Ethereum Co-Founder Joseph Lubin: Block will Cover Most of Global Economy in Next 10-20 Years
Blockchain, which started as a platform for the cryptocurrency, way back in 2009, has become one of the most talked about technologies of the 21st century. Studies done conducted on the innovative technology for the past few years have revealed that the potential and usability of blockchain is beyond what anyone could have ever imagined.
As of date, blockchain technology is being used in several sectors across the globe, right from the United States to Russia and from England to India. According to a report by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the number of blockchain based patents filed in 2018 has grown by more than 50%, with China and the United States leading the way.
Use of blockchain has grown in mammoth sectors like banking and finance, e-commerce, farmer, logistics, media, and publishing, etc. However, the potential of blockchain is not yet fully optimized. Recently, co-founder of Ethereum, Joseph Lubin predicted that blockchain would be the majority of the economy in the next two decades. He also speculated that with the use of blockchain the global economy would grow by almost 10 times then what it is currently.
The statement came at the recently concluded SXSW Conference on 14th March. Lubin said that as of now a very selective group of people are using blockchain based technologies, a trend which he expects to change significantly in the next few years. He further added that when email was launched 1983, not many people used it, but its use among the masses grew gradually, and currently there are very few who don’t use an email. He expects a similar turn around for blockchain as well.
Recent development in the market back the statement made by the co-founder of the world’s second largest cryptocurrency. JPMorgan, the largest investment bank in the United States, recently became the first bank to launch its own cryptocurrency in the country. The move is the investment bank’s first foray in the blockchain space. However, it is in the first American bank to adopt blockchain technology. As per data revealed by HSBC earlier this year, the bank applied blockchain technology forex transactions in 2018 work over $250 billion.
The New York-based technology behemoth IBM has been taking giant strides of late in the blockchain space, collaborating with several big and small organizations. It has also entered into agreements with the governments in countries like Australia and Canada to provide blockchain based solutions for digital transformation and enhancing security.
Back in the fastest growing economy in the world, India, IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has declared that it will be investing heavily to develop blockchain based solutions for businesses and that it will continue to lead the way in the technology space. Blockchain-based projects are currently underway in more than half of the total states in India. Experiments on introducing blockchain technology in government departments are also being conducted.
Countries like Russia, China, and Venezuela, which have troubled relations with the United States have been working consistently to develop blockchain based platforms to end the dependence on America. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a strong advocate for blockchain and cryptocurrency and has announced on several occasions that the government will be launching its own cryptocurrency in the middle of 2019 in a bid to reduce its burden on the US dollar.
Awareness regarding blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies has been growing among the masses especially in countries like India which are undergoing through a digital transformation. If people become more aware of the innovative technology, they will be in a better position to accept and apply it. Once blockchain gets adopted in small and medium-sized businesses, it will spread across the global economy.
