Four things you should know about Blockchain

 1. What is Blockchain? 

Banks record all of their financial transactions using ‘ledgers’.  Decades ago, these would have been huge dusty books. Each line in a  ledger recorded a new payment. These records are now digitised, but they  are still owned and managed by each bank. Blockchain is unique because it is not managed by one organisation.  Instead, the record is shared globally across thousands of computers in  real time.The shared nature of this ledger is its strength. Every  computer on the network makes a note of a new transaction, explains  Oscar Darmawan, the CEO of Bitcoin Indonesia. Once this transaction has  been recorded as a line on the global ledger, it is impossible to delete  the record. 

 2. Why is this important? 

Blockchain allows payments to be registered without using the banks’  ledgers. Initially, this was important for Bitcoin (the currency), but  now the record-keeping technology can be used for anything. 

 3. How could Blockchain affect government? 

 If a government were to use Blockchain to make records of contracts,  it would be impossible to commit corruption, says Darmawan. No  individual computer can alter the Blockchain records, so “smart  contracts” using Blockchain could prove exactly where payments are going  – creating greater accountability. A company couldn’t falsify its  accounts. A transfer of money from a government agency would be  recorded. This system also could affect the nature of governments’ central  banks, one British government minister recently said. Speaking to Wired Magazine , Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock noted that “where a currency  needs to have a central bank to manage it in order to manage an economy,  that’s obviously necessary… But ultimately, if people can pay each  other in a currency that isn’t linked to particular geographic location,  then the need for that is less.” 

 4. What is happening in the region on this? 

There are three sectors that are particularly interesting. The first  is the startup sector. Singapore Government has had a big drive to make  itself the ‘FinTech’ (financial technology) hub of Asia. For example,  IDA’s venture capital arm has been supporting Toast – which allows  foreign workers to transfer money using an app and their EZLink train  card . 

The transaction is guaranteed to be secure because it is  registered on the Blockchain. The second sector is government. The Monetary Authority of Singapore  has just set up a FinTech lab, which will monitor new payments  technologies and consider their utility.

Third is, perhaps obviously, the banks themselves. Many have their own labs, and also have invested in FinTech startups. Blockchain is a new technology, so its potential will only become  apparent in time. When the internet was founded, who could have  predicted its impact? 

Partly, its development was helped by having  international support for a single World Wide Web. Debate is just beginning about how governments can use and adapt to  new payment systems. At present, no government has moved to regulate  them, although some have banned their corresponding currencies. But with  just a click of a mouse, Blockchain could already transform how  government does business with itself – and with others. Beat that, James  Bond. 

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source : https://govinsider.asia/connected-gov/four-things-all-officials-should-know-about-blockchain/