World economy at a glance

The grim reality hitting hard in the face of the world economy is the poor condition of hundreds of countries, across the globe, which have lost almost all their value against the US dollar. The condition is deplorable and alarming. The world’s poorest are leading a life that is not even worth living – starving days and nights, with no clothes to shelter them against the blazing heat and the biting cold, and no means to save their life in case of illnesses. This is not the description of a particular slum in a thriving city alone, but the scenario of a poverty crisis spanning entire countries that have been driven to bankruptcy. 

Nonetheless, there is optimism, and it will be worth watching how blockchain technology will change the world.

Role of blockchain technology in economics 

Blockchain technology is seen by many as a nascent technology, which still needs fine-tuning and development to be processed into the best of applications for world acceptance, all of which is true. However, that does not shun away the many possibilities the technology poses to bring to life, solving the world’s poverty crisis being one of them. Blockchain technology and economics do have the power of transforming people’s lives on an international level and let us proceed to see how.

Using blockchain technology to advance humanitarian measures

It is not unknown to any of us that the world’s most poverty-stricken areas are the ones that have been torn down due to wars and disasters. Often, they have also disputed lands, with no governments to take care of them when in distress. Poverty is, as such, prevalent, epidemics widespread, and deaths uncertain but frequent. 

Despite international organizations like the UN sending in help to these distressed locations, it is because of widespread corruption that the benefits are never able to reach the masses, and end up in the pockets of intermediaries. Blockchain technology comes to the rescue in this situation by creating a successful, transparent, secure, and decentralized channel for keeping track of aids and efforts and their distribution. Fund usage can be tracked and recorded, as well as a database of those involved and their efforts so far. In fact, this application of blockchain is not a mere theory so far and is a reality in the form of both Jordan’s refugee program and the UN’s “Building Blocks” food and aid distribution program in Pakistan.

Inclusive financial transactions

Even after the wide acceptance and ease of banking procedures these days, there are about 2 billion people in the world who do not have bank accounts, according to World Bank data. This is because banks, which need physical access, are still out-of-bounds for a huge chunk of the world’s population. Setting up banks requires some amount of time and money as well, which is often incurred as hidden charges to customers, thus making conventional banking not a very viable option for the world’s poorest.

Again, blockchain technology comes to the rescue here. Since it does not require a physical setup, nor chains of employees and their payments, costs as well as time are reduced considerably. Besides, with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology has the scope of revolutionizing the economic sector of any nation. Since the hidden charges have been reduced to zero, as has been the need to access banks oneself, blockchain economics has emerged as one of the most efficient forms of financial inclusion for all.

Insurance and Healthcare benefits

The trying times are even more unbearable when one is afflicted with illness and poverty at the same time. Many people across the globe either do not have financial means or physical access to healthcare facilities. Even if they do, the process of obtaining insurance for health issues is a tedious and costly one. If only they were able to insure themselves against illnesses, the burden of spending huge chunks of money in case of distress would have been reduced or completely gotten rid of.

Blockchain technology has the potential of addressing this issue, by way of its distributed ledger system, which can be used to efficiently and quickly disburse insurance amounts to applicants. By putting to use its feature of Smart Contracts, it eliminates the need for manual effort to spend lengthy hours scanning and verifying documents followed by the repetition of the same on multiple levels of authority. This ensures saving of time as well as cutting down on costs, making the process much easier for the world’s poorest.

Blockchain technology simplifies foreign remittance.

Poverty and financial needs force many to leave their home countries and settle somewhere abroad in search of better and higher-paying work. Many families send their sons and daughters abroad for this purpose. It is only natural that these breadwinners would like to send back some money regularly to their families to help them sustain themselves. In such a scenario, the additional charges on the process of money transfer levied by conventional money-transfer avenues are nothing but a burden. They see no point in making transfers when a large chunk of their little savings goes away in ‘nominal’ charges.

Enter the blockchain system, and these hefty charges are to come down to a meager 1% for the largest of transfers, a rate incredibly lesser than the conventional. Besides, the transfer is nearly instantaneous, even in sub-African countries like Nigeria, where the blockchain system-based SureRemit is being used widely for instant remittance at negligible rates. 

Future potential blockchain technology 

Taking a look at the present statistics of the world economy, we can see where the world is headed to. Going by international standards, ten dollars a day is the standard amount one can spend on himself, encompassing all basic necessities, like food, water, health, housing, and recreation. Judging even by these standards, about 80% of the world’s population lives below the ten-dollar mark. Without a doubt, this statistic gives us a peek into the global nature of the poverty crisis today. The need of the hour, therefore, is to come up with a solution that can tackle this issue on an equally wide platform, and  Blockchain Economics technology seems as the most befitting option for the same.

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Advocate Rahul Dev is a Patent Attorney & International Business Lawyer practicing Technology, Intellectual Property & Corporate Laws. He is reachable at rd (at) patentbusinesslawyer (dot) com & @rdpatentlawyer on Twitter.

Quoted in and contributed to 50+ national & international publications (Bloomberg, FirstPost, SwissInfo, Outlook Money, Yahoo News, Times of India, Economic Times, Business Standard, Quartz, Global Legal Post, International Bar Association, LawAsia, BioSpectrum Asia, Digital News Asia, e27, Leaders Speak, Entrepreneur India, VCCircle, AutoTech).

Regularly invited to speak at international & national platforms (conferences, TV channels, seminars, corporate trainings, government workshops) on technology, patents, business strategy, legal developments, leadership & management.

Working closely with patent attorneys along with international law firms with significant experience with lawyers in Asia Pacific providing services to clients in US and Europe. Flagship services include international patent and trademark filings, patent services in India and global patent consulting services.

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