World Economic Forum: Blockchain will change the rules of the game in financial transactions

The 10th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF) was held in Tianjin, China from June 26 to June 28. The meeting focused on the theme of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact, with more than 200 seminars and more than 1,700 industry elites, government officials and experts from more than 90 countries.

The theme of one of the seminars was "Innovative Digital Ledger", and participants said that blockchain technology will change the rules of the game in financial transactions.

Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna said at the conference:

Blockchain will revolutionize the banking and financial services industry. I think blockchain is likely to replace the Internet. I believe that in 20 or 30 years, we will only see the word "Internet" in history books.

Axel Lehmann, COO of UBS, said:

Blockchain is the new Internet in the financial sector.

Blockchain is a secure ledger database consisting of blocks of data. Users can search for data on this constantly updated platform. For financial institutions, blockchain can speed up transaction processing, reduce costs, reduce middlemen, improve market insight, and increase business transparency.

Blockchain, as the underlying technology of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, is a great technological innovation, so the discussion group believes that its applications are more than that.

Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of blockchain payment app Circle, explained:

Accounting, insurance, business management, voting, all systems will be done using blockchain technology in the future. We are only just getting started.

Blockchain technology can also be used to combat fraud and illegal transactions, such as blood diamonds ^[1] . Everledger uses blockchain technology to provide proof of origin for diamonds. Its founder and CEO Leanne Kemp said:

When we think about where blockchain technology can be used, I hope it can be used to solve big problems, such as combating counterfeiting and financial transactions.

Many industries are beginning to adopt blockchain technology, but the question is how to regulate it. Gramegna admitted that even in Luxembourg, the center of the World Bank, there are some unresolved regulatory and taxation issues. However, he believes that the government should be more forward-thinking than ordinary people. Luxembourg was the first country in the world to legalize virtual currency, and now it will create the same development space for blockchain.

Regulators must be perceptive and innovative, while also willing to enforce the law impartially. Legalizing the sharing of value and assets is enough to change the world.