‘We are currently on the brink of something that could become as big as the internet’
Articles are screaming for attention and some are losing the reality in order to generate clicks and views. For me, a reason to elaborate on three real practical implications of blockchain.
- Ending the fiddle with resale tickets
Every transaction that takes place in blockchain is monitored by all connected computers. All computers connected to the blockchain network manage a copy of this database. If one of these copies is no longer with the others, this is immediately recognized and the transaction is not accepted. Blockchain is a serious threat to the black market ticketing industry. The innovation ensures that the price of an admission ticket remains the same, because it becomes impossible to sell tickets on the black market above the sale price. The "smart" ticket generates a new unique code for each owner when resold. Properties such as the entrance fee cannot be changed afterwards. The customer can easily buy or sell tickets via the app, without knowing the underlying technology.
- Fair wages in the food sector
An interesting area for blockchain solutions in improving transparency and trust in the complex world of food chains. A good example of transparency thanks to blockchain is that Nespresso uses blockchain to track its coffee bean production chain. Coffee beans comes from hard-to-reach areas where a lot of brokering takes place. Sometimes the price of a coffee has already tripled before it reaches the local factory. The blockchain pilot makes it possible to fully follow the path taken by the coffee beans, from the Zimbabwean farmer to the consumer. The buyer can check exactly how much each party involved has received and how sustainably these parties work. Blockchain, for example, offers a solution to the major problem in the coffee and cacao beans trade, namely the lack of transparency.
- Diminishing the violation of copyright
Plagiarism is a very big problem that we encounter on the internet. It is almost impossible to handle it completely. This is because control is extremely difficult. Anyone can upload content in millions of different ways which makes it difficult to apply legislation and regulations.
Uploading content on the blockchain would make it much easier to tackle plagiarism. For instance, A photographer who has taken a photo could add his photo to the blockchain. Each pixel is then recorded in a block, along with the photographer's data and timestamp. When the block has been validated, the photo is recorded in the blockchain forever. It is then indisputable that this is the actual photographer.
Suppose someone else adds the same photo to the blockchain, it can easily be checked whether the photo has not previously been added to the blockchain. After all, the code of the pixels always remains the same. So when someone wants to use a photo without having taken the photo himself, that is made impossible. The photo is then automatically rejected, making it no longer possible to violate the copyright.
