A Snapshot of the Global Blockchain Technology

During the past few months, we have witnessed the increasing interest in blockchain technology and how big market players have begun acknowledging its importance and uniqueness. In spite of governments still being reluctant to it, established companies from various industries are recognizing the potential of a distributed ledger that can be incorporated into their operations.

It may be that the business environment is suspicious of emerging technologies, but the blockchain can make a positive impact. Although the mainstream sees it as the root of all technological and business ills, blockchain certainly can make things quicker, more accessible, cheaper and much more secure.

One of the industries that are severely disrupted by blockchain is the payments one. Our traditional systems never reached maturity and come with many flaws: credit card fraud, personal data breach, inefficient payments systems, slow technologies, intermediaries and massive centralization. Concerning payments, blockchain can provide a real-time, single and transparent record of a transaction which becomes impossible to corrupt. Payments carried on a blockchain do not require manual processing or third-party verification.

Fast forward to October 2018, we notice how the idea is being implemented more and more not only by startups but by large corporations as well. Just in the past two months, four essential names in the business world joined the blockchain revolution. Uber’s largest shareholder, SoftBank, IBM, and Bank of China teaming up with UnionPay are all exploring blockchain for payment systems.

So, we are seeing more and more different institutions and business giants experimenting with blockchain, but the issue remains how to finally adopt it. Can we just simply use it? How accessible is it? Sure, IBM has great plans to take on the world with another revolutionary product, yet they are far from considering the vast majority of consumers as part of their plans for now. It is only a natural step that companies will shift to the blockchain, but let’s dispense with all the hype and assess whether right now their projects are appealing to a large segment of consumers.

After all, blockchain technology has become more popular because of emerging small businesses and start-ups. Thus, looking at the business model of companies which solely focus on payments will provide good insight into whether blockchain for payments works in practice. For example, Pumapay is a case in point. Not only does the company offer the blockchain experience, but also a digital wallet that supports their PMA token, all other altcoins, and an extensive network of adopters. The merchants’ web includes various companies who offer services any consumer can relate to—WIX or FashionTV. This robust ecosystem is backed by global brands that operate in different industries and provide subscriptions for products and more.

While the debate continues—on whether the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is a legitimate way to make payments—blockchain is steadily advancing into the world of payments facilitating change for financial transactions. PumaPay’s idea is beneficial as they have established a new paradigm: a unique ecosystem that involves a consolidated and collaborative environment of merchant retailers, enterprises, digital payments and a broad spectrum of consumers. PumaPay’s solution is here to disrupt traditional structures and break through obsolete economic systems, while always having in mind that its primary goal is to satisfy the needs of the end user.