Four Ways Blockchain Companies Are Revolutionizing Industry Standards

With the recent news of Coinbase’s Nasdaq listing, blockchain companies appear to be changing the currents of the mainstream. Notably, the Federal Reserve of New York has established a fintech (financial technology) advisory board, including IBM’s Martin Fleming, to better understand, regulate, and bolster this emerging technology.

But a major reason why blockchain has received such interest goes beyond its financial uses. The technology has the potential to improve transparency, security, and privacy in myriad industries, for countless consumers.

For example, global logistics business Deutsche Post (parent company to DHL) has been working to implement blockchain technology to improve their processes. Or take the case of the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), a community formed by a number of major companies. Automotive stalwarts Ford and BMW, two members of MOBI, released a new standard for used car ownership identification through blockchain in order to prevent fraud.

As you can probably tell, blockchain’s likely here to not only stay but become a major part of the technology that’s already been interwoven in many of our daily lives. Technologist George Gilder has dubbed a blockchain-powered world, as opposed to the current reality of Big Tech dominance, the ‘cryptocosm.’

In this article, the Zero Theft Movement will discuss how we use this budding technology to power our effort to eradicate the rigged economy, as well as shed light on the other blockchain companies changing the game.

The Savings and Loan Crisis in the 70s resulted in the failure of nearly a third of 3,234 S&Ls and reportedly cost taxpayers $132 billion. Was economic foul play involved?

What is Blockchain?

For those of you who don’t need a primer on blockchain, you can skip to our list of blockchain companies disrupting their industries

First things first, there’s one important distinction you should know:

Cryptocurrency (e.g. Ethereum) ≠ blockchain.

Cryptocurrencies represent one single use of blockchain technology. As shown with the examples in the introduction, blockchain companies have found many uses for the technology beyond fintech.

How does it work?

Blockchain does not require much expertise to understand actually. At least, how it functions and what it brings to the table.

Standard Disclaimer

The Zero Theft Movement does not have any interest in partisan politics/competition or attacking/defending one side. We seek to eradicate theft from the U.S economy. In other words, how the wealthy and powerful rig the system to steal money from us, the everyday citizen. We need to collectively fight against crony capitalism in order for us to all profit from an ethical economy.

Terms like ‘steal,’ ‘theft,’ and ‘crime’ will frequently appear throughout the article. Zero Theft will NOT adhere strictly to the legal definitions of these terms (since congress sells out). We have broadly and openly defined terms like ‘steal’ and ‘theft’ to refer to the rigged economy and other debated unethical acts that can cause citizens to lose out on money they deserve to keep.

Actually, if you can’t tell from the diagram above, it’s really just a bunch of blocks chained one after the other. The blocks and chains serve as helpful metaphors to conceptualize how the technology works.

But what exactly do the blocks and chains represent?

DEFINITION

The blocks represent an individual piece of data (e.g. a single purchase with your credit card, record of a hospital visit, location of a shipment). A single block can store up to 1MB of data, meaning it can hold multiple purchases from a single store, for example.

The chains represent the public database, ordered linearly and chronologically. Each block gets secured by their own identifying code or ‘hash’ and the previous block’s hash, creating the chain

When distributed, anybody can join the blockchain and track the ledger. But only the parties involved in a ‘transaction’ actually have access to the personal information in each block. Outside parties only know the time at which a legitimate exchange occurred, not the parties involved or what purchase or exchange was made.

The Process

From Guru99

Step 1) A party on the blockchain requests a transaction (e.g. purchase, contracts, records, or other information).

Step 2) The requested transaction gets broadcasted to a peer-to-peer network with the help of nodes.

Step 3) The node network uses algorithms to verify the transaction and the user’s status.

Step 4) Upon completion of the transaction, a new block is attached to the existing blockchain.

What does that mean for users?

“Blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.”

Harvard Business Review

Blockchain is “open” in that it’s completely public (the block, not the private information/data it contains) and “distributed” in that no entity governs or controls it. Its permanence ensures that whatever gets put on the blockchain stays there for good. If anything’s manipulated, everyone in the extensive computer network knows, allowing users to self-police and encouraging them to stay honest and consistent. At the core of blockchain technology is to take the power away from centralized power (i.e. institutions or major corporations) and put it in the hands of individuals.

So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at some blockchain companies and applications that are shaping the future.

Our List of Blockchain Companies Breaking the Mold

Rather than just compile a long list of blockchain companies, we decided to focus on just a few to highlight the main benefits the technology provides.

Blockchain Voting for Governments and Democratic Activism

With news of the new bill meant to protect and expand voting rights passing the House, as well as claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, governments should at least consider blockchain voting as an opportunity to make the process more secure, transparent, and equitable.

Massachusetts-based company Voatz takes voting to the device that 96% of Americans own in some form: the mobile phone. The company’s voting platform has been used in county elections, but MIT researchers expressed security concerns. That being said, an independent research group conducted and published a study suggesting Voatz had complied with all federal voting system guidelines.

We at the Zero Theft Movement are building a community to eliminate the rigged economy and crony capitalism. We have created a platform where you and your fellow citizens work together to investigate and debate potentially rigged areas across the economy. Through blockchain voting, the way to make all your work permanent, public, and unchangeable, you decide whether (1) theft is or isn’t occurring in a specific area of the economy, and (2) how much is being stolen or possibly saved. Through direct democracy, we can collectively decide where the problem areas are and start working on addressing them systematically.

Interested?

Alternative currencies

You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, but there’s a long list of cryptocurrencies now.

Central authorities (i.e. central bank or government) control traditional currencies. Be it the U.S. dollar, the Japanese Yen, or the Euro. Central authorities can theoretically do whatever they wish with their currencies. This can become a huge problem in times of financial crisis or governmental instability when your savings suddenly lose value.

For example, the turmoil in Venezuela has seriously devalued its currency (the Bolívar). People around the world donated Bitcoin through the blockchain company AirTM. The funds went to Venezuelan citizens, who were then able to purchase food among other necessities.

While there’s investment risk, the chances of cryptocurrencies getting hacked are slim. Moreover, it eliminates transaction fees and operates independently of any central authority.

Cutting out the middleman

Countless ‘middleman’ companies and financial institutions profit from receiving a cut of every transaction (a.k.a. a finder’s fee). For example, there’s a merchant fee for credit card transactions. Think of retailers such as Amazon that either receives a portion of every sale or a monthly fee. Or liquor distributors. The list goes on.

Many of these middlemen make money by helping you obtain the actual service/product you want. That doesn’t mean they’re all bad, unnecessary, or useless. To take the Amazon example, your products can receive massive exposure based on the sheer number of its customers.

But knowing that these fees exist, vendors might feel the need to raise prices to compensate for lost revenue. In turn, customers have to pay more.

Blockchain allows vendors/service providers to transact directly with customers. As the record (again, not the private information of both parties) is public, verifiable, and permanent, neither party needs to have concerns that the other side is trying to defraud them.

Blockchain eradicates those ‘market-maker’s and transaction fees, enabling sellers to keep their prices low(er) and still make the same or even more because of their more affordable prices.

One of the blockchain companies working to cut out a middleman is Mycelia. Record labels have gained a reputation for not only keeping total ownership of whatever their signed artists make but also taking a big cut of the profits. Mycelia empowers musicians to independently sell their music directly to their listeners.

With this direct-to-consumer business model, musical artists can retain complete ownership of their art while receiving the profits they deserve. The question, of course, is whether they can build enough buzz on their own, but that has been proven to be possible time and time again.

Streamlining recordkeeping, improving transparency and traceability

Blockchain keeps personal and organizational data neatly organized and secure. Remember, all data gets stored linearly and chronologically. Gone are the days you have to rifle through countless cabinets to find an important medical record or court document. Just think about the amount of time that could be saved…

Furthermore, blockchain can improve supply chains, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, so consumers know exactly where materials or food is coming from. This has the potential to make companies much more accountable for the decisions they make.

We mentioned DHL above, but there are other dedicated blockchain companies working to implement this technology for consumers. FreighTrust has built a next-generation logistics operation platform that allows businesses to closely monitor each and every step of their import/export process.

Are Blockchain Companies Building a Better Future?

So what do you think about blockchain companies?

Obviously, we are biased, as we have built a voting platform harnessing the technology. To give our perspective, we decided to do so because of the security and permanence it provides to our community. We thought this necessary to protect our movement from bad actors who might want to ruin the hard work of our community.

Our community is working to calculate the best estimate for the monetary costs of corruption in the U.S. Corporate, political, and everything in between. Our community isn’t trying to simplify corruption to a single score, nor are they using the definition of a few experts or business professionals. Each holon, or interpretive group, decides what they consider is ‘theft.’

The public has spoken! See how much the rigged economy is ripping off from you

Explore the Problem Hierarchy

We have primers on potential problem areas of the economy. Before you start voting, it’s important you get a basic understanding of the issues at hand, so you can be as helpful as possible to other community members. Take a few minutes and come prepared.

Serve your fellow citizens as a citizen investigator

The success of our movement rests in your hands, the leaders willing to dedicate time to conduct investigations into potentially rigged areas of the economy. Lead the movement and help create an ethical economy.

Heroism made easy

Twenty minutes! That’s all the time you need to contribute to our effort. Just review a proposal and vote. Our reports will only gain legitimacy and power with your contributions.

Commitment to nonpartisanship

The rigged layer causes all of us to suffer, regardless of our political allegiances. If we wish to eliminate rigged economy theft, we have to set aside our differences and band together against crony capitalists and corrupt officials.

Beyond Blockchain Companies…

An educated public is an empowered public.

We regularly publish educational articles on ZeroTheft.net, just like this one on blockchain companies. They teach you all about the rigged layer of the economy in short, digestible pieces.