mainly to incorporate blockchain specialists into its business. It is not known if Uber has any concrete plans to use blockchain but several parties, such as DAV, Fairride and Lazooz, are already working on making a decentralized alternative for Uber.

Digital Identity – tourism sector

One of the major problems the tourism sector faces is the identification of people. Issues like fraudulent payments and bookings result in high costs for companies. The various times at which a customer has to identify him/herself results in wasted time and therefore annoyance. There are already several companies, such as Shocard, that have used blockchain to devise unique solutions, making the entire process much faster, more efficient and safer. So-called ‘smart contracts’ can automatically check whether all documents, such as passports and visas, are valid and can grant access to an airport, and also store the identity document (such as a passport) on the blockchain, to enable to verification of the identity at any time.

The unchangeable and distributed nature of the technology prevents fraud and helps the entire process to take place quickly and efficiently. The implementation of this is already at an advanced stage in countries such as Dubai and Aruba, while in Spain a system that only focuses on identification has already been successfully adopted.

Real Ratings & Reviews

A holiday was previously booked through a travel agency or tourist office, but now the way in which we choose a destination and book a holiday has changed completely. Many studies show that 84% of consumers consider online reviews on Google and platforms like Tripadvisor as important as word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, while 87% will not even book with a company that has negative reviews.

Unfortunately, this is also being misused; research has established that 85% of companies in the tourism sector are plagued by fake reviews. The English newspaper The Times claims that one-third of Tripadvisor reviews are fake and Harvard Business School calculated that 20% of Yelp reviews are fake.

Several friends that run a business in the sector tell me that they are sometimes even being blackmailed to offer something for free to prevent a negative review despite this is often not even justified. Blockchain technology can make a major breakthrough here since the information published on it is transparent and cannot be changed. Companies like Revain and Chlu have devised solutions that ensure that reviews can no longer be faked, changed or deleted. These are important solutions for this ever-growing problem in the sector.

Fast And Affordable Payments

The first blockchain, that of Bitcoin, began as a purely electronic “peer-to-peer cash system”, to enable digital payments without a middleman. The many applications that have already been successfully implemented, therefore, largely cover the field of ​​payments. As the global hotel industry alone was worth nearly $500 million in terms of revenue last year, you can probably imagine the insane number of transactions that are taking place in this industry. When we consider the costs that this entails, like fees charged by credit card companies and the previously-discussed OTAs, using blockchain can save a significant amount of money for both the provider and the buyer here.

In addition, there are already several companies that make the transactions significantly faster and the technology itself makes the whole experience a lot safer and more traceable. Many destinations and organizations already offer payments in cryptocurrencies, such as San Francisco, Argentina, Queensland (Australia), Germany, Dubai, hotels and various booking websites. Ireland even goes one step further and introduced the IrishCoin to reward tourist loyalty in addition to payments generated. Greece has introduced “NautilusCoin”.

Becoming And Staying Loyal

Loyalty programs are very important for many organizations active in the tourism sector. However, the problem with the current programs is that consumers often do not really understand these programs and that companies often, unfortunately, fail to extract the desired data. A recent report from consultancy firm PWC describes the great opportunities loyalty programs offer when placing them on the blockchain. Collected loyalty points can be saved on the blockchain and, therefore, are immediately exchangeable and visible for the user. On the other hand, organizations can save advertising costs by making real-time, personalized offers based on the data generated and customer profiles, while fraud can be prevented.

By sharing the data with chain partners (for example, an airline, car rental company, or accommodation owner), even more, interesting data can be obtained while the “booking experience” by the consumer can be optimized even further. Apart from various organizations, several countries have also placed their loyalty program on the blockchain. A well-known company that facilitates this service is Loyall, which is already used by the governments of Dubai and Norway. The companies Trippki and Deskbell have solely focused their solutions on the hotel industry.

Saving Data Securely

Not having access to their own data and systems cause nightmares for many companies. Hackers are becoming increasingly smart and nowadays install so-called “Ransomware hacks”, which means that a person or organization can only access data once a ransom has been transferred. This became painfully clear in Austria last year, where a hotel was hacked and only regained access to the hotel room keys once ransom had been paid to the hackers.
 Due to its decentralized and cryptographic nature, blockchain technology offers a great solution for safer data storage to prevent this being lost due to a cyber-attack or, for example, accidental deletion.

Never Lose Luggage Again

The loss of luggage is one of the biggest annoyances for travelers. In addition to being without clothing, not knowing where items are is very annoying and is a bad start to a journey. Last year, the international flight organization IATA stipulated in Resolution 753 that airlines should increase the number of scanning points for baggage during the journey and make these points more compatible. At the moment, blockchain is being considered in order to make the entire process, from baggage drop-off to receipt by the owner, more transparent. By giving each item a unique code, constantly scanning it and logging its location in the blockchain, the exact location of a piece will be visible in real-time. This will not just provide a great solution to consumers but also, for example, for the transport of goods.

Fewer Empty Seats And Beds

Although various technologies, such as AI and ML, have reduced the number of empty seats on airplanes and empty beds in hotels, this is still a major financial problem for providers. Travel organization TUI was the first company to publicly state that it had put all its data on the blockchain. The company, with a turnover of almost €20 billion, can view the total hotel bed stock in real time and, based on big data, still offer flexible margins through various partners. According to the CEO, their “BedSwap” project allows them to save many millions of euros per annum. The Austrian startup Avinoc does something similar to airplane seats.

New Ways Of Traveling – tourism sector

Recent research shows that millennials trust cryptocurrency better than shares, and as a result, the popularity of digital assets among young people is therefore high. Many organizations use this knowledge cleverly by offering special trips. Not only do they offer trips in cryptocurrency, but they also offer Blockchain Cruises for fans of this technology, an Airbnb for crypto dealers called CryptoCribs, and various tours to blockchain hubs like Zug (Switzerland).

Destinations On The Blockchain

In addition to the tourism companies and many technical suppliers with their platforms, several countries are already proactively working to apply blockchain technology in different ways within their own tourism sector. Dubai aims to have the first “blockchain government” in 2020 and already offers various working solutions with the technology, such as a decentralized distribution channel for hotel rooms. Moldova witnessed a significant increase in medical tourism through the use of blockchain technology while the head of tourism for the Russian government, Oleg Safanov, said the matter has top priority in its department. Australia even has its first Digital Currency Town.
 
According to the many companies that are working on solutions, cool new blockchain solutions for the tourism market are released every week. The question of how this will impact the industry makes me very curious!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Email, social media and applications such as iTunes and the Google search engine are indispensable in our daily lives. Apart from being useful applications that have had a major impact on humanity, they have also ensured the mass adoption of the Internet technology itself. The applications are so important to us that we buy devices so we can use it, just like the light bulb resulting in the global acceptance of electricity. Such applications are also referred to as “killer apps”. PC Magazine calls them “the beginning of a completely new breed”. For computers, these were the precursors of Word and Excel: Visicalc and Wordperfect; for the Internet, the Mosaic web browser, email, and later iTunes and social media.

Many blockchain enthusiasts are also eagerly looking for the first real killer app for this new technology. Cryptocurrency traders find this particularly interesting because they think that the value of their currency will increase as a result, while technology enthusiasts want to make the many, groundbreaking benefits of safety, efficiency and decentralized options more accessible to consumers.

Experts stumble over each other while discussing developments within the blockchain technology that have led or might lead to the first killer app. On the one hand, there are applications such as CryptoKitties and the launch of the Bakkt crypto platform, and on the other hand, there is the successful implementation of the blockchain technology and additional benefits for industries ranging from online gaming, publishing, and travel to cross-border payments, the Internet of Things and supply chain management.

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, the largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, wrote:

“If there existed some particular application to show that blockchain technology is massively superior to anything else … then people would be loudly talking about it already … And so far, there has been no single application that anyone has come up with that has seriously stood out to dominate everything else on the horizon.”

However, it is still difficult for Western consumers to designate a real killer app. According to the recent reports from Deloitte and McKinsey, the successful developments in the field of blockchain mainly take place in the area of financial transactions. Furthermore, it appears that most successful implementations are mainly achieved by large companies themselves. They prefer to keep them secret for reasons of competition.

The investment bank Morgan Stanley also indicated that we are not there yet:

“We are now firmly in the middle of the proof-of-concept phase of development. Blockchain still hasn’t had a true test. Early signs are that this is a promising technology, but many of the big questions have yet to be answered, and it hasn’t been tested at scale in a complex, fast-moving business environment.”

If experts are correct and blockchain technology follows the same development path as the Internet, then it will certainly take another 10 years before we can expect a real killer app. In about five years the technology will end up on the “plateau of productivity” of the Gartner Hypecycle and will experience the same growth spurt in a further five years, similar to what the Internet experienced in terms of adoption and investment in its creation.

Personally, I think that shifting focus can certainly speed up the process. At present, a lot of time, money and attention is given to the efficiency successes that large companies make with the technology and the transforming effect it has on the global financial industry. Hopefully, these things continue to be considered.

I actually find the impact on developing countries much more interesting! There are 1.5 billion people without proof of identity (such as a Passport or birth certificate), more than 2 billion people without a bank account, much large data hacks every day and many countries are still suffering from corruption. The many practical blockchain solutions that tackle these global problems are, in my opinion, the real killer apps. Therefore they will really have the global impact that everyone is really waiting for.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Voting, national crypto, and regulation

Before this summer, the polls will open three times; for the elections of the Provincial States, the European Parliament, and the Water Boards. In my previous posts, I discussed how many local governments in the Netherlands are experimenting with blockchain technology and are at the forefront compared to the rest of the world. Our national government also wants to be at the forefront, but especially in the field of regulations regarding cryptocurrency. There are three ways in which our Dutch government can lead in the field of blockchain technology:

Vote With Blockchain

Anno 2019, despite our insanely technologically-developed country, we still vote by means of a red pencil and a printed ballot. In my home province Limburg alone, four municipalities had to recount the votes during the municipal elections last year, for which no fewer than 50 civil servants had to work two days extra in my hometown of Maastricht. Although “only” 29 errors were discovered, this eventually led to the CDA having to hand over a full seat to their political opponents, D66.

The voting process is the heart of democracy and, in my view, this should really go as smoothly as possible. In various other countries, especially in developing nations, we still witness a lot of fraud and corruption during elections; something that can be prevented with blockchain technology. In addition, results can be announced and made transparent much quicker to increase confidence in the process itself.

Sierra Leone was the first country to put elections on the blockchain and several other countries followed this up with successful tests. This includes the United States, Switzerland, and South Korea. More than 30 countries, such as Japan, Spain, and Ukraine, are currently investigating whether they can enable voting via the blockchain.

Researchers do not agree yet whether implementing technology is a good idea. One study indicates that the turnout will increase, but Radboud University’s advisory report to the House of Representatives mainly predicted major disadvantages. Disadvantages that already have been removed by applications from various companies such as Kaspersky (the well-known virus scanner), FollowMyVote, Voatz, and Agora.

Recent research by the Swiss government showed that almost 80% of the population would like to vote via the blockchain and that only 2% were against it. Hopefully, the red pencils in the Netherlands can soon be added to the museum of democracy!

A Dutch Cryptocurrency

Whereas various governments are trying to ban cryptocurrencies from their countries, by banning trade and advertising cryptocurrencies, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advocates that central banks should seriously consider introducing their own cryptocurrencies in order to make payments faster and to run more safely.

In 2014, an unknown Icelandic resident already introduced his Auroracoin, which should replace the national currency. In 2015, the governments of Tunisia and Equador launched their own cryptocurrency and several other countries are currently experimenting with it. This is not entirely uncontroversial; the Venezuelan government launched the “Petro” to, among other things, circumvent the US sanctions against the country. It appears that Russia, for the same reason, wants to introduce its own “CryptoRuble”.

In Europe, Estonia wanted to lead the way with its own “Estcoin”, but was recalled by the European Central Bank claiming that “no Member State may introduce its own currency in addition to the Euro”. Although enthusiasts have already introduced the Dutch cryptocurrency “Gulden”, it will take some time before the Dutch government will introduce its own variant.

Much Needed Regulation

According to a recent proposal by the Dutch Minister of Finance, Wopke Hoekstra, the Netherlands wants to play a pioneering role in the field of cryptocurrency in Europe, especially in the field of buying and selling cryptocurrency and setting up a so-called Initial Coin Offering.

It would be good for the Dutch government if they went a few steps further and immediately take a wider view regarding general laws and regulations concerning blockchain technology. A large study by Deloitte revealed that uncertainty and lack of clarity about regulations is currently the main reason that organizations have yet to embrace blockchain. Fortunately, the EU is already working hard to make the GDPR legislation blockchain more friendly, yet there are still many questions about the national legal frameworks for implementation and the use of technology by organizations.

Endless Possibilities

The possibilities are endless for governments with blockchain technology. From practical applications, such as collecting taxes and putting food logistics on the blockchain in England and India to prevent waste, to wild ideas of a “Futarchy” in which forecasting markets such as Augur determine which government policy has the most effect. Every week I read about successfully-completed pilots from governments and cool new ideas that are being introduced. Hopefully, we can replace the pencil with a retinal scan at the next election!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

It is going to be a very interesting year for blockchain. In the past year, the technology has been further developed and subjected to many experiments. This was done by the many startups working on groundbreaking blockchain products and solutions, as well as by organizations that implement the technology in different ways. Giant steps are currently being made in terms of scalability, privacy, efficiency, security and, of course, regulations.
 
 McKinsey claims that the technology is still in the pioneering phase of its industry life cycle. One of the people involved in founding the concept in 1988, Tim May, went further by saying that the founder of what we know today as Bitcoin and Blockchain (the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto), “would be ashamed to see the current status of technology”.
 
 Nevertheless, many organizations are investing heavily in blockchain. PWC calculated an average of US$ 500,000 per company and 11% of organizations invest as much as US$ 10 million. According to IBM, which employs 1,500 people on 500 blockchain projects, the main reason to invest is to save costs and to organize processes more efficiently. A study by Deloitte concluded that, in the end, 74% of executives believe that it ultimately will bring value to their organization. Gartner predicts that this will be worth a whopping US$ 3.1 trillion in 2030.
 
 A question that is often posed to me during presentations and by clients is: What can we expect from the technology in 2019? Here are the top 5 developments that I’m looking forward to.

The Quest For The Successful “Use And Business Case”

Where the media predominantly focuses on failed blockchain implementations, such as that of Tony Chocolony, or generally portraying the technology as ‘a solution for almost nothing’ and ‘a revolution that doesn’t change your life for a while’, fortunately, there are many positive messages coming out every day. Such as that of the firm Albert Heijn, which has already streamlined its logistical processes more efficiently, and various banks such as ING, which is making great strides in areas such as security. These desperately-needed “use and business cases” of the technology will play an important role in its success and further development in the coming year.

Obviously, organizations must be able to defend their investments. According to Deloitte organizations will, therefore, focus more on applications where blockchain can really make a difference. Too often it is believed that technology provides a solution to all global problems, leading organizations to consider how the technology should be implemented instead of whether it should be. Sometimes choosing other emerging technologies, such as robotics and artificial intelligence, prove to be the better choice.

Restore The Image

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are often regarded as one concept. In fact, blockchain technology can easily exist without cryptos. Since the digital currency market lost 80% of its value in 2018 and still suffers from high volatility, as well as negative reports about criminal transactions and fraud, the blockchain technology also continues to suffer (in my eyes) from an incorrect image.
 Although many positive cryptocurrency developments are expected in 2019 (read here my 5 crypto predictions for 2019), blockchain itself will really have to work hard on restoring its image — especially as Forrester predicts that 90% of blockchain projects will never see the light, something that feeds the claims skeptics always has made.

Governments Are Surprisingly Ahead

Whereas at the start of the blockchain, many only observed the revolution in the financial system, currently many governments are at the forefront of experimenting with and successfully implementing the technology. In previous articles, I enthusiastically addressed the many blockchain projects the local governments in the Netherlands are currently setting up and implementing. According to blockchain legend Vinay Gupta, this has resulted in the Netherlands even overtaking countries like Dubai and Singapore.
 The high level of security and the scattered nature of the data in the blockchain has seen a large number of governments choosing the technology. Experiments are no longer small; countries such as Estonia, Switzerland, and Thailand have already placed entire elements of their services on the blockchain. IBM has just signed a $740 million deal with the Australian government to implement the technology, and France is considering making €500 million available for this.

Linking With IoT, ML, And AI

It is anticipated that in 2019 20% of IoT developments will be developed with blockchain. The many already-working applications are proof that the collaboration of both technologies can lead to many cool, new use cases. Like the collaboration with technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, each greatly reinforces the other and provides various new, pioneering solutions. Some experts even believe that blockchain will become the game changer for IoT.

DAPPS

The founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, predicted for 2019 that “the next wave is not based on hype but on working apps.” He wants Ethereum to cause a small revolution by means of so-called “smart contracts”. An important development in the blockchain technology on the Ethereum network is “dapps”, decentralized applications of which the software and data (as the name states) are stored separately. Because data is no longer stored centrally, organizations such as banks and Facebook will soon no longer be in control of their customers’ data.

Ultimately, that will ensure that we ourselves regain control of our data. A good example is Brave, whereby the user decides which data they want to share with the advertiser, something that is rewarded in tokens. However, the real revolutionary applications still have to be introduced; “CryptoKitties” is still the best known and widely used application. It allows you to raise and collect digital cats. However, many experts predict many important app launches in 2019.
 
 Of course, there have been many other developments witnessed in the area of blockchain, such as the massive demand for blockchain experts, the sharply increasing investments of venture capitalists in technology, and many great collaborations within blockchain consortia such as R3 (financial institutions), B3i (insurers) and MOBI (car manufacturers). I, therefore, will follow the developments with great enthusiasm and interest in the coming year!

CEO of Web3

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

2018 turned out to be a disaster year for many investors in cryptocurrency. Expectations were high after the crazy price increases of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies witnessed prior to and in 2017. Unfortunately, after an all-time high in January, crypto prices soon dropped to a low point and many coins lost up to 95% of their value. The many hacks, scams, regulations, the Google/Facebook ban on crypto-related advertisements, and the war in the Bitcoin Cash camp attributed to the negative exchange rates. In the past year, the media declared Bitcoin dead more than 100 times and its link to the many “altcoins” ensured that those rates were highly dependent on those of “mother” Bitcoin and therefore also decreased significantly. Despite researching the Netherlands showing that the number of investors in cryptocurrency has decreased by 100,000, another recent study showed that the number of investors worldwide has doubled. During my lectures, I am often queried about the most important developments in the field of cryptocurrency that 2019 has in stock for us.

Here are my top 5:

Mass Adoption With BAKKT?

BAKKT is one of the most discussed and promising projects that cryptocurrency must make accessible to the general public. The preparations for the launch of this open and regulated trading platform should give users the option to not only to trade in cryptocurrency and assets but to also store and spend them.

With the platform being funded by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange and built in collaboration with Microsoft and Starbucks, it has the involvement of some serious organizations and individuals.
 The involvement of Starbucks is very interesting since most payments in the United States are currently made with the Starbucks app, even more, than with Apple Pay. In addition, the regulated trading in a transparent platform and the solution it offers for transaction times has drawn the attention from many large institutional investors and it may turn the stock market upside down. Unfortunately, the launch of the platform has already been delayed twice, since more time is needed for both streamlining the customer registration process and for obtaining approval from the US government. However, various authoritative experts from the sector claim that this won’t last much longer.

Will there finally be an ETF in 2019?

While BAKKT is ready to be launched, it remains very unclear when the first ETF will be approved. An Exchange Traded Fund is a so-called “index tracker”, which follows the official price of an asset without the owner owning it. It enables investors to easily speculate on the price rise or fall of Bitcoin without owning the crypto. This offers a solution to many investors since they don’t want all the hassle that comes with purchasing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is anticipated that the approval of the first ETF will see a large influx of institutional investors with significant amounts of money to spend. Often the comparison is made with the first ETFs on gold, which has multiplied the value of the precious metal many times.

There have been dozens of proposals for ETFs, but they have all been rejected by the US SEC, as they consider the market to not yet be sufficiently regulated and developed. According to the SEC, there is still insufficient evidence for the required size and volume of the market and too much chance of manipulation and fraud. The STC claims that there is a lack of regulations to prevent this from happening and, if it does, to punish it. The ETF application from VanEck, the party known for its ETFs on gold, currently has the best chance of success.

Unfortunately, the decision on this application has already been postponed a few times. The absence of practical solutions to combat fraud is the reason why various experts don’t expect that it will be approved in 2019. That would be a pity as the approval of an ETF will be precisely the “stamp of approval” many institutional investors are waiting for to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Does The Institutional Tidal Wave Follow?

Apart from BAKKT and ETFs, there are also many other projects that can facilitate a tidal wave of institutional money flowing into the cryptomarket. This will, of course, be one of the most important developments for the market for both confidence and influence on prices. Many companies are eager to invest, but the lack of the right infrastructure and regulations has made them hesitate.

Various products that resemble ETFs are already active. BinckBank offers a Bitcoin ETN and certificates in Switzerland can be used to invest in a basket of cryptocurrencies via Bitcoin and ETP. It is also possible to trade in Bitcoin futures and swaps via Bitmex, providing you first buy Bitcoins yourself.

Various launches of crypto platforms are also expected from the largest players in the global financial market in the coming years. For example, one of the biggest asset managers in the world, Fidelity, will offer its own service from early 2019 to allow large investors to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The American Nasdaq too will offer Bitcoin futures.
The German Boerse Stuttgart and ErisX also expect to be able to offer services to enable institutional investors to trade in cryptocurrency from the start of this year.

Performing Projects

One of the positive aspects of the cryptomarket crash in the past year has been the self-cleaning capability. Almost all predictions assume that 90–95% of the cryptos will fail. According to the Deadcoins site, we have reached the halfway mark of the 2,000 known cryptocurrencies. This is important for the sector since many scams and drools projects attributed to the poor reputation. Companies in the bear market that endured the ‘survival of the fittest’ test have worked hard in the past year on the products that they have promised. Many breakthroughs are therefore expected in the coming year, which will, of course, have a positive influence on the rate.

Regulation

The rapid emergence of cryptocurrency meant that governments lagged behind with their regulations. Fraud has been and continues to be committed in various ways and there are still things happening with regular stock trading on a daily basis that is prohibited and punishable. That is why several governments have banned the trade. Good regulation is desperately needed to give the market a more trustworthy character, to provide stability and to enable it to achieve its real potential. Various authorities are working hard to soon establish a framework with regulations. For example, much is expected from the guidelines that the G7’s Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) will publish in June, and the US government has already prepared several proposed frameworks that are ready for publication.

Of course, there are many other developments that the coming year has in stock. The price increases witnessed in recent weeks, and the positive sentiment I have noticed very clearly among the many investors and experts, make me look forward to the coming year!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Here are 7 TED talks I can highly recommend!

As mentioned in a previous post: a recent survey by the HSBC bank showed that 60% of consumers have never heard of blockchain and that 80% of consumers who have heard of it don’t understand it. Daily, I receive requests from people to explain in simple language what blockchain is, what Bitcoin has to do with it and what this will actually mean for our society.

Here are my top 7 TED talks, which explain these questions in an easy-to-understand way:

1) Bettina Warburg — “How The Blockchain Will Radically Transform The Economy”

This is one of my favorites since Bettina explains in an easy-to-understand way how blockchain will change the modern economy and reduce the role of financial institutions and governments. This researcher and entrepreneur in the sector are also described as “one of the thought leaders in the emerging blockchain space”.

2) Neha Narula — “The Future Of Money”

Neha is Director of the Digital Currency Initiative within the highly renowned MIT Media Lab. Her TED talk is also about reducing the role of financial institutions in governments, but also offers a very good insight into her idea of what the future of money will look like.

3) Don Tapscott — “How The Blockchain Is Changing Money And Business”

Just like his book, which I can highly recommend, this TED talk is definitely recommended to get a nice introduction to blockchain. The focus of this talk is mainly on how the blockchain technology itself works as well as a number of applications that will cause major, positive changes in various sectors worldwide.

4) Galia Benartzi — “The Value Revolution: How Blockchain Will Change Money & The World”

A TEDx talk, but definitely as good as the TED talks mentioned above. Galia highlights the power of new developments within digital currencies. Not only does she zoom in on how we send and receive money, but also talks about various other applications that she sees from her background as an entrepreneur and community builder.

5) Charles Hoskinson — “The Future Will Be Decentralized”

Charles is one of the greats within the sector. He is a very talented mathematician who works on the well-known Cardano project and has been CEO of Ethereum. He discusses the impact on education and the legal world. By using various current issues, he also perfectly illustrates the impact of technology in developing countries.

6) Richie Etwaru — “Blockchain: Massively Simplified”

With a background as an author, professor, entrepreneur and holder of various international patents in the sector, Richie is certainly an interesting person to listen to. He breaks down all the important basic principles of blockchain technology into bite-sized chunks. I also found the risks of disruption interesting to hear.

7) Rachel Botsman — “How We’ve Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers”

This great storyteller specializes in explaining large, complex ideas as simply as possible. She is the perfect person to explain the blockchain technology to a layman! J. Rachel goes further than just explaining the technology; she also zooms in nicely on shifting trust towards unknown people, ideas and companies and the impact on society that this is going to have.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

A recent survey by HSBC bank found that 60% of consumers have never heard of blockchain and that 80% of consumers who claimed to have heard of it don’t understand it at all. For many people it is still “something far away” and the constantly dropping cryptocurrency rates do not really help to hype this pioneering technology. It is believed that technology is to be of interest only to large companies while, in fact, practical applications for consumers already do exist. Recently I have been able to discuss the impact of blockchain on our society in depth. I always share the following top 4 implementations of the technology for consumers that already exist:

1) From Seed To Sale

The many food scandals of the past few years and the constant disclosures by consumer organizations about misleading products, from broiler chicken to horse steak, haven’t contributed to the good name of the industry. More than half of consumers now want to know exactly where products come from and how they are made, particularly because buying decisions are increasingly being based on the level of environmental and social responsibility shown by the producing company. Recent research also shows that making this supply chain transparent can ensure lifelong relationships with customers.

Many companies are currently realizing this wish at great speed. Albert Heijn started a pilot with orange juice, allowing consumers to see the entire chain via an app all the way back to the tree. Fairfood has placed Indonesian coconuts and Colombian coffee on the blockchain, not only to make the entire chain transparent for consumers but also to draw attention to the unfair way in which profit is shared in the chain, which pushes many farmers to live below the poverty line. The American supermarket Walmart went one step further; from next year it wants to put all its fruit and vegetables on the blockchain.

It is not just food but also products like diamonds, cannabis, drugs, and cars that already have been successfully placed on the blockchain. This has not only led to more significant transparency in the chain but has also demonstrated cost reduction and more efficient use of materials.

2) Payments

Blockchain technology predominantly gained a reputation in relation to financial transactions. Not just the Bitcoin blockchain, which started the revolution 10 years ago, but also predecessors such as Digicash focused on simplifying transactions. It is likely that the blockchain will have the biggest impact in this area in the time to come, resulting in many positive outcomes for consumers. It will reduce transaction costs as well as the duration of a transaction. This will have a major impact in developing countries in particular since a regular transaction through companies like Western Union can sometimes take a few days and they can charge up to 10% of the transaction amount.

There are already various Bitcoin ATMs throughout the Netherlands and the introduction of Bakkt, a project that wants to support the massive adoption of cryptocurrencies by offering a trusted infrastructure for trading, launching and storing the currency, is expected to give the go-ahead for further development from crypto payments.

3) Retaking Control Of Your Own Data

Personally, I consider the opportunity for consumers to reclaim control over their own data to be one of the best examples of the applications of blockchain technology. Various projects have already been successfully started in the Netherlands whereby, for example, personal data is put on the blockchain to allow processes to run more efficiently and without errors. For example, hospitals currently print out data from patients and send it by post to another hospital where another employee captures the information. The startup Labchain from Heerlen, the Netherlands, ensures that by putting patient’s medical data on the blockchain the data can instantly be exchanged with another hospital cheaply and without errors.

Various Dutch municipalities are already experimenting with placing WMO (Social Security Support) and PGB (Personally Allocated Budget) files on the blockchain that usually involve other organizations too. By placing these files on the blockchain, they are always available in real-time, while it also guarantees that everybody will use and access the latest version, something that currently often goes wrong and which has unpleasant consequences for the people involved.

Facebook and Google own more data about us than we would like. Furthermore, various studies show that advertisements and popups are perceived as very negative and that more and more people are therefore installing adblockers. Various applications have already been developed on the blockchain, which give consumers power over their own data and whereby advertisers can let the consumer pay directly for the supply information, without the intervention of the Facebook and Google advertising duo. A technology that brought the Dutch startup Faktor fame is the one from which the very popular Brave web browser originated.

4) Validate Authenticity

The European Union has calculated that 5% of imported products are counterfeit. This doesn’t just mean Nike shoes and Louis Vuitton bags; products like Chiquita bananas, olives and medicines are also being copied on a large scale. Tens of thousands of people die in Africa every year because 1 in 10 medicines sold is, in fact, fake.

By putting products on the blockchain and providing them with NFC (microchips), consumers not only have the possibility of reviewing the production chain of a product, but they can also check whether the product is genuine. Kayne West already did this with his sneaker line and H&M has set up a pilot with the Chinese blockchain startup VeChain to allow consumers to trace their clothing.

Capgemini has calculated that the use of technology by banks and insurers will save the average consumer $500. Blockchain startups are currently introducing new applications for consumers at great speed that will allow items to become more efficiently, cheaply and easily accessible. This ranges from loyalty programs to insurance, and from charities to real estate.

However, there is still much that needs to be done before a real mass adoption of the technology will become reality. Applications must be made more user-friendly as well as easier and faster to scale up. Stablecoins are expected to eliminate the strong volatility of crypto rates and bring consumers confidence that the value of currency won’t drop sharply and suddenly.

I’m looking forward already to all the great developments that will come in 2019!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Criminal money, climate killers and privacy violations

Technology for criminals, the reason why the Earth will warm up even faster and breaches of privacy: I have participated in all sorts of lively discussions, recently, that discussed the impact and use of the blockchain technology. I partly blame the current negative sentiment of the trade in cryptocurrencies and a number of unfounded and erroneous articles published in the media for the many misconceptions that still linger in relation to blockchain technology and everything that comes with it. The time has come to provide a substantiated response to the most important issues.

1) The Obscene Amount Of Energy Consumed For Blockchain Contributes Strongly To Global Warming

A frequently noted, negative attitude towards blockchain technology is that it requires a massive amount of energy to keep the technology going. A recent article in the respected magazine Nature calculated that the energy needed to maintain the Bitcoin blockchain network will cause the Earth to heat up by 2 degrees. Other newspapers that I like to read, such as The Guardian, also gave wide coverage to this claim. Unfortunately, all articles made it clear that those researchers sharing their analysis have not yet fully grasped the technology.

Almost all articles discuss only the technology behind Bitcoin, the so-called “consensus method” (“Proof of Work”) and the “hash rate” which, in the case of Bitcoin, consumes a lot of energy. Unfortunately, it is never mentioned that Bitcoin accounts for only 50% of all cryptocurrencies and that more than 50 other “consensus methods” have already been developed that significantly reduce the hash rate and therefore consume much less energy.

If the blockchain were run only on fossil fuel, you would indeed have the calculated consumption that all media point out. Considering the many projects that already exist whereby the blockchain fully runs on clean energy, these calculations and claims will be considerably watered down. For example, the massive amounts of energy that are left over at wind farms in Morocco and hydroelectric power stations in Canada now have a purpose. Europe is increasingly witnessing how these mining operations (maintaining the blockchain network; securing and validating transactions) are moving to Iceland. This country is 100% dependent on clean energy.

Blockchain Technology

Unfortunately, the researchers fail to consider what it is that the blockchain technology is going to replace. For example, if the blockchain is going to replace certain aspects of banks, the notarial office, etc., as is currently anticipated, various calculations conclude that this will require less than 30% of the energy currently used for this. Gone are the days of the need for infrastructures like physical bank buildings, equipment or traveling employees. That will save energy too.

A comparison with new technologies, ranging from computers to cars, shows that these have always been very energy-consuming during the introduction. The rapid development of these has ultimately resulted in electric cars and quantum computers. When we only consider the super-fast developments of, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain, such as the implementation of ‘Segwit’ and ‘Lightning’, which ensure a higher transaction speed and sharply reducing energy consumption, then it will be, once again, only a matter of time before the impact decreases.

2) Bitcoin And Blockchain Is Mainly Used By Criminals

Unfortunately, criminals tend to prefer various cryptocurrencies, just like fiat money such as Euros and Dollars. Its use for the illegal online marketplace “Silk Road”, where all transactions were done in Bitcoin, was the main reason that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin shot to fame among the general public. Research by the US Drug Enforcement Agency has already concluded that less than 5% of global crypto transactions can be linked to criminal activities. US government specialists have now even reversed this discussion, stating that Bitcoin is one of the best traceable currencies in the world. Blockchain technology provides various tools with which to identify the owners, track transactions and recognize patterns by which criminal activities can be identified.

Experts claim that the new cryptocurrencies that try to offer an alternative for this, such as Monero and ZCash, are too small for big criminals to provide a meaningful purpose. Experts are also still able to track transactions.

3) Our Privacy Is Being Swept Away By The Blockchain

The basic principle of blockchain technology, as introduced by the mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto, raises many questions about the privacy of the data stored on the blockchain. Some components are at odds with European GDPR legislation and many people are concerned about the decentralization of data storage.

It is very positive to see that all kinds of new developments completely eliminate these concerns. The Enigma project from MIT ensures that data can be stored anonymously on the blockchain since it is distributed among the various participants in the network (nodes), who each cannot see the data themselves, but can prove that nothing wrong has happened with it. The “secret contracts” the team has managed to develop on this basis ensure optimum privacy when creating so-called “smart contracts”, as the transactions themselves are not even disclosed.

Many of the companies, consortia, and governments that are currently fully implementing blockchain technology also use so-called “private blockchains”, which ensure that only pre-approved participants can participate in the network. This not only satisfies a few important GDPR obstacles inherent to existing public blockchains but also ensures that the privacy of the data is better guaranteed.

There are also several startups that, using blockchain technology, want to increase the privacy of its users in different ways. A good example of this is the Dutch start-up Faktor, which offers consumers full control of their data.

4) Blockchain = Bitcoin

Like wine and a beautiful cigar, Blockchain and Bitcoin can go very well together, but can also operate perfectly stand-alone.

As they were both launched at the same time, many people still consider them to be the same. However, Bitcoin is really the original form of a cryptocurrency, just like the 2,000+ other cryptocurrencies that have been introduced since. What all these currencies have in common is the technology on which they run; the blockchain.

5) This Will Only Have An Impact On The Banking Sector

Perhaps because of the publication of the original “white paper” about the Bitcoin and Blockchain, which mainly discussed a “Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, many tens of thousands of blockchain projects have been created in all possible sectors and countries. I discussed this in a previous post. From medication in healthcare and the registration of refugees in war-torn countries to vegetables in the supermarket and the collection of plastic; the special and practical applications the blockchain technology offers globally are endless.
 
Blockchain is indispensable in our society and will lead to many bizarre and beautiful developments in the time to come. As CEO of two companies in the industry, I will enthusiastically continue to follow this every day! Read my previous posts about blockchain here.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Consortia, Stable Coins, Killer Apps, ETFs, And Others

The number of large companies embracing the blockchain technology and keen to start using it in different ways is growing every day. Many tens of thousands of people are currently being recruited to enable this implementation. The various major challenges of technology, such as speed, energy consumption, and privacy, are rapidly being picked up by the many thousands of startups in the sector. Blockchain is also called “the internet 3.0” and is often compared to the rise and impact of the internet on our society. The developments in technology and everything associated with them is going incredibly fast. In my previous post, I listed some special, working implementations. In this post, I will take a look at the five important follow-up steps for technology in the coming period.

Standards & Regulations

It is often said that the best prerequisite for companies to innovate is to have as few legislations and regulations as possible. Yet the demand for legislation and regulation, like for standards, is increasing. Whereas policymakers now primarily focus on regulating the trade in cryptocurrencies and ICOs, half of the implementing companies indicated in a recent major study that current regulations are hampering further implementation.

Since many solutions are not yet mentioned in the current legislation, such as the crypt graphic storage of medical data, innovation and development are being hampered.

The demand for standards for this technology is much greater. Github (the Facebook for software developers) is currently aware of over 6,500 active blockchain projects, all of which use different platforms, protocols, privacy standards, and programming languages. To be able to continue taking major steps, it is important to look closely at standards that will be used for the development and implementation of blockchain applications. This can help companies to cooperate better in terms of development, integration within existing systems and better alignment with each other. Hyperledger has already developed the first standards, the Decentralized Identity Foundation, and Ethereum Enterprise. These are already a major step in the right direction.

Collaborating Consortia

As I mentioned in my previous point, a collaboration between companies is essential to facilitate major breakthroughs with blockchain technology. There are currently 51 active consortia that band more than 300 companies to work on certain standards, train staff, explore possibilities and build applications. This is a very positive development for the technology since it clearly indicates how important the (often large) affiliated companies consider this to be. Some consortia have originated in certain industries, others to provide technical implications.

The best known are R3 (which unites more than 100 companies in the financial sector), B3i (which does the same with 15 major insurance companies) and MOBI (which does the same with major car brands such as BMW, Renault, and GM). One of the best-known consortia is Hyperledger. This is an “open source” blockchain to which Accenture, IBM, and SAP are connected and where they collaborate on a “permissioned” blockchain. Although this is at odds with the original blockchain principles (which is meant to be “unpermissioned”), the first jointly developed product, Fabric, has already been successfully launched.

Technological Challenges

One of the biggest points of criticism of the blockchain that is often mentioned is the transaction speed. This is partly due to the various consensus methods (the process with which a transaction can be agreed within a blockchain network) and the structure of the chain itself.
 The speed of Bitcoin (3–7 transactions) is often compared to that of VISA (24,000), but in reality, VISA performs “only” 1,700 transactions per second. Blockchain startups such as ICON have already reached a speed of 10,000 transactions per second.

New consensus methods have also greatly reduced the required computer capacity and associated energy consumption to run the blockchain networks. While Bitcoin uses the energy-guzzling “proof of work” method, some fifty others are already being used. This includes “proof of stake” and the “Federated Byzantine Agreement”.

By means of Directed Acyclic Graphs, the structure of the block chains itself is also critically considered. Directed Acyclic Graphs allow for faster confirmation of transactions.

According to many blockchain specialists, we are now in the third generation of the blockchain. What started with simple transactions from Bitcoin (1st) and was expanded with “Smart Contracts” (2nd), we now consider the form in which the different block chains and other techniques work together.

Financial Receivables

Investors in cryptocurrency are anxiously waiting for a so-called “ETF” (Exchange Trade Fund) to be approved by the US SEC. More than 25 requests have already been submitted, but they have always been rejected because there is still too little regulation and price manipulations are still the order of the day. ETFs, ensure that you can trade in cryptocurrency without owning any. Therefore, it is expected that activating an ETF will bring large amounts of money onto the market, which will certainly increase the value of the various cryptocurrencies. Often the comparison is made with the first ETF that became available for trading in gold, which strongly multiplied the underlying price.

The high volatility of the different cryptocurrencies have been great for some early investors, but disastrous for many who joined late. To greatly reduce volatility and to ensure that the coins actually retain the same value, various ‘stable coins’ have been created. Where there were only five projects at the start of the year, there are currently 30 with several hundreds of millions of euros in raised investments.

Stable Coins

One of those is the controversial “Tether”, which claims to be linked to the US Dollar. In addition to money, these ‘stable coins’ are also linked to precious metals such as gold, coupled to other stable coins (crypto-collateral, such as Haaven), ‘Central Bank Mechanisms’ (applying the same method that central banks use to regulate price stability) and ‘hybrid solutions’ (a combination of two or more techniques). The development of these coins draws a mixed response since on the one hand, it will greatly reduce the manipulation of the rates and thus accelerate the creation of an ETF, but on the other hand, it can also offer the authorities more control over the market when they introduce their own coins.
Apart from the ETFs, much work is also being done on “Digital Asset Receipts” (a type of ETFs) and “Bakkt”, which will make Bitcoin future contracts possible.

Killing The Hype

The big commotion about the advance of Bitcoin at the end of last year and the explosion of ICOs afterward has, in my opinion, helped to give blockchain technology a bad name. ICOs sometimes raised tens or hundreds of millions of euros, despite that they only had a draft plan, but we’re drowning in money and all the negative consequences that that entails. Last year some 85% of the ICOs turned out to be a scam, and the result was that investors almost always lost their stake. As many people still consider the blockchain and cryptocurrencies to be the same, many feel they have been let down by the technology.
In addition, the technology is often presented as a solution for everything that is going wrong in the world or is being used as a solution for issues for which it is not required in the first place. This can be harmful as the growing number of promised solutions that cannot be delivered can put the overall implementation in a negative light.

Waiting For The Killer App

Like in the early years of the internet, an awful lot of funny, interesting and useful applications are added to/built for the technology. These are applications that offer enormous efficiency gains, solve problems or even offer functionalities that were previously not possible. However, we are still waiting for the real “killer app”, similar to what email and social media were for the internet. Not CryptoKitties, but a real solution that will lead to massive, global adoption of the technology.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Refugees, turkeys, the collection of plastic and endangered species.

While there are still critics discarding blockchain technology, insanely cool applications that previously would not have been possible without the technology are released onto the market every day. They cover anything, from art to football and from food to refugees. As I run two blockchain companies and discuss the subject often, I am frequently asked about special, working applications. I hereby list the favorites that I have come across in recent weeks.

Of course, I really like it that Albert Heijn uses blockchain to explain to the consumer how the private label orange juice makes it to the shelves. The scanning of a QR code makes it possible for the consumer to view the entire production chain starting at the tree. In addition, the app contains additional information about the harvest as well as the acidity of the bottle in question. Consumers in the United States can already do this for 30% of milk cartons, and the supermarket chain Walmart — where currently only lettuce and spinach can be traced back to the farmer — aims to have all vegetables on the blockchain before September 2019.

Cargill has even made the traditional turkey fully traceable during last Thanksgiving via blockchain. It went all the way down to the loft where the bird had lived. India goes one step further and is currently investigating the possibilities of putting the entire distribution of dairy products, vegetables and fish on the blockchain. This to optimize the logistics process and to combat food waste.

International Top Football Clubs

Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, two international top football clubs, have issued their own “fantoken” through the Socios platform, which predicts that this will see the investment of $300 million into the sports sector. Various football clubs in the United Kingdom are going to issue their own token to raise money and the company Tokenstars uses the blockchain to facilitate the donation of money to young top athletes who would otherwise be unable to participate in sports. There is even talk of a “Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL)”, where fans are offered the opportunity to greatly enhance their football experience. Playing decisions by the fans can be made in real time via the app, enabling them to be the coach and General Manager of the team.

Cars Manufacturers

Various car manufacturers are already busy with broad implementation of the blockchain. Several manufacturers have introduced their own joint coin to share data between cars and to use cars to make payments. Porsche, together with the Berlin startup XAIN, has investigated the possibility of putting the entire history of antique Porsches on the blockchain. Daimler (Mercedes, Smart) has introduced its own coin, the MobiCoin, to reward drivers for environmentally friendly driving. Other modes of transport will follow soon. The manager of the Russian railway network, for example, has already achieved considerable efficiency gains by putting her operations on the blockchain. Together with IBM, Maersk has developed a system that can significantly speed up all handling of containers (sometimes 18 different signatures are required). Several airlines have already placed some of their business elements on the blockchain, including loyalty programs, maintenance contracts, and communication systems for delayed and canceled flights.

The number of projects that have a real social impact is really cool to see. IBM and the PlasticBank have set up a project in Haiti that pays the locals in tokens (with which they can buy food) when they collect plastic from the beach and from the ocean. The number of robberies has fallen sharply and the amount of plastic that has been cleared in the last three years is so vast that the project will soon be expanded to various other countries. The World Food Program in Jordan has put the data of refugees on the blockchain to ensure that various aid organizations can always access the data. In addition, money for refugees to purchase food and goods is distributed via the blockchain.

The De Beers Group

The De Beers Group, the world’s best-known diamond company, has put its entire logistical funnel, from digging to selling, on the blockchain to block diamonds from conflict areas or which have been mined through slavery and to prove the authenticity of those that make it to De Beers. Moreocer, The Chinese government has even put its waste processing on the blockchain to increase its efficiency and to track carbon assets. In Palestine, Bitcoin is widely used to make payments, receive money and to invest, as many of the common banking services are blocked by the Israeli government.

The startup Bitgive has made the donating of money to charities and the eventual spending of it transparent, and the non-profit Care for the Uncared from Uganda tags endangered species such as blue whales, Indian tigers, Asiatic elephants, and pandas, etc., to map the movements and health of the animals and to protect them better through blockchain. Soon you will even be able to support an individual animal with Bitcoin J

NFC KPI chips are linked to the blockchain to authenticate artworks, to follow the aforementioned turkeys and even to see if Kayne sneakers are real. Even space organizations NASA and ESA are implementing blockchain on a large scale since previous tests have already yielded great results in the field of efficient communication and collaboration.
 

In my next post, I will discuss the next steps in the field of blockchain technology.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.