When the Bitcoin cryptocurrency was released in 2009, its underpinning, the blockchain distributed ledger system was the real technological breakthrough, a formulation that promises to change the basis of all types of transactions globally.
Blockchain technology has paved the way for an Internet of Transactions. Blockchain technology has already proved its worth in such areas as means of payment, interbank exchanges and international remittances. Touted as the next digital revolution, blockchain technology has the potential to transform traditional industries and alter society through disintermediation of trade. Any situation that involves an intermediary that is expensive or fallible represents an opportunity to create a blockchain application case. No industry is immune to the blockchain’s disruption potential.
In 2017, the blockchain technology is at an inflection point. The industry is in a state of transition and must move to Blockchain 2.0, which means the adoption of more sophisticated applications, such as micro-payments and smart contracts. Having outgrown its original bitcoin community, the majority of blockchain applications have yet to pass beyond the prototype stage to make blockchain technology the greatest restructuring technology of the next decade.