Impacts of Blockchain on Society Around the World
The social upheaval of blockchain has manifested itself in a multitude of creative, utilitarian formats over the last few years, beyond its traditionally-believed use as strictly for financial technology. Inherent within the blockchain technology are inroads to transparent, open transactions of digital assets like money, self-regulation where dependable third parties are difficult to find, and a security system usurping those used by traditional banks. The node network used by the technology is much harder to hack and requires far greater computational power than cracking traditional digital security infrastructures. Additionally, blockchain’s ‘decentralized’ nature means that people across the globe without access to banking can be linked to digital wallets and ID’s for the first time and they’re already paying significantly lower transaction and remittance fees.
Soma — The Social Marketplace, a Finnish Blockchain Company
@SomaToken
One company shifting the foundations of how we interact is called Soma, using a ‘sharing economy’ to transact. Soma is a bit like an upgraded version of eBay, keeping in mind that the majority of trade that took place through human evolution was face-to-face and involved human interaction. Soma is an responsible platform that uses ‘incentivized exchange’ to reward its users. Members earn Soma Community Tokens, regulated by the blockchain technology, by trading items on the company’s platform. Financial rewards are given out for using the SCT tokens and for social interactions that take place on the Soma network. This idea is taken from watching users of social media and online communities share lives and trade ideas. While the value of most online networks are generated by the users, it’s the network itself that absorbs most of the revenue in any given online transaction.
In the age of button hugs and social approval clicks, Soma serves a perfectly calculated function. In practice, it works like someone is selling something — say, the previous iPhone model after an upgrade. They share it on the network, and other users can engage in this process as well by sharing the post. These positive social actions will accrue financial compensation for their promoters. Soma brings fair trade to emerging capital markets by facilitating growth where it otherwise may not have existed. By upending the lack of opportunities in smaller production economies, it’ll bring fair compensation to those in need. With the SCT, the only thing needed to trade between parties is an internet connection, which is far more common than banking in many poor countries.
In some areas, as Daniel at ChipIn writes: “when goods such as carpets, clothes and furniture are made by talented craftspeople, they only receive a fraction of the fixed price”.
This price is decided by big corporations to maximize profit, often with zero concern for the laborers who produce the goods in exploitative conditions. Soma put out an ICO earlier this fall and they’re currently powering through the development phase.
Lala World — Bringing Banking to the Unbanked, a Singaporean Blockchain Company
Another company, called LaLa World, uses blockchain to revolutionize the way we help people in need. LaLa World hopes to bring banking to 2 billion people without access to funding and basic societal systems like medical and child care, as well as handing out digital, government-verified, biometrically-authenticable IDs to the 232 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers around the world. Most of the world’s migrant population can’t access any type of funding and therefore are stuck in a vicious cycle of impoverishment. LaLa’s digital ID’s and banking break down barriers to entry for small businesses, entrepreneurs and those in need, and is helping to pull people out of generations of poverty into promising futures. They’re also assisting the 337,000 displaced children escape dismal futures of human trafficking and exploitative labor conditions through location tracking. With hopes of newly issued financial freedom and self-sustainability for potentially billions of people, LaLa is one of the most interesting blockchain-based projects created since the inception of the technology.
TRON — A Blockchain-based Open Source Global Digital Entertainment Protocol, a Chinese Blockchain Company
On a different note, a company called TRON has big plans for the world of digital entertainment. In the decentralized spirit of blockchain, the corporate middlemen who keep artists hungry are removed with TRON.
When artists upload their works online on platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Google Play, they generally forfeit rights to their labored works and receive a minuscule fraction of the money generated via ads played with their content. As it currently stands, a signed, solo YouTuber working alone to write, edit and produce a video must get over 4 million views on their videos to earn the American minimum wage. YouTube keeps the majority of the ad revenue from these videos. Without competition, content-creators are left floundering to become ‘internet famous’ just to make a livable wage. Where TRON comes in is with its entertainment platform for music, films, video games and a variety of other artistic mediums. Like Soma’s sharing economy, TRON users gain digital ‘TRX’ tokens for sharing content and stand to keep the majority of the money they actually earn for the creations they upload. TRON is a long-awaited windfall of innovation for artists of all mediums of who use the internet as their primary tool for sharing their creations.
Corl — Revenue Sharing on the Blockchain, a Canadian Blockchain Company
@getcorl
Lastly, a company called Corl is bringing revenue-sharing on the blockchain. With startups surging around the world, there is finally some respite for founders who have historically dealt with a slew of disadvantages. Corl capitalizes on Ethereum’s ‘smart-contract’ blockchain capabilities to merge revenue sharing, crowdfunding and the decentralized nature of blockchain itself. Corl is in its early stages and seeks to further the advancements of SaaS and tech companies by helping them acquire funding without giving up equity or taking on debt — two items that should feel revolutionary for most startups. Corl wants to bring revenue sharing investments to companies with provable potential, meaning a continuous asset-based revenue stream to investors in the form of Ether.
One of the biggest problems start-ups face is a lack of working capital, so Corl’s intelligently-determined revenue sharing payments will be huge for companies that successfully apply with their platform. With Corl, startups may be funded while maintaining complete control of the direction and vision of their businesses. Corl minimizes market volatility for investors and helps them make informed choices.
Right now they’re seeking regulation and hope to reach as many early-stage SaaS and tech businesses as possible in the coming year.
With computer coded ‘smart contracts’ ensuring job contract stipulations are met, fairly distributed digital assets and the autonomic governing of the very circulation of money itself, blockchain promises to make huge leaps in the way we do things. While this article only explores a few areas blockchain will remove human entanglement and revolutionize the future, blockchain promises one big step towards the democratization of the world through fairness, transparency and self-regulation.
