Blockchain, beyond cryptocurrencies
Economy and Finance | 12.14.2022 | Juan Carlos Salinas Royán
Decentralised technologies that use cryptographic techniques will be the key players in the digital evolution of the coming years. This technology, better known as blockchain, is mostly associated with cryptocurrencies, and although it is true that this has been its first practical application, it is only the tip of the iceberg of the possibilities it can generate.
The applications of blockchain technology are multiple and very useful, since they allow processes and services to be optimised that would be very expensive to develop using other systems. Among the use cases that are already being carried out are electronic voting systems where it can be certified that no tampering has taken place, authentication of educational qualifications, supply markets, such as raw materials or energy, and incorruptible security and authorisation systems. The uses are many, there will be many more, and this technology will enter our lives transparently, in the same way that we have integrated WhatsApp, for example.
While it is advancing in other areas, the financial and investment side remains the main field of blockchain, what are known as digital assets. This new way of understanding markets aimed to decentralise the financial sector, eliminate intermediaries, and make people sovereign and independent in economic relations. Unfortunately, the reality is different, since this freedom also entails many responsibilities, and risk management for which not everyone is prepared because it requires knowledge and resources in many areas such as cybersecurity against hackers, faulty protocols, scams, etc… Even so, the blockchain is undergoing mass adoption, just as the internet did in the 2000s.
Andorra has made a clear commitment to this technology and its possibilities and has approved a pioneering regulatory framework in the world, which has the potential to transform part of the Andorran economy. A very important digital community has been created in the country and visiting some co-working spaces we will find many professionals working on digital projects and other activities with high added value. MoraBanc is also moving forward along this path in a determined way.
In the not too distant future, everything, or almost everything, will be capable of having a digital representation, the shares of a company, the bonds of a government, holdings in an investment fund will be digital assets because it will be much more efficient and transparent so be it. At MoraBanc we have created a Digital Assets department with the aim of understanding the new needs of our clients and incorporating these new opportunities within the framework of a traditional, regulated and secure bank. Blockchain was said to be a threat to banks, but this technology is likely to become an interesting line of growth for institutions that know how to read the possibilities it offers.
Published in the Digital Transformation Issue of Diari d’Andorra. Nov22
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