What is Blockchain? Humans throughout history have experienced several important moments in their development, from the invention of paper in 105 AD by Cai Lun.
Then, it continued to the discovery of radio waves in 1896 by Guglielmo Marconi. This brings humans into a wider stage of communication. Or the industrial revolution in the early 19th century which changed the face of the industry to be more expansive.
Then, continuing into the 20th century with the discovery of the world wide web (WWW) by Tim Berners Lee which changed the way humans interact in all fields. Until finally we enter a time where technology is increasingly decentralized through Blockchain which will be a new future for you and all human interactions in it.
You, a developing Human
You, human. Is God’s creation the most glorious and high, why? Because humans are given reason and conscience that allows us to adapt in any situation. From natural disasters, economic crises, wars, to the adaptation of new technologies that make our lives easier.
In the early 90’s we communicated via pagers, in the 2000s cellular phones became common, and now continues to enter the generation of high-tech technology, humans are increasingly dynamic in life, work and interact by including technology in it. Cell phone today is more than just a telephone, it is our most powerful daily personal assistant. This one object allows us to communicate, have meetings, make plans, track and manage finances, and all of this can be done by just tapping the screen with our thumbs.
Humans in the 90s were different from humans today, we are like Tony Stark with his Iron Man outfit. Charles Darwin said that “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”. Humans can survive and thrive to this point not because of their strength or intelligence, but because of their adaptability.
Blockchain and Humans
Many people interpret blockchain as the same as cryptocurrency, no. These are two different but related things, as if we were talking about football and Juventus. Juventus is one of the sports clubs in the industry/field of football. Blockchain is the technological backbone on which cryptocurrency runs, and blockchain can be applied to various areas of human life.
Blockchain technology allows us to interact more securely, quickly and efficiently because the technology is not centralized but is divided into millions of processing nodes, this is a representation of human life that is more independent, transactional and private.
For example, blockchain can be applied in the world of education, there will be many educational institutions that can share their knowledge more cheaply, widely and sophisticatedly with many people around the world. Blockchains like Cardano even have projects on the African continent working with local governments to make education and economic systems more efficient yet sophisticated.
The political world will be more efficient and reliable in conducting online voting for General Elections (PILKADA) by using a blockchain network, it can reduce the cost of organizing significantly with zero percent chance of being hacked.
Our banking financial world will be safer, there will be no more stories of ATM burglary, mobile banking and cheap transfer fees between accounts and across countries. Even further, blockchain can be applied in creating good governance in a country, a system that is transparent, cost efficient. Reducing the possibility of collusion, nepotism and corruption.
Currently the use of blockchain in various aspects has grown rapidly and sooner or later consumers, companies and governments in the world will adapt to it, why? Because blockchain offers transparency, security without the possibility of being breached, operating costs are much lower. Remember that a few years ago we still relied on our wallets and change? Now the majority of us are moving to use e-wallet for transactions, why? Please answer yourself.
Why Cryptocurrencies?
In Indonesia in particular, since the last few years, cryptocurrencies have experienced very rapid development, this is because digital financial literacy is increasingly widespread among millennials, young professionals to stock traders who are looking for more attractive gains in the short term, but the greatest development in the world is Indonesia is still very small compared to its total population, because literacy on cryptocurrencies is still mostly centered in big cities.
Biggest Crypto Users (Statista, 2020)
Uniquely, if we look at the data released by Statista 2020, we find that it is actually developing countries that are the biggest users of cryptocurrencies.
Countries like Nigeria have 32% of the population used to using cryptocurrencies, followed by Vietnam (21%), the Philippines (20%). Meanwhile, large countries such as China and the United States only have around 6-7% of their people using crypto (although the amount of capital that rotates is inversely proportional).
The majority of countries with the highest population in the use of Crypto above are countries with financial systems that are not as well-established as the big countries below, why does this happen?
Because financial efficiency in cryptocurrencies provides convenience and higher gains than conventional financial institutions in the country, so many of their people are adapting cryptocurrencies.
OECD Sources, 2019
Furthermore, the OECD through its research “Cryptoassets in Asia, Consumer Attitudes Behaviors and Experiences” issued in 2019 took samples from three Southeast Asian countries, namely Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines to see the characteristics of people who use cryptocurrencies.
It was found that the millennial generation aged 25-44 years mostly stored/used cryptocurrency (about 30% of the total population), and many educated groups (Bachelors, Masters, Doctors) were the biggest users (25-50%).
This indicates that cryptocurrency is a financial instrument that was early adopted by the millennial generation with a qualified educational background and in the future it is likely that they will become leaders in companies and countries. This means that the implementation of cryptocurrencies in the economic aspect of the country is just a matter of time
Indonesia alone until March 2021 there are around 4.2 million people who have invested in Crypto with a total volume of around Rp. 126 Q. On the other hand, Single Investor Identification (SID) investors registered only about 2 million accounts (CoFTRA).
This figure shows that there is tremendous enthusiasm from the Indonesian people for crypto and the number of players in Indonesia is only about 1-2% of the total population, meaning that the potential for increasing the value of crypto assets is still very large, who enters early now will have a very good position in the next few years.
It’s no wonder that nowadays quite a number of large financial companies are considering opening cryptocurrency trading and exchanges to their clients.
Like VISA, Coca Cola, Rakuten to Paypal, even countries like EL Salvador have accepted Bitcoin as their official trading medium based on the latest news that Paraguay and Panama will follow. Indonesia itself through CoFTRA and the Ministry of Trade will make clear rules regarding Crypto trading so that it is legal and safe.
You are an important part of the future
No matter how great the technology that will develop in the future, it remains: You (humans) will be an important part of the integration. Technology was created to improve the quality of human life and the massive development of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology today and in the future will place you as a key player, because the main value of blockchain is decentralization.
Sooner or later blockchain and cryptocurrencies will be the future of our lives. Citing the subtitle of an article written by Tyler Cowen at Bloomberg, a professor of economics at George Mason University: Who will control the next big thing online? Everyone and no one. We are entering a world that will be decentralized, where all people in various parts of the world have the opportunity to develop economically, technologically and interactively. And who will own and control that great opportunity is: You.
Author : Dianta Hasri
3rd Winner of Article Writing Competition with Indodax Academy
Stay tuned for more winning posts on Indodax Academy.
